Gray Eagle UAS makes first ship-to-shore journey
The trial took place on 12 November. (Photo: RoK Navy)
The Gray Eagle short take-off and landing (STOL) UAS has a different engine, wings, control surfaces and landing gear to earlier Gray Eagles, and is a production variant of the demonstrator Mojave UAS.
For the first time, a medium-altitude long-endurance (MALE) UAS has conducted a launch from an amphibious landing ship and landed at a ground base.
The General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) Gray Eagle STOL UAS took off from the South Korean Navy’s (ROK’s) amphibious landing ship Dokdo off the coast of Pohang, South Korea and landed at Pohang Navy Airfield.
Gray Eagle STOL is highly common with the classic Gray Eagle aircraft and is the production variant of the Mojave demonstrator.
The Republic of Korea Ministry of National Defense is initially evaluating Gray Eagle STOL as part of a discovery for emerging military requirements and navy, army and other officials evaluated and supported the test.
Admiral Yang Yong-mo, chief of naval operations for South Korea, said the flight was an important step in validating a concept of operations.
“The demonstration highlighted the versatility of STOL aboard a warship, specifically the Dokdo, designed not for fixed-wing aircraft but solely for helicopters,” Yong-mo said.
“Gray Eagle STOL’s flight proves that navies can add significant new capability without costly major modifications to their existing warships.”
In November last year Mojave performed a STOL take-off and return landing from the UK Royal Navy’s HMS Prince of Wales, which is smaller than a typical US aircraft carrier at 284m long and 73m wide. The Dokdo class is considerably smaller at 199m and 31m, respectively.
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