TOTAL AIR, GROUND AND MARITIME NEWS COVERAGE
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Cassidy claims T
Predator still a
Navy option
Almost a year and a half after losing
the Broad Area Maritime
Surveillance (BAMS) contract, the
head of General Atomics Aeronautical
Systems still believes more Predator
Bs will fly soon in US Navy
colors.
Tom Cassidy says the Predator B
remains a player as the USN starts to
replace an aging fleet of about 220
Lockheed P-3C Orions with 117 Boeing
P-8A Poseidons and more than
48 Northrop Grumman RQ-4N
BAMS to replace P-3Cs. In March
2008, the Navy rejected Lockheed
Martin/GA-ASI’s BAMS proposal
based on the Predator B with an extended
wingspan.
Cassidy says there remains a
strong role in the Navy inventory for
a cheaper, baseline version of a landbased
Predator B fitted with a maritime
sensor. Four maritime sensors
have already been flown on the Predator
B for evaluation purposes, he
says, naming five potential suppliers:
Elta, ITT, Raytheon, Selex and Telephonics.
Cassidy says that there are
opportunities for the Predator B outside
the normal acquisition channels.
He cites the fact that the US Air
Force purchased both the MQ-1A
Predator and MQ-9B Reaper initially
without a program of record.
Principal sponsor
ISSUE 3
Bat family swoops
for opportunities
The Bat family of UAVs that
Northrop Grumman acquired
four months ago from race car-maker
Swift Engineering will be offered
for widely ranging applications, the
company says.
The family of UAVs shaped with
a blended-wing body design can be
scaled from a 5ft- to a 33ft-diameter
wingspan, with the latter weighing
a maximum 2,300lb, says business
development director Tom Twomey.
Twomey showed four different
concepts for a 10ft-diameter version
– a Comm Bat to relay radio
messages; a weaponized version
called Fire Bat; a Ghost Bat for sig-
The AAI Corp Aerosonde Mk 4.7 completed a two-day
flying demonstration required to win a major contract
without a mishap, apparently alone among its competitors,
says AAI vice president Steve Flach.
Within one month after filing their proposals, all four
bidders for the US Navy and Marine Corps’ small tactical
UAS/Tier 2 competition completed a flying demonstration
at Yuma, Arizona, in late June and early July.
The results of that flying demonstration, which is not
scored as part of the government’s evaluation process
for contract award, have not been disclosed.
But AAI claims its aircraft completed a two-day flight
schedule without a crash. “We probably did the best at
the demo from all of our competition,” Flach said at the
unveiling of the Mk 4.7. “We achieved everything we proposed
we would do.”
AAI is competing for the contract against at least
nals intelligence and a Sea Bat to
support marine operations such as
amphibious landings.
This baseline Bat UAV should
offer a 56lb maximum payload within
a 164lb gross weight, and is recovered
using a net. The net recovery
method can support Bat designs with
up to 15ft-diameter, but larger versions
would require landing by
wheels and landing gear, Twomey
says. Some of the larger designs up to
33ft also may require a turbine engine
for propulsion, he adds.
One mission area that Northrop
is investigating for the Bat system
is to be air-launched by manned
AUGUST
13
2009
aircraft, such as the Lockheed Martin
C-130 Hercules, says Mark
Gamache, Northrop’s director of
advanced programs and technology.
Swift’s engineers have also analyzed
how to air-launch the Bat
from a Lockheed P-3C Orion. The
33ft-scale Bat could form a “pretty
cheap entry” for the US Air Force’s
MQ-X contract, Twomey says. The
USAF is likely to ask for a larger
aircraft to fill the requirement, but a
scaled-up Bat is “not out of the
question,” he adds.
Separately, Northrop confirms
that it has settled a previous dispute
with Raytheon over the acquisition.
Aerosonde succeeds alone in demo
Aerosonde Mk 4.7 was unveiled at the show –
with flight success
three competitors. Its known rivals include the Boeing/
Insitu Integrator, Raytheon/Swift Engineering KillerBee-4
and UAV Dynamics Storm.
BillyPix
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