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Military

Spanish Air Force Receives MQ-9A Block 5 RPA & GCS

The Spanish Air Force (SpAF) received the final two MQ-9A Block 5 Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) and  

a Ground Control Station (GCS) on Nov. 23 from General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI). (Spanish Air Force)

The Spanish Air Force (SpAF) received the final two MQ-9A Block 5 Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) and a Ground Control Station (GCS) on Nov. 23 from General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI), according to a Nov. 30 press release. The program is the first MQ-9A Block 5 acquisition by an international partner.

The MQ-9A Block 5 received an Airworthiness Military Type Certificate after completing acceptance test procedures (ATP) at GA-ASI’s Gray Butte Flight Operations Facility before being delivered to the SpAF. This marks the first time Spain has issued an Airworthiness Military Type Certificate for the MQ-9A Block 5, according to the release.

“We are proud of our partnership with the Spanish Air Force,” Tommy Dunehew, vice president of International Strategic Development for GA-ASI, said in a press statement. “We appreciate the confidence the Spanish authorities have shown in the MQ-9 by issuing this type certificate and we look forward to seeing the system successfully operate in support of the country´s national Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) requirements.”

The delivery completes the Foreign Military Sales acquisition between the U.S. and Spain for four aircraft and three GCSs, according to the release.

 

DoD Releases RFI for Gray Eagle AISR Payloads

The MQ-1C Gray Eagle UAV (General Atomics Photo)

The Department of Defense (DoD) released a Request for Information (RFI) for industry sources for Aerial Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (AISR) payloads for the MQ-1C Gray Eagle unmanned aircraft system (UAS) platform made by General Atomics for the Joint All Domain Operations (JADO) environment.

AISR payloads for the Gray Eagle include synthetic aperture radar (SAR), moving target indicator (MTI), electronic intelligence (ELINT), communications intelligence (COMINT), air launched effects (ALE), and radar warning receiver (RWR), according to the contract opportunity.

The contract opportunity also provided information about Gray Eagle’s concept of operations (CONOPS) within JADO stating the UASs need to fly in an integrated air defense systems (IDAS)-rich environment while delivering sensing capabilities. According to the RFI, the Gray Eagle flies racetrack patterns tangential to the IADS threat with a range of 80 km.

 

FLIR Acquires Small Drone Manufacturer Altavian

Altavian's ION M440 small quadcopter UAS. (FLIR Systems)

Adding to its existing portfolio of small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS), FLIR Systems Inc. [FLIR] has acquired Altavian Inc., a developer and manufacturer of small fixed-wing and quadcopter drones.

The acquisition also gives FLIR a spot on the Defense Department’s Blue sUAS program, which was created to provide trusted suppliers of small drones for military and federal agencies to acquire as the federal government turns away from purchasing the ubiquitous commercial drones manufactured by China’s DJI.

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Altavian is based in Gainesville, Fla., and has more than 40 employees. The company manufactures Group 1 UAS, which typically weigh less than 20 pounds.

FLIR, through several acquisitions dating back to 2016, has carved out positions in small UAS and unmanned ground robotic vehicles. In the small UAS space, the company offers the palm-sized Black Hornet nano-UAS, which looks like a miniature helicopter and is used by U.S. and allied militaries.

Check out the full story as first published in Defense Daily, a sister publication to Avionics International.