The U.S. Army is planning to field a variety of unmanned aircraft soon, using about $300 million dedicated last summer to sending more intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance collectors to Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Army is expecting to field three new and 12 refurbished MQ-5B Hunter unmanned aerial systems (UAS) with new Greendart signals intelligence collection systems, said Col. Gregory Gonzales, project manager for Army UAS systems. He declined to provide details of the Greendart’s capabilities, citing security concerns.

At least 25 RQ-7 Shadow UAS are receiving larger wings, which will allow the system to carry larger payloads (up to 100 pounds, an improvement from about 60 pounds) for a longer period of time, Gonzales added. Also, the first two of 25 new laser target designator kits will be fielded in the summer of 2009 to add to Shadow’s existing electro-optical/infrared system.

“That is a tremendous capability for the brigades, because that aircraft can fly in direct support of the brigade commander and can designate targets for them to use [with] other weapon systems,” Gonzales told reporters during a Dec. 9 briefing at the Army Aviation Association of America’s conference in Arlington, Va., this week.

Testing of the new laser designator system, including three flight trials, was executed in August at the Air Force’s test range at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla.

Also, the Army is fielding 50 new digital datalinks for the (RQ-1B) Raven UAS, Gonzales added. The new datalinks are useful in providing control over the system in areas like Iraq with high radio-frequency traffic and, thus, a higher chance of interference.

The Army also is focused on delivering the first of two quick reaction capability (QRC) Warrior UAS (each consisting of four vehicles and ground control and support equipment) to the field by July 2009, said Tim Owings, deputy UAS project manager. The second should follow about a year later.

The MQ-1C Warrior is based on the U.S. Air Force’s Predator airframe, but employs a Thielert heavy fuel engine as well as an Army-specific EO/IR sensor. The QRC is largely based on the objective Warrior configuration, but employs a different EO/IR sensor. The QRC systems also can operate using a ground system fielded by General Atomics, the Warrior manufacturer, as well as the Army’s One System ground station.

The Army plans to brief the acquisition strategy for Warrior, which includes incremental upgrades to reach the objective system, to Pentagon acquisition chief John Young next month, Owings said.

Owings added that work to come up with a common configuration with the USAF Predator systems has progressed. The Pentagon is opting to buy the Warrior configuration with the heavy-fuel engine. The Air Force, however, has embarked on an effort to field an all-MQ-9 Reaper force. If that proposal is approved, there could be no need for a common configuration between the two services.

Photo: US Army