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Aerospace Locally built unmanned aircraft are showing they’re made of the right stuff



Agencies Expand Use of Pilotless Aircraft

The lowly drone is widening its horizons.

Foreign governments are lining up for such unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), which can carry cameras and other sensors into hostile areas while being flown from a ground station a safe distance away.

U.S. agencies are finding more uses for drones, several of which are produced by San Diego companies.

Northrop Grumman Corp. Integrated Systems Sector, formerly Teledyne Ryan Aeronautical, produces the Global Hawk, a jet-powered craft that made headlines this spring with a pair of unmanned, transpacific crossings.

The drone left Edwards Air Force base for Australia, where it participated in several weeks of naval exercises.

Australia has expressed interest in buying such units to monitor immigration as well as naval activity, said George Guerra, deputy program manager with the Northrop Grumman unit that builds Global Hawk.

He added the Australian government has taken an initial step toward buying a Global Hawk by requesting “pricing and availability” information from both the U.S. Air Force and the Pentagon.

Another San Diego company, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc., produces a line of propeller-driven drones.

Notable among these is the RQ-1 Predator system, which has become a fixture in the Air Force. First flown in 1994, Predators have operated out of Nevada’s Indian Springs Air Force Auxiliary Field since 1996.

GA Aeronautical Systems makes a smaller cousin, the Prowler II, whose 14-foot length and 24-foot wingspan are roughly half of the Predator’s. Its 100-pound payload is roughly a quarter of the Predator’s, according to specifications provided by Aeronautical Systems in a basic overview of its products.

Another system called Altus is built for high-altitude missions. It is doing work for the Navy, the Department of Energy and NASA, according to the Aeronautical Systems overview.

The Predator, Prowler and Altus all rely on earlier technology: A craft that Aeronautical Systems gave the lowly name of “Gnat.”

The company says the Gnat can stay aloft more than 40 hours, has operated in five combat areas, and has monitored the atmosphere for the Department of Energy.

The Gnat has also gone to work for the Central Intelligence Agency, according to Popular Science magazine. Author Frank Vizard called the craft “the CIA’s favorite spy in the sky,” and cited unnamed aviation experts saying a Gnat unit kept tabs on the terrorist takeover of Peru’s Japanese embassy in 1997.

The political situation in the Balkans has dictated the mission for at least one of Aeronautical Systems’ drone models.

During the mid- and late 1990s, the Predator went to work over areas like Kosovo and Bosnia, according to its builder and various published reports.

Two industry publications , Aviation Week & Space Technology, and Jane’s Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and Targets , report the Predator has been deployed to Iraq; the McGraw-Hill magazine said it was used there as late as this year.

A turboprop Predator B is under development, according to the Jane’s Information Group Ltd. reference. NASA is helping pay for its development as part of its Earth Science Enterprise program, it said.

The Predator has even departed from its reconnaissance role. Early this year the Air Force publicized that it launched Hellfire-C air-to-ground missiles from a Predator during tests in Nevada.

Italy has expressed interest in the Predator. An August 2000 report from Jane’s said Italy was to order six aircraft and two ground control stations.

An Aeronautical Systems spokeswoman called Italy a “real term pending sale” that is due to occur in July. Production could begin in October.

She did not specify the number of units or the terms of the sale. She did, however, note there would be a partnership with Meteor, an Italian company.

A complete Predator system comprises four air vehicles with sensors, a ground control station, and a satellite communication suite, according to official Air Force information. Fifty-five people run the system.

When the mission is done, the vehicle can be broken down into six subassemblies, then put away in a box which Air Force crews have nicknamed “the coffin.”

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