TCS Provides Control Of Two Dissimilar UAVs
Raytheon Company recently completed initial testing of the
Tactical Control System's (TCS) command and control capabilities
for the US Navy's MQ-8B Fire Scout unmanned helicopter. The testing
was conducted December 15, 2007 at the Webster Field annex, Naval
Air Station, Patuxent River, MD.
The TCS provides the Navy with a single unmanned aircraft system
(UAS) that can control two air vehicles. Raytheon tells ANN the
system is so advanced that one system can control two dissimilar
air vehicles. The control system consists of mission planning,
command and control and data processing and dissemination
capabilities for operation of the medium altitude endurance and
tactical family of unmanned aircraft systems.
"This is a tremendous milestone for the Navy and for UAS ground
control technologies," said William P Jones, vice president of
Raytheon Intelligence and Information System's Tactical Control
Systems. "Raytheon has been at the forefront of developing the
latest unmanned aircraft systems for our customers for more than 40
years, and we have incorporated that heritage into the TCS
system."
TCS provides operators with all the necessary tools for
communication mission tasking, planning, execution, data receipt,
data processing, limited data exploitation, and data dissemination.
The common user interface enables the UAS operator, trained on one
UAS system, to control different types of unmanned aircraft systems
or UAS payloads with minimal further training. In addition, TCS
software has developed a "plug-n-play" capability that will allow
for seamless integration of all future payloads on the MQ-8B Fire
Scout.
Jones added, "Raytheon has also developed the next-generation
unmanned aircraft system, a grandson of the TCS system, called the
Universal Control System (UCS). The UCS is a revolutionary,
next-generation control system designed to address UAS operations
issues by enhancing the performance and effectiveness of the
operator with advanced features."
Raytheon has been under contract with the Naval Air Systems
Command, or NAVAIR, since 2000, providing control systems for the
TCS program, closely coordinating with the Weapons System Support
Activity, China Lake, Calif. In 2006, the Raytheon TCS system
provided command and control for the RQ-8A Fire Scout UAS during
the successful completion of nine autonomous shipboard takeoffs and
landings while operating off the naval air station.
The TCS system is compatible with the NATO UAS control standard
and is capable of all levels of flight and sensor control of NATO
standard UASs.