GA-ASI’s C-GCS in first flight test
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) has successfully completed the first test of its Certifiable Ground Control Station (C-GCS), the company announced on 28 November.
The STANAG 4671-compliant C-GCS was used to fly GA-ASI’s MQ-9B SkyGuardian UAS from Yuma, Arizona. The test successfully tested and evaluated flight critical functions of the UAS, including hold modes, landing gear, flap operation and hand-flying of the aircraft.
GA-ASI’s C-GCS features the same flight management system, cockpit displays and navigation guidance as those found on modern corporate and commercial aircraft. The C-GCS also enables weapons and payload control for SkyGuardian, while its hardware and software architecture offers separation of flight and mission-critical function, allowing for mission software upgrade without affecting flight critical software. The mission human machine interface (HMI) has been specially designed to ensure the provision of situational awareness on a single tactical situation display.
Upcoming testing scheduled for the C-GCS includes full launch and recovery, HMI enhancements, mission-critical functions and satellite communication datalink testing.
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