Apache receives real-time video from UAV
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Apache receives real-time video from UAV
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2007/01/dfnApache070118/
By Kris Osborn - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Jan 18, 2007 7:06:48 EST
The Army successfully beamed video from unmanned aerial vehicles to an Apache AH-64 Block III attack helicopter in a demonstration, service officials said.
In recent tests at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, an Apache pilot in flight watched video beamed from a UAV that was 75 kilometers away. The UAV was the Future Combat Systems Class I Micro Air Vehicle, a small 50-pound, 3-foot UAV being developed for the ArmyÂ’s Future Combat Systems.
The test checked the software, logistics and communications systems.
The video demonstration was part of a broader effort called FCS 1.1, which includes experiments with high bandwidth networking with vehicles, helicopters and UAVs. Today, the AH-64D has the ability to digitally send target information to ground vehicles; the idea with FCS 1.1 is to demonstrate how an Apache could share information with all sorts of forces.
The signal travels from the MAV to a ground station where it is beamed, encrypted, to the chopper in near real-time, program officials said. The AH-64 Block III’s mission computer, Manned/Unmanned Common Architecture Program, “has five times the processing power of what is on the AH/64D model,” said Larry Plaster, Boeing’s manager of Apache modernization.
Although it’s only in a demonstration phase at the moment, the capabilities could give pilots a greater understanding of surrounding threats. Col. Derek Paquette, project manager for the Apache said, “any time you can get situational awareness before you arrive on the scene, you are in a better position to win the battle. The whole key is information dominance.”
A VIP demonstration is planned for the first week of February at White Sands, where Apaches and other aircraft will receive video from nearby UAVs.
I think with our emphasis on UAVs, our 3G RSAF Apache helicopters will have such capability real soon.
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Yup, Im sure STAero is on their way to doing something similar already
This system will make coordination hell a lot easier.
A meaner fighting force
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Yippee!! TVmobile at your nearest apache soon!!