General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA ASI), a leading manufacturer of Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA), tactical reconnaissance radars, and electro-optic surveillance systems, today announced its successful participation in the recent U.S. Navy Trident Spectre experiment conducted at the Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story, Virginia.

During its May 8-18 participation, GA-ASI operated a Predator® B surrogate (King Air 200) equipped with Predator B-type sensors including GA-ASI’s Lynx® Multi-mode Radar and FLIR’s Star SAFIRE 380HD Electro-Optical/Infrared (EO/IR) imaging system.

The Predator B surrogate leveraged Lynx to detect ground-based moving targets, and GA-ASI’s Claw® payload control software automatically cross-cued, or slewed, to the Star SAFIRE for target visual identification.

This next-generation data dissemination capability allowed naval commanders to review data rapidly, modify follow-on mission flight planning, and demonstrate ad-hoc mission re-tasking of the aircraft directly by commanders based in the Tactical Operations Center (TOC). Sensor imagery was also simultaneously streamed to a host of U.S. government entities in real-time.

“Our primary goal was to provide all-weather, day/night Lynx radar and EO/IR data on moving ground targets and disseminate that information to the Navy’s shore-based TOC,” said Linden Blue, President, Reconnaissance Systems Group, GA-ASI.

“The mission was successfully executed and marked a historical milestone by demonstrating the ability to provide Lynx and EO/IR instantaneously via a tactical common data link for dissemination to the warfighter,” Blue added.

Trident Spectre is an annual exercise designed to develop and execute complex operational scenarios. These scenarios help validate technologies in tactically-oriented scenarios to enhance situational awareness for decision-makers, as well as receive immediate feedback from the operators on the effectiveness and applicability of the technologies involved for current and projected operating environments.