Photo By Samuel King Jr. | An eight-foot Griff 135 unmanned aerial system rises sits ready for its next mission...... read more read more
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EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. – With the low rumble of Air Force fighter engines echoing in the distance, four and then eight motorized propellers of two unmanned aerial systems buzzed to life in an open field of the Eglin Test and Training Range Oct. 8.
The two UAS in flight, one an Air Force-owned TRV-150 and the other, Near Earth Autonomy’s Griff 135, marked the first time the two aircraft flew together for a test mission.
The mission, facilitated by the Autonomy, Data, and AI Experimentation Proving Ground and supported by 413th Flight Test Squadron personnel, reached a few milestones for the 2-year-old program.
The mission was the first time the 413th FLTS flight-tested the TRV-150 here as well as Near Earth’s first flight test with an Air Force aircraft.
The Air Force goal for the mission was to provide ground and airspace as well as an aircraft to Near Earth, a third-party UAS developer, to test their autonomy architecture, specifically detection and avoidance capabilities. This allows the sUAS to detect other aircraft sending out automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast transmissions and respond to avoid collisions.
“This is a meaningful milestone on our path towards fully capable autonomous traffic avoidance,” said Paul Bartlett, Near Earth head of systems engineering. “The realistic flight tests with the prototype accreditable autonomy architecture would not have been possible without Eglin. Having such strong partners to test missions has been indispensable as we define and verify our accreditation approach for autonomous flight.”
The test was successful as the eight-foot Griff 135 identified the presence and location of the TRV-150 and performed avoidance maneuvers over two successive flights.
These types of third-party-developer UAS tests are part of AFWERX Autonomy Prime, which focuses on the collaborative development of autonomy technologies with industry partners to accelerate transition into possible Air Force acquisitions. AFWERX works directly with the ADAx Proving Ground at Eglin to test these rapidly progressing technologies.
This was the third test mission for Near Earth at the Proving Ground in less than a year. They were the first third-party developer to test their autonomy here in Oct. 2023.
“Testing these capabilities quickly and effectively is critical to moving the Air Force forward,” said Lt. Col. Robert Waller, 96th Operations Group deputy commander. “One of the reasons the ADAx Proving Ground was created was to be able to experiment and try new ideas with Air Force-beneficial concepts and platforms with a level of urgency required to meet today’s advancements in modern warfare.”
| Date Taken: | 10.16.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 10.21.2024 10:44 |
| Story ID: | 483547 |
| Location: | EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, FLORIDA, US |
| Web Views: | 64 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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