Raytheon Technologies subsidiary Collins Aerospace has successfully showcased the capability of its new RapidEdge mission system solution for the US Army’s Air Launched Effects (ALE).
ALE, a small drone, is a key component of the Army’s future armed reconnaissance aircraft (FARA) ecosystem, as part of the future vertical lift (FVL) effort.
It includes an air vehicle, multiple payloads, and a mission system.
The RapidEdge mission system is being developed to serve as the brain of the system, and allows ALEs to perform as a team and lower pilot workload.
It features radios, solutions for classified data handling, mission computing, and autonomous behaviours.
During the demonstration, the RapidEdge mission system implemented tactically appropriate ALE behaviours. It also communicated through a cross-domain multi-level security solution.
As part of the demonstration, Collins connected its hardware in its Cedar Rapids lab, based in Iowa, to another hardware at its new customer experience centre in Huntsville, Alabama.
Collins Aerospace integrated solution vice-president and general manager Heather Robertson said: “We designed our RapidEdge mission system solution for this market, with a robust and resilient open systems approach at a high technological and manufacturing readiness level.
“The offering is primed to meet the Army’s aggressive programme schedule while delivering a critical capability to the warfighter.”
The latest demonstration comes after Collins Aerospace recently demonstrated its mission system solution by integrating it into the Altius-700 air vehicle.
In December last year, Collins Aerospace was selected by the Brazilian Army to provide its high frequency (HF) cellular communications system.
