5GEN
Aerial Target Drone Ready for First Flight
The Fifth Generation Aerial Target will
take its first flight later this month at Dugway Proving Ground, Utah, following
nearly flawless completion of ground-based testing in September.
After a multi-month delay due to travel
restrictions, 5GAT finished a battery of ground test events at Michael Army
Airfield on September 18. Executed by an integrated team of Defense Department
personnel and contractors, the testing verified complete aircraft control,
safety procedures and key performance milestones for takeoff and landing. The
single prototype executed 24 taxi test events (15 low-speed and nine
high-speed) in just six days, with no interruptions or major problems.
The office of the director, operational
test and evaluation sponsors the 5GAT, which is a full-scale, low-observable
air vehicle that represents, more accurately than anything else available, the
fifth-generation fighter aircraft threats U.S. forces could face. The low-cost
drone is designed to enable air-to-air and surface-to-air platform and weapons
test and evaluation, pilot and ground-force training, and the development of
tactics, techniques and procedures against a fifth-generation threat.
“To determine whether a system really is
combat-credible, we must test it under realistic conditions. That includes
putting it up against a realistic threat,” Robert Behler, the director,
operational test and evaluation said. “Right now, we lack a test platform that
truly represents fifth-generation air capabilities. Filling that gap as soon as
possible is absolutely essential to both testing and training.”
Sierra Technical Services, the
prime contractor, has taken an innovative approach to building 5GAT,
constructing the airframe from composites using soft tooling to reduce cost.
The subcontractor, Fast Optimal Engineering, designed major subsystem
solutions, including flight control actuation, electrical power, hydraulics,
landing gear and steering. The subcontractor, 5D Systems, was responsible for
developing the unmanned 5GAT’s complex suite of software. 5GAT utilizes engines
and other elements harvested from decommissioned DOD military aircraft, as well
as an existing U.S. Army ground-based aircraft control system.
“With 5GAT, we’ve reinvented the typical
acquisition process, and have aggressively used innovative program management
and contracting processes to accelerate new capability development and ensure
cost savings,” Michael Crisp, a retired naval aviator and DOT&E’s deputy
director for air warfare said. “We pulled in expertise from ‘greybeards,’ both
industry and military, and the vision of our next generation of pilots, U.S. Air
Force Academy cadets. We gave STS the freedom to explore cutting-edge design
and manufacturing techniques, and got an even bigger bang for the taxpayer buck
by recycling government-owned assets.”
Flight testing will begin in late October.
Initial flight test objectives include demonstrating 5GAT flight
characteristics, various subsystems’ performance and the aircraft’s
auto-takeoff and auto-landing functionality. Subsequent flight tests will
progressively expand the aircraft’s flight envelope in altitude, speed and
greater G-force loading.
“When this unique prototype takes to the
air in a few days, we will have gone from a basic concept to first flight in
less than three-and-a-half years. That includes periods when the program slowed
dramatically due to funding issues and the recent COVID-related delays,” Crisp
said. “I think 5GAT shows the power, creativity and flexibility that a small
but diverse team with few constraints can produce — all to the benefit of
the warfighter.”
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