A cooperation between General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) and Selex Galileo will enable the integration and control of non-U.S. sensors on the Predator and Reaper UAV series. Selex Galileo has developed a “platform agnostic” open architecture named SkyIstar for unmanned aerial systems. The Anglo-Italian company will now integrate the SeaSpray 7500E radar on a Predator-B. Flight tests from GA-ASI’s test facility in Southern California are scheduled for early December.
“GA-ASI has recognized that foreign customers require full control over data collection and management,” said Fabrizio Giulianini, CEO of Selex Galileo. Thanks to the SkyIstar development, it should be relatively easy for third-party sensors to interface with the Predator’s navigation and flight control systems, he added. GA-ASI president Frank Pace said that the company’s implementation of the open-payload architecture “greatly reduces integration complexity.” Payloads can be integrated without the need to modify the UAS or GCS (ground control station) software, yet integrators can access aircraft datalinks and communications buses, control certain aircraft power switching, and receive vehicle and sensor data feeds, GA-ASI stated.
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