GA-ASI demonstrates Northrop Grumman EW capabilities on Predator B
NewsAugust 14, 2013
WASHINGTON. General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA ASI) announced at the 2013 Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) that the Predator B Electronic Attack capability was successfully demonstrated at the Marine Corp Air Station (MCAS) in Yuma, AZ. The demonstration displayed integration of a jamming pod containing a Northrop Grumman Digital Receiver/Exciter into a GA-ASI Predator B Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) to evaluate the system’s Electronic Warfare (EW) capabilities.
"With this highly effective display of Predator B as a viable and capable EW platform, we are poised to provide even greater value as a multi-mission RPA solution for the Marines to address their EW requirements," says Frank W. Pace, President, Aircraft Systems Group, GA-ASI.
Over 20 Predator B aircraft were integrated into the EW architecture and GA-ASI Command and Control (C2) networks during the exercise, which showed seamless interoperability of the Northrop Grumman jamming payload with the UAS platform. Future demonstrations will expand on the multi-node approach to further integrate and expand networked EW capacity to other unmanned platforms and EA-6B Growlers.
"We are using multiple platforms in a networked approach to prosecute the IADS to protect our strikers as they hit their targets," says Major Charles Dudik, HQMC Aviation EW Requirements Officer. "It is a non-traditional approach to this problem set, but we believe this is where the future is headed for EW."
