General Atomics Tests UAV-Mounted Airborne Tracking and Targeting System

General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems (GA-EMS) has announced that it has participated in the Rim of the Pacific Exercise (RIMPAC) to conduct demonstrations and testing of the Missile Defense Agency’s (MDA) Airborne Tracking and Targeting System (ATTS). The ATTS is configured on an MQ-9B unmnned aerial vehicle (UAV) to generate precision tracks and imagery of targets of interest. The system was employed throughout the RIMPAC exercises conducted near the Hawaiian Islands.

“We tested MDA’s ATTS under operational conditions to help further characterize its tracking performance against real-world targets of interest,” stated Dr. Michael Perry, vice president for lasers and advanced sensors at GA-EMS. “Exercises like RIMPAC provide us with a unique opportunity to shake out and stretch the system’s capabilities. We can now take the test data we’ve obtained and analyze it to further improve ATTS’ ability to effectively track and target a variety of threats at long-range and in real-time.

“GA-EMS continues to develop and advance its portfolio of missile defense weapon systems and technologies to support air, sea and land platforms,” said Scott Forney, president of GA-EMS. “In an increasingly more complex, multi-layered warfare environment, systems like ATTS will enhance our military forces ability to improve tracking and targeting accuracy to protect lives and achieve mission success.”

Held every two years, RIMPAC is the world’s largest multinational maritime warfare exercise. The RIMPAC 2018 Exercise included 25 nations, 46 ships, approximately 200 aircraft, five submarines, and 25,000 personnel.