Auto GCAS technology uses information gathered from Global Positioning System data and incorporates it with Digital Terrain Elevation Data maps to enable aircraft to reference terrain below. In the event that an aircraft is flown dangerously close to the ground, this critical data enables the aircraft to automatically execute avoidance maneuvers without pilot intervention. Photo: USAF, AFRL

The U.S. Air Force completed the final 103rd test flight in the testing for the Automatic Ground Collision Avoidance System (Auto GCAS), part of the Automatic Collision Avoidance Technology (ACAT) /Fighter Risk Reduction Program. Researchers hope the lessons learned during these tests will lead to the virtual elimination of fighter aircraft mishaps.

The cooperative program was conducted by the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) in conjunction with the Air Force Flight Test Center and NASA Dryden. The Auto GCAS flight testing effort has collected data over the course of over 141 flight hours, with more than 1,600 automatic recoveries executed. The F-16 test aircraft will now be transitioned to the Air Force Flight Test Center 416th Flight Test Squadron, who will begin production flight testing in the next phase of the ACAT program. The Auto GCAS software was recently transitioned to Aeronautical Systems Center, with the goal of incorporating the system into F-16 production aircraft in 2014.

Auto GCAS technology uses information gathered from Global Positioning System data and incorporates it with Digital Terrain Elevation Data maps to enable aircraft to reference terrain below. In the event that an aircraft is flown dangerously close to the ground, this critical data enables the aircraft to automatically execute avoidance maneuvers without pilot intervention.

Onboard for the final test flight was Lockheed Avionics Design Engineer Charles Canney and NASA project pilot Nils Larsen. The flight took place over a widespread area including portions of California from Edwards Air Force Base to Death Valley and the peaks and canyons of the Sierra Nevada Range. The flight evaluated the ability of the system to fly at low levels without “nuisance fly-ups,” or unwarranted activations of the system. Additionally, the system’s collision avoidance capability was evaluated with the execution of numerous mishap profiles that are typically seen in the F-16 fleet.

Mr. Canney, who has served as part of the design team for Lockheed since 1989, flew aboard many of the collision avoidance runs throughout this testing effort. He described the final test flight as “the best flight anyone has ever had,” and stated, “As Nils got down low, I could see dirt being kicked up off of the desert floor and no nuisance activations.”

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With the Phantom Eye's 150 foot wing span and two hydrogen-propelled engines, Phantom Eye will be able to carry a 450 lp payload on missions spanning over several days, at an altitude of 65,000 ft. Photo: Boeing

The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] today unveiled the hydrogen-powered Phantom Eye unmanned airborne system, a demonstrator that will stay aloft at 65,000 feet for up to four days. Later this summer, Phantom Eye will be shipped to NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., to begin a series of ground and taxi tests in preparation for its first flight in early 2011. That debut flight is expected to last between four and eight hours.

With a 150-foot wingspan, Phantom Eye will cruise at approximately 150 knots and can carry up to a 450-pound payload. It is powered by two 2.3-liter, four-cylinder hydrogen fuelled engines that provide 150 horsepower each. “The hydrogen propulsion system will be the key to Phantom Eye’s success” said Darryl Davis, president of Boeing Phantom Works, “It is very efficient and offers great fuel economy, and its only byproduct is water, so it’s also a ‘green’ aircraft.”

“Phantom Eye is the first of its kind and could open up a whole new market in collecting data and communications,” said today at the unveiling ceremony in St. Louis. Key Phantom Eye suppliers and partners include Ford Motor Company (engines), Aurora Flight Sciences (wing), Mahle Powertrain (propulsion controls), Ball Aerospace (fuel tanks), Turbosolutions Engineering (turbochargers), the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and NASA.

More on the Phantom Eye on Defense-Update.com

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Northrop Grumman is planning to conduct an aerial refueling demonstration performed by two Global Hawk HALE UAVs, under a DARPA funding. Illustration: Northrop Grumman

Northrop Grumman, National Air and Space Agency (NASA) and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) are planning to demonstrate aerial refueling of a NASA Global Hawk autonomous aerial vehicles by a sister ship.  The program will be designated KQ-X.

The agency allocated US$33 million for Northrop Grumman, to conduct the autonomous refueling demonstration within the next two years. The demonstration perform the first-ever fully autonomous rendezvous, rejoin, station keeping, aerial refueling, and formation separation of two unmanned aircraft.  The flight will be conducted at altitudes typically flown by the Global Hawk’, hence, overcoming inherent limitations of high altitude flight in thin atmosphere and limited control authority associated with long-endurance aircraft. “The importance of aerial refueling is clear in the way military aviation depends on it today,” said Jim McCormick, the DARPA program manager for KQ-X. ”This demonstration will go a long way towards making those same advantages a reality for the next generation of unmanned aircraft.” A successful outcome will allow developers of future unmanned aircraft to produce more cost-effective systems that rely on aerial refueling for the most demanding missions.

Northrop Grumman will retrofit two of the high altitude long endurance (HALE) UAVs, one aircraft pumping fuel into the other in flight through a hose-and-drogue refueling system. The aerial refueling engagement will be completely autonomous. Engineering work will be accomplished at the Northrop Grumman Unmanned Systems Development Center in Rancho Bernardo, California. Pilots from NASA, NOAA, and Northrop Grumman will fly the Global Hawks from the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base, also in California. Sargent Fletcher, Inc. and Sierra Nevada Corporation are major KQ-X subcontractors.

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Northrop Grumman is planning to conduct an aerial refueling demonstration performed by two Global Hawk HALE UAVs, under a DARPA funding. Illustration: Northrop Grumman

Northrop Grumman, National Air and Space Agency (NASA) and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) are planning to demonstrate aerial refueling of a NASA Global Hawk autonomous aerial vehicles by a sister ship.  The program will be designated KQ-X.

The agency allocated US$33 million for Northrop Grumman, to conduct the autonomous refueling demonstration within the next two years. The demonstration perform the first-ever fully autonomous rendezvous, rejoin, station keeping, aerial refueling, and formation separation of two unmanned aircraft.  The flight will be conducted at altitudes typically flown by the Global Hawk’, hence, overcoming inherent limitations of high altitude flight in thin atmosphere and limited control authority associated with long-endurance aircraft. “The importance of aerial refueling is clear in the way military aviation depends on it today,” said Jim McCormick, the DARPA program manager for KQ-X. ”This demonstration will go a long way towards making those same advantages a reality for the next generation of unmanned aircraft.” A successful outcome will allow developers of future unmanned aircraft to produce more cost-effective systems that rely on aerial refueling for the most demanding missions.

Northrop Grumman will retrofit two of the high altitude long endurance (HALE) UAVs, one aircraft pumping fuel into the other in flight through a hose-and-drogue refueling system. The aerial refueling engagement will be completely autonomous. Engineering work will be accomplished at the Northrop Grumman Unmanned Systems Development Center in Rancho Bernardo, California. Pilots from NASA, NOAA, and Northrop Grumman will fly the Global Hawks from the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base, also in California. Sargent Fletcher, Inc. and Sierra Nevada Corporation are major KQ-X subcontractors.

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