The U.S. Army plans to begin flight testing the new Improved Gray Eagle (IGE) unmanned aircraft system (UAS) “before Christmas,” a service official said Oct. 5.
The IGE is a derivative of the Army’s existing Gray Eagle, built by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. (GA-ASI). IGE will carry more fuel and have more engine horsepower than Gray Eagle, providing increased endurance, said Col. Courtney Cote, the Army’s UAS project manager. IGE is also supposed to offer more payload capacity, easier maintenance and longer-lasting critical components, according to GA-ASI.
GA-ASI developed and flight-tested IGE on its own and received an Army contract last year to deliver 19 aircraft by September 2018. IGE is designed to perform surveillance, communications relay and weapons delivery.
Cote said the Army also continues to pursue the Future Tactical Unmanned Aircraft System, which could be acquired in the 2020s and ultimately replace the Textron [TXT] Shadow. A draft initial capabilities document for the drone is under review at the Pentagon and “will start to define what the more refined capabilities are going to need to be,” Cote told reporters at the Association of the U.S. Army (AUSA) annual meeting in Washington, D.C.
Compared to the rail-launched Shadow, the “runway independent” Future Tactical UAS is expected to provide increased endurance, reliability, sensor capacity and survivability, Cote said. In March, the Army issued a request for information on industry’s ability to provide the Future Tactical UAS.
The Army is also looking to acquire a new small UAS called the Short Range Micro (SRM). To complement its existing medium-range Raven and long-range Puma, both hand-launched small UAS made by AeroVironment, the Army plans to issue a request for proposals in fiscal year 2018 for the SRM, Cote said.
The new drone might be small enough to be carried in a soldier’s pocket. Having a total of three kinds of small UAS would give “a tactical commander some options,” he said.