PEO AVIATION CONDUCTS FIRST FLIGHT OF CRITICAL ARMY AVIATION MODERNIZED NAVIGATION EQUIPMENT
PEO AVIATION CONDUCTS FIRST FLIGHT OF CRITICAL ARMY AVIATION MODERNIZED NAVIGATION EQUIPMENT
By David Hylton
January 18, 2023
The Project Management (PM) Office for Aviation Mission Systems and Architecture (AMSA) recently completed successful testing of critical next generation Army Aviation navigation equipment at El Mirage Test Range, Calif.
In October and November, The Endurance Unmanned Aircraft System (EUAS) Product Office and General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Incorporated executed the first five successful flights for the Enhanced Aviation, Global Air Traffic Management, Localizer Performance with Vertical Guidance, Embedded Global Positioning System/Inertial Navigation System (EGI) (EAGLE) M-Code, or EAGLE-M, and the Multi-Platform Anti-Jam Global Positioning System Navigation Antenna (MAGNA) on an MQ-1 Gray Eagle Unmanned Aerial System (UAS). It was also the first time the combined systems, that represent Army aviation’s next generation of Assured Positioning, Navigation and Timing (A-PNT), were flown as a system.
On December 8, 2022, PM AMSA hosted a ceremony at Redstone Arsenal, Ala. to celebrate the successful demonstrations. During the ceremony, the Program Executive Officer Aviation, Maj. Gen. Robert Barrie emphasized the importance of these capabilities. He also congratulated members of the Assured Airspace Access Systems Product Office and Honeywell International for the successful component development and qualification of the EAGLE-M navigator as well as the EUAS Product Office for successful Gray Eagle system integration and flight testing.
The EGI is the common avionics solution for Army aviation platforms. The EAGLE-M program upgrades the current EGI to meet requirements for A-PNT and provides the primary position, attitude, velocity, and timing solution that enables aviation platforms to operate in civil airspace and to operate within GPS contested environments. The EAGLE-M includes an M-Code GPS receiver capable of providing extremely precise aircraft position that, when combined with the inertial system, provides a very robust and resilient A-PNT solution. EAGLE-M will be fielded on Gray Eagle UAS and most Army aviation manned platforms.
MAGNA provides DoD platforms with GPS protection from adversarial jamming enabling the warfighter continued access to GPS A-PNT during operations. It will be produced in two variants, MAGNA-Federated for fixed wing, rotary aircraft and large UAS and MAGNA-Integrated for smaller UAS and other platforms.
EUAS’s Gray Eagle was selected as the PEO’s first test platform because of the maturity and efficiency of its software integration program. EAGLE-M successfully demonstrated its capability to perform as an A-PNT source for Gray Eagle and to integrate and successfully operate with the MAGNA antenna.
Operationally, EAGLE-M and MAGNA combine to provide an extremely resilient and robust A-PNT solution for Army aviation platforms, optimizing mission performance in GPS contested environments, increasing reach, survivability and lethality. EAGLE-M satisfies current generation GPS receiver obsolescence issues and will provide civil navigation capabilities for en route through precision approach under Instrument Meteorological Conditions. The next step for EAGLE-M on the Gray Eagle UAS is to complete system level qualification and receive a platform airworthiness release in support of planned fielding beginning in 2023. Simultaneously, all enduring manned rotary wing platforms have integration programs underway in support of EAGLE-M and MAGNA qualification and fielding.