General Atomics modernises Gray Eagle for multidomain operations

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc (GA-ASI) has launched a new multidomain operations-optimised variant of its Gray Eagle UAS, and the company also announced successful initial flight tests of a new flight computer for the MQ-1C Gray Eagle Extended Range (GE-ER) aircraft.

The design of the Gray Eagle 25M (GE-25M) includes a Modular Open Systems Approach (MOSA) in the aircraft and its ground system architecture, ‘to ensure incremental enhancements can be made at the speed of emerging threats’, the company noted in a 10 October statement.

MOSA with GE-25M enables ‘rapid integration’ of advanced payloads and communication equipment such as a synthetic aperture radar along with AI and Machine Learning capabilities, said Don Cattell, GA-ASI VP of army programmes at GA-ASI.

He added: ‘This will reduce the sensor-to-shooter timelines, while simultaneously reducing the datalink bandwidth requirements in a contested environment, thus increasing range and resiliency.’

The first pair of GE-25Ms are scheduled for flight tests and qualification in 2023. The aircraft is controlled from a laptop-based MOSA ground station.

The GE-ER flight computer test at the General Atomics El Mirage facility in California, revealed on 11 October, formed part of US Army-funded efforts to upgrade the extended-range UAS.

GA-ASI stated that these tests also provided ‘critical risk reduction’ for the technology aboard the GE-25M.

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