Grob Aircraft has blown new life into development of the G520 EGRETT high altitude platform and is showing its latest G520NG during Farnborough Air Show 2014. The aircraft can be found in the static display area. The EGRETT project has been dormant since Grob went bankrupt some years ago. Under its new ownership Grob Aircraft re-entered the aerospace market and has been successfull with its G120TP training aircraft that can perform elementary, basic and advanced pilot training. The German company is now promoting its high performance high altitude reconnaissance and surveillance platform which has been rebranded from G520T to G520NG. Five EGRETT airframes have been built in the past, four single seat aircraft, two of which still operate in the US as testbeds for Raytheon and other companies. The fifth aircraft which was built is a two seat version which operated in Australia but has now been bought back by Grob. Powered by a 750shp Honeywell TPE331-14 engine, this is the aircraft now on display and Grob is also interested in buying back the aircraft operating in the US. With its maximum take off weight of 4,700kg G520NG can carry a maximum payload of 850 kilogrammes. Operating at an maximum certified altitude of 50,000 feet (15,240m), EGRETT has an endurance for 7,5 hours and a range of 1980 nautical miles (3670km) when carrying a 500 kilograms payload. Maximum endurance would be approximately 11 hours, hereby enabling persistent ISR. Grob Aircraft is offering EGRETT as an optionally piloted vehicle and has already attracted considerable interest from across the globe. Countries which are interested include Mexico and Indonesia as both countries are surveying the market for a solution that could execute long surveillance missions over territorial waters and along borders. Coming from Germany, and sidestepping some of the problems associated with UAVs, G520NG could be an interesting alternative to the Eurohawk HALE UAV, when it comes to meeting the German military's requirement for a persistent aerial ISR system. The aircraft is fully qualified for all weather IFR/icing operations and with its OPV configuration it could fly in non-segregated airspace with ease.
Pieter Bastiaans