The Army Unmanned Aircraft Systems Project Office, headquartered at Redstone Arsenal, Ala., recently officially opened its Rapid Integration and Acceptance Center (RIAC) at Dugway Proving Ground, Utah, consolidating the testing of UAS payloads and technologies to allow for faster deployment to Warfighters.
At the opening ceremony, Program Executive Officer, Aviation, Brig. Gen. William Crosby, drew a paralleled between RIAC and Pony Express operations across the neighboring Utah desert in 1860 and 1861. “In the same pioneering spirit those passionate and dedicated riders served their country, we serve our country and our Warfighters today. The RIAC will allow us to…serve our soldiers faster.”
Col. Greg Gonzalez, project manager for Unmanned Aircraft Systems, acknowledged service to the Warfighter, saying it is the soldiers in combat who give his office its orders. “If a soldier says ‘Col. Gonzalez, I need to fly more air vehicles at the same time with just one ground system, then it becomes my job to figure out how to make that happen. I should tell you that it doesn’t bother me a bit to have those young soldiers tell me what to do. It is my pleasure to take those orders and deliver what they need.”
The Army is leading development of a common Ground Control Station (GCS) to operate with multiple UAS for the Defense Department, and this work will move to the RIAC. “We can accelerate interoperability by having all the equipment and the experts in one place, to test, to improve, to deploy,” Gonzalez said.
Managed by the Army, RIAC is open to any military agency that needs unmanned aircraft systems technologies or payloads quickly tested and fielded.
The Army UAS Project Office currently coordinates RIAC efforts with the Marines and Special Operations Command, and anticipates working with the Navy in the near future.
Following a year-long search, the Army announced in May that Dugway Proving Ground had been chosen for its abundant restricted air space and available frequency spectrum, existing infrastructure, and room for expansion.
In June, operations for AAI Corp.’s [TXT] Shadowr Tactical Unmanned Aircraft System began relocating to the RIAC. Operations for Northrop Grumman’s [NOC] Hunter system will be transferred by year’s end, the Ground Control Station test operations are in the process of being transferred, and transition for the General Atomics Aeronautical Systems’ Extended Range Multi-Purpose UAS will occur in the spring.