Alliant Techsystems Conducts Successful Outrider TUAV Flights Using Tactical Control System
Feb 11, 1999
Alliant Techsystems (NYSE: ATK) said its Defense Systems Group has flown the Outrider™ Tactical Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (TUAV) for the first time under the command and control of a Tactical Control System (TCS) for unmanned aerial vehicles.
Two separate flights using the TCS were conducted Feb. 2-3 at Alliant's flight operations center in Glasscock, Texas. The flights totaled 122 minutes in duration, with the Outrider air vehicle and electronic payload under TCS command for 90 minutes. During each flight, TCS operators performed dynamic retasking, in which the TCS communicated changes in mission waypoints. They also exercised the Outrider's electro-optic infrared payload cameras. Eight separate control transfers between the Outrider control system and the TCS were accomplished during the flights.
Don Cattell, vice president, Unmanned Vehicle Systems and Outrider TUAV program manager, said the flights are the culmination of more than two years of work by the TCS and Outrider teams. The Defense Systems Group was awarded a contract in 1996 to develop TCS interfaces for the Outrider TUAV.
"These flights represent a significant milestone for the Outrider program," said Cattell. "We have successfully demonstrated the interface between the Outrider TUAV and the TCS."
When fully validated and fielded, the TCS software is intended to provide an inter-operable command, control, and data receipt capability for the Outrider ground control stations as well as other unmanned aerial vehicles used by the U.S. military.
The Outrider TUAV program completed a successful Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration program in 1998. The Department of Defense is evaluating the program to determine if it will enter low-rate production. Alliant's Defense Systems Group reported fiscal year 1998 sales of $242 million. The group employs approximately 1,050 people and has operations in Florida, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Wisconsin.
Alliant Techsystems is a $1.1 billion aerospace and defense company with approximately 6,300 employees. Headquartered in Hopkins, Minn., the company's business groups are Conventional Munitions, Space and Strategic Systems, and Defense Systems. Company news and information can be found on the Internet at http://www.atk.com/
SOURCE: Alliant Techsystems
Contact: Media, Rod Bitz, 612-931-5413, E-mail rod_bitz@atk.com or
Investors, Richard N. Jowett, 612-931-6080, E-mail richard_jowett@atk.com,
both of Alliant
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