Bell selected over Boeing to build DARPA SPRINT X-Plane
The programme first began in 2023 with Bell and Boeing’s concepts progressing to Phase 1B, in which testing has been carried out over the last year.
Lockheed Martin tests Multi-Function Electronic Warfare pod
The pod was tested under an army MC-12W. (Photo: US Army)
Lockheed Martin's Multi-Function Electronic Warfare-Air Large (MFEW-AL) airborne electronic pod payload has been designed to be platform agnostic and detect a variety of threats.
Lockheed Martin has successfully test flown its Multi-Function Electronic Warfare-Air Large (MFEW-AL) airborne electronic pod payload under a fixed-wing crewed aircraft for the first time.
The company noted that it is the first time in decades US Army Electronic Warfare (EW) soldiers successfully conducted a series of airborne EW operations against a variety of threat emitters. The test flight marked a milestone which moved the system closer from system development to initial production.
The system has previously been tested under an MQ-1C Gray Eagle UAS but this test used an army fixed-wing aircraft, MC-12W, which a Lockheed Martin spokesperson said had allowed, according to the company, ‘the team to demonstrate the system is platform agnostic and can be tailored to a variety of configurations’.
The system – a single, self-contained, airborne electronic warfare pod – can be equipped on a variety of aircraft based on mission requirements, according to Lockheed Martin. The company noted that it had utilised advanced technology with a system architecture based on the C5ISR/EW Modular Open Suite of Standards, which it said would provide the essential aerial component of the integrated EW system in multi-domain operations.
Deon Viergutz, vice-president of spectrum convergence at Lockheed Martin, said: ‘This demonstration expanded upon all testing of the MFEW-AL system to date, bringing to bear a more complete hardware and software configuration that gets us closer to delivering this technology to our EW soldiers.’
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