Wed, Oct 01, 2008
UAV Floats Like A Butterfly... Stings Like A KillerBee
Raytheon Company's KillerBee
unmanned aircraft system recently demonstrated its
interoperability, integration and functionality as an end-to-end
UAS combat system.
During the demonstration, a Raytheon flight operations crew
simulated a combat environment by delivering the KillerBee system
to a remote location via Humvees. In less than 45 minutes, the crew
set up the system and launched the UAS. The team then executed the
operational scenario and safely retrieved the UAS with a unique
net-recovery system.
The KillerBee is designed to provide the US Navy and US Marine
Corps with a UAS for their respective Small Tactical Unmanned
Aircraft Systems and Tier II missions. A mini-common data link
enables KillerBee interoperability with both US Navy and US Marine
Corps intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems.
"The KillerBee is at a point where we can demonstrate an
integrated combat capability," said Ken Pedersen, Raytheon Missile
Systems' vice president of Advanced Programs. "Combined with
Raytheon's Universal Control System, a first-of-its-kind unmanned
aircraft flight station, the KillerBee can reliably insert ISR into
the battlespace and then quickly deliver actionable data to a
combatant commander."
The simulated mission was conducted using Marine Corps combat
operations center hardware, and an operator controlled the
KillerBee with a variant of Raytheon's Universal Control System.
The KillerBee system received target input from a Javelin Command
Launch Unit and an Improved Target Acquisition System from
Raytheon's TOW (Tube-Launched, Optically-Tracked, Wire-Guided)
missile.
The KillerBee electro-optical/infrared sensor was cued to the
targets, prior to providing target confirmation back to the CLU and
ITAS. The system then selected a target and cued the Javelin CLU
operator through a Command and Control Personal Computer.
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