With Eye on China, India Seeks Armed Drones from U.S.
Positive indication
Mr. Lall gave positive indication of General Atomics’ interest in the path-breaking DTTI and the Narendra Modi government’s ‘Make in India’ initiative.
“GA-ASI is very interested in opportunities to work with new international industrial partners. We focus on identifying those opportunities that leverage the strengths and growth capabilities of new partners to enhance the already impressive capabilities delivered by Predator-series RPA,” Mr. Lall said.
Highly reliable, cost-effective
“Predator-series RPA provide a highly reliable, cost-effective ISR capability that is fully inter-operable with U.S. forces and U.S. military platforms in the Indian military’s aircraft inventory,” he said.
“The aircraft can perform wide-area surveillance along India’s extensive terrestrial and marine borders,” he added.
“Extremely safe and reliable, Predator-series RPA have been updated with state-of-the-art technologies, including an automatic takeoff and landing capability, redundant flight control surfaces, enhanced avionics, and triple-redundant flight control computers,” Mr. Lall said.
DAA capability
Noting that GA-ASI also is committed to developing a Detect and Avoid (DAA) capability for its RPA, Mr. Lall said the company was currently developing a DAA system, enabling it to successfully detect and avoid cooperative and non-cooperative aircraft.
“It has most recently accomplished the task during a series of flight tests conducted in conjunction with the FAA and NASA,” he said.
Wide-area search capability
According to Mr. Lall, Predator-series RPA may be integrated with multiple ISR sensors, including state-of-the-art EO/IR cameras and GA-ASI’s Lynx® Multi-mode Radar which features a state-of-the-art Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) mode that offers all-weather, day/night performance for a wide-area search capability.
“Its Ground Moving Target Indicator (GMTI) mode provides a quick and easy method for locating moving vehicles,” he said.
The radar’s Maritime Wide Area Search (MWAS) mode provides the capability to complete a variety of maritime missions successfully, including coastal surveillance, long-range surveillance, small target detection, and search and rescue operations.
Automatic Identification System
“Predator-series RPA also are equipped with an Automatic Identification System (AIS) for identifying vessels at sea. Other sensors may be integrated at the customer’s request,” Mr. Lall said.
“Additionally, Predator-series RPA are equipped with both Line-of-Sight (LOS) and Beyond-Line-of-Sight (BLOS) data link systems for over-the-horizon operations. The ability to be flown from remote locations precludes the need for a large logistics footprint at forward operating bases,” he said.
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