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29 janvier 2014 3 29 /01 /janvier /2014 13:20
RQ-21A Blackjack begins operational test phase

 

 

Jan 28, 2014 ASDNews Source : Naval Air Systems Command

 

The Navy and Marine Corps' newest small unmanned aircraft system RQ-21A Blackjack began its initial operational test and evaluation (IOT&E) in early January at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, Calif.

 

As part of IOT&E, this first low-rate initial production (LRIP) lot of the Blackjack, previously known as RQ-21A Small Tactical Unmanned Aircraft System (STUAS), will demonstrate the system’s effectiveness and suitability in realistic combat conditions.

 

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15 juin 2013 6 15 /06 /juin /2013 16:20
RQ-21A Small UAS Completes 1st East Coast flight

 

 

Jun 14, 2013 ASDNews Source : Naval Air Systems Command

 

The RQ-21A Small Tactical Unmanned Aircraft System (STUAS) completed its first East Coast flight from Webster Field Annex on June 12, marking the start of the next phase of test for the program.

 

A team from the Navy and Marine Corps STUAS program office (PMA-263) here and industry partner Insitu, Inc., are conducting flight operations at Webster, NAS Pax River’s outlying field, this June in preparation for Integrated Operational Test and Evaluation (IOT&E) in the fall.

 

During the June 12 flight, Insitu operators launched the unmanned aircraft using a pneumatic launcher, eliminating the need for a runway. The RQ-21A was recovered after a 1.8 hour flight, using a company-built system known as the STUAS Recovery System (SRS). The system enables a safe recovery and expeditionary capability for tactical UAS on land or at sea.

 

“This test period brings us closer to providing our warfighter with a unique capability — an indigenous UAS capable of operations from both land and sea,” said U.S. Marine Corps Col. Jim Rector, PMA-263 program manager. “The expeditionary nature of the RQ-21A makes it possible to deploy a multi-intelligence capable UAS with minimal footprint.”

 

The current phase of testing is intended to validate updates that have been made to the system in the past several months, which include software, fuselage and camera enhancements. The conditions at Webster Field also allow the team to test aircraft performance points at lower density altitudes, said Greg Oliver, the program’s lead test engineer.

 

In 2012, the small unmanned aircraft completed land-based testing in China Lake, Calif., and began ship-based developmental tests aboard USS Mesa Verde (LPD 19) in February. After this test phase is complete, the team will transport the system, which includes a ground control station and three air vehicles, back to Norfolk, Va., to embark LPD 19  for shipboard flight testing in July.

 

IOT&E will begin in October at Marine Air Ground Task Force Training Command (MCAGCC) Twentynine Palms, Calif. Ship-based IOT&E is scheduled for December in preparation for the system’s initial deployment in 2014.

 

The RQ-21A platform is designed to fill a need for the Marine Expeditionary Forces, Navy L-Class ships, and Naval Special Warfare (NSW) Units. When deployed, it will provide a 24/7 maritime and land-based tactical reconnaissance, surveillance, and target acquisition data collection and dissemination capabilities to the warfighter.

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15 juin 2013 6 15 /06 /juin /2013 16:20
U.S. Navy Ships Get a New UAV

June 15, 2013: Strategy Page

 

Production has begun for the American RQ-21A Integrator UAV. The U.S. Navy and Marines as well as the Dutch Navy have ordered the 55 kg (121 pound) UAV, which has a 4.9 meter (16 foot) wingspan and can fly as high as 4,500 meters (15,000 feet) at a cruise speed of 100 kilometers an hour. RQ-21A can stay in the air up to 24 hours and carry a payload of 23 kg (50 pounds). It uses the same takeoff and landing equipment as the Scan Eagle.  RQ-21A also uses many of the Scan Eagle sensors in addition to new ones that were too heavy for Scan Eagle. The additional weight of the RQ-21A makes it more stable in bad weather or windy conditions.

 

The marines have ordered 32 systems (with five UAVs each), while the navy is getting four and the Dutch five systems (which include ground controllers and maintenance gear). The first RQ-21As are expected to enter service next year.

 

Scan Eagle weighs 19 kg (40 pounds), has a 3.2 meter (ten foot) wingspan, and uses day and night video cameras and on ships uses a catapult for launch and is landed via a wing hook that catches a rope hanging from a 16 meter (fifty foot) pole. This was recently replaced with the more compact CLRE (Compact Launch and Recovery System). On land Scan Eagle can land on any flat, solid surface.

 

The Scan Eagle can stay in the air for up to 15 hours per flight and fly as high as 5 kilometers (16,000 feet). Scan Eagle cruising speed is 110 kilometers an hour and can operate at least a hundred kilometers from the ground controller. Scan Eagle carries an optical system that is stabilized to keep the cameras focused on an object while the UAV moves. Scan Eagle has been flying for over a decade now and has been in military service since 2005.

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27 mai 2013 1 27 /05 /mai /2013 12:20
U.S. Navy Moves Ahead With Small Tactical UAVs

May 25, 2013. David Pugliese - Defence Watch

 

From Naval Air Systems Command in the U.S.:

 

The Department of the Navy announced May 15 that the RQ-21A Small Tactical Unmanned Aircraft System (STUAS) received Milestone C approval authorizing the start of low rate initial production.

 

With MS C approval, the RQ-21A program, managed by the Navy and Marine Corps STUAS program office (PMA-263) here at NAS Patuxent River, enters the production and deployment phase of the acquisition timeline, according to the PMA-263 Program Manager Col. Jim Rector.

 

“This milestone allows us to provide our warfighter with a unique capability – an organic UAS capable of operations from both land and sea,” said Rector.  “The RQ-21A will provide persistent maritime and land-based tactical Reconnaissance, Surveillance, and Target Acquisition data collection and dissemination capabilities.”

 

The Navy awarded Insitu, Inc., an Engineering Manufacturing Development (EMD) contract for STUAS in July 2010.  Since then, the government/industry team has executed land-based developmental tests (DT), operational tests at China Lake, Calif. in December 2012 and conducted the first sea-based DT from USS Mesa Verde (LPD 19) in February.

 

Concurrently, Marines are flying an Early Operational Capability (EOC) system at Twenty Nine Palms, Calif. for pre-deployment preparation. Lessons learned from EOC will be applied to operational missions in theater.

 

The aircraft is based on Insitu’s Scan Eagle UAS, which has flown more than 245,000 hours in support of Navy and Marine Corps forward deployed forces via a services contract. The RQ-21A system has a 25 pound payload capacity, ground control system, catapult launcher and unique recovery system, known as Skyhook, allowing the aircraft to recover without a runway.

 

The RQ-21A includes Day/Night Full Motion Video (FMV) cameras, infrared marker and laser range finder, and Automatic Identification System (AIS) receivers.  The ability to rapidly integrate payloads allows warfighters to quickly insert the most advanced and relevant payload for their land/maritime missions and counter-warfare actions.

 

“The expeditionary nature of the RQ-21A makes it possible to deploy a multi-intelligence capable UAS with minimal footprint, ideal for amphibious operations such as a Marine Expeditionary Unit conducts,” Rector said. “The RQ-21A can be operated aboard ship, and then rapidly transported ashore as either a complete system or just a “spoke”, or control center, making this system ideally suited for humanitarian or combat operations, where getting real-time intelligence to the on-scene commander is crucial.”

 

The DoN plans to purchase a total of 36 STUAS systems, each with five aircraft.  Initial Operational Capability is scheduled for second quarter fiscal year 2014.

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