General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA‑ASI) announced at ILA 2016Berlin Airshow that it will integrate Rafael’s RECCELITE, a versatile imagery reconnaissance pod, onto an Italian Air Force (ItAF) PREDATOR B/MQ-9. RECCELITE is currently operational on manned Italian military aircraft.
“Integrating this imagery enhancement capability onto PREDATOR B is a significant milestone and could lead to similar efforts with other NATO customers that operate MQ-9,” Linden Blue, CEO, GA-ASI, said. “PREDATOR B’s open payload architecture enables users to integrate their own payloads easily, with minimal to no software changes required.”
The wide-area coverage capabilities of the RECCELITE pod complement PREDATOR B’s nose-mounted, Multi-spectral Targeting System-B (MTS-B) Full-motion Video (FMV) system. RECCELITE provides geo-referenced, wide field-of-regard, high-resolution digital stills in the IR and visible bands, which can be post-processed into a mosaic image in the Ground Exploitation Station.
A combined ItAF, GA-ASI, and Rafael team is currently testing the integration hardware that will make this enhanced capability available to Italian operational forces. The team will execute developmental and operational flight tests under ItAF leadership in early 2017 at Amendola Air Base, Italy, with system fielding to occur shortly thereafter.
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| At ILA 2016, GA-ASI showcases the PREDATOR B RPA, seen here next to an USAF C-17. (Photo: Mönch) |
“Integrating this imagery enhancement capability onto PREDATOR B is a significant milestone and could lead to similar efforts with other NATO customers that operate MQ-9,” Linden Blue, CEO, GA-ASI, said. “PREDATOR B’s open payload architecture enables users to integrate their own payloads easily, with minimal to no software changes required.”
The wide-area coverage capabilities of the RECCELITE pod complement PREDATOR B’s nose-mounted, Multi-spectral Targeting System-B (MTS-B) Full-motion Video (FMV) system. RECCELITE provides geo-referenced, wide field-of-regard, high-resolution digital stills in the IR and visible bands, which can be post-processed into a mosaic image in the Ground Exploitation Station.
A combined ItAF, GA-ASI, and Rafael team is currently testing the integration hardware that will make this enhanced capability available to Italian operational forces. The team will execute developmental and operational flight tests under ItAF leadership in early 2017 at Amendola Air Base, Italy, with system fielding to occur shortly thereafter.