Army fusing UAS sensors

The U.S. Army is testing prototypes of a new high-tech synchronization engine at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Ala., which can combine video feeds and sensor data from multiple Unmanned Aircraft Systems on a single Ground Control Station, service officials said.

"We are opening a gateway to information that we have never done before. Today, you can't switch between one stovepipe intelligence source to another that easily," said Tim Owings, deputy program manager, Army UAS.

The new system, called the Federated Universal Synchronization Engine, or FUSE, uses software and hardware to fuse a host of different intelligence sources on one viewing screen, including Ground Moving Target Indicator, Electro-Optical, Infrared and Synthetic Aperture Radar capabilities, Owings said.

"FUSE is about operator cueing - to get the operator better intelligence feeds so that he can find targets more rapidly. If you are a Shadow you don't have a moving target indicator. All you have is video. With FUSE - if you have a Gray Eagle in the same area with an SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) - you will now be able to see the GMTI (Ground Moving Target Indicator) on the Shadow GCS (Ground Control Station)," Owings said.

Army aims to streamline equipment testing

During these austere days of budget cuts, Maj. Gen. Genaro Dellarocco, commanding general of the Army's Test and Evaluation Command, seeks to preserve the combat force while eliminating deficiencies.

"Over the next 60 days, we're putting together a targeted plan to look at efficiencies. There's a lot of low-hanging fruit out there that we know we can do a quick study on, change some procedures, and harvest the efficiencies in time and money in our test planning. That's the intent.

"In order to do that, we've got to do things a little differently," Dellarocco said at a recent AUSA Institute of Land Warfare breakfast meeting.

The Army's Test and Evaluation Command, or ATEC, was established in October 1999 by the Army's vice chief of staff with the primary function of ensuring that Soldiers go to war with weapons that work. Located throughout the continental United states, Alaska, and Hawaii, ATEC has about 1,100 ongoing tests everyday in the United States and around the world.

In their newly developed strategic plan, ATEC vows to change their culture by taking a hard look at testing on both the developmental side and the operational side of business.

Army building new F model Kiowa Warrior

The U.S. Army is beginning mission equipment upgrade modifications to its fleet of OH-58 Kiowa Warrior scout aircraft in an effort to build a new, high-tech "F" model helicopter designed with improved avionics, better sensors and stepped-up overall performance capability, service officials said.

The first "F" model flight is slated for next year, said Lt. Col. Scott Rauer, product manager, Kiowa Warrior. Overall, the Army plans to acquire 368 "F" model OH-58s, an aircraft which comes to life through a series of technical upgrades and changes to the current "D" model Kiowa.

Today, 94 Kiowa Warrior scout helicopters have been busily performing a range of crucial missions in Iraq and Afghanistan to include light attack missions, general reconnaissance, improvised explosive device detection and convoy escort missions, Rauer said.

"It's the highest demand rotary-wing aircraft in Army aviation. It flies more than 90 hours a month; about seven times the normal usage rate," he added.

The "F" model Kiowa upgrade, which will ensure the aircraft's service life through 2025, includes a host of technical upgrades being performed by an Army government design house at Redstone Arsenal, Ala., and a handful of its industry partners to include Bell Helicopter, Honeywell and Rolls Royce.