Unmanned Aerial System

Abstract

Project 3448 - The first Marine Air Ground Task Force (MAGTF) Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Expeditionary (MUX) Family of Systems (FoS) element is Medium-Altitude, Long-Endurance (MALE), a land-based Group 5 UAS based on the MQ-9A weapon system. MALE provides Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) in support of Expeditionary Advanced Base Operations (EABO), Littoral Operations in Contested Environments (LOCE), and Distributed Maritime Operations (DMO) and an advanced, unmanned, multi-mission capability for the MAGTF and Marine Littoral Regiment (MLR). MALE will award contracts for initial MQ-9A mission capabilities (payloads/sensors) design, development and integration with payloads supporting Tier 1 mission capabilities. Payload/sensor capabilities consists of Common Operating and Intelligence Picture (COP/CIP) development and integration, Detect And Avoid System (DAAS), Airborne Network Extension (ANE) / SkyTower II, Electronic Warfare (EW) (previously RDESS/SOAR), Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) (previously Airborne Early Warning), and Proliferated Low Earth Orbit (PLEO). The USMC MALE program will be supported by UX-24 as the primary test activity/squadron for capability development as well as system modification validation efforts. UX-24 will provide direct support of testing associated with payloads/sensors in support of USMC requirements. The payloads/sensors which undergo testing may require or drive hardware and software modifications during testing to satisfy system, subsystem and component level test parameters.

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Document Details

Document Type
R2 Budgetary Justification
Publication Date
Oct 01, 2024
Source ID
0603128N_4_1319_PB_2024
Change Summary Explanation
Funding: FY24 funding request was increased by $16.140M due to the acceleration of the Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) sensor capability. Schedule changes from PB23 to PB24: -SkyTower II / ANE development schedule started later in FY22 due to contract award delay with multiple competing vendors. Development completion extended to 1QFY25 due to updated vendor execution plan accounting for delayed contract award in 4QFY22. -AEW renamed to MDA for consistency in nomenclature across government and industry partners. Development timeline extended to align to USAF and vendor partnership efforts required as predecessors to MUX/MALE integration of the MDA payload. -RDESS/SOAR EW label truncated to EW for standardization across development partners. -DAAS development timeline extended to align with partner developer Air National Guard (ANG) and follow-on NAVAIR airworthiness certification. -PLEO development timeline added to reflect focused effort on enabling capability to SkyTower II. PLEO is a subcomponent of the SkyTower II budget; previously only represented by the SkyTower II timeline. -Thresher / Common Operating Picture development timeline added to reflect focused effort on enabling capability to EW. Thresher is a subcomponent of the EW budget; previously only represented by the EW timeline. -Test and Evaluation Activities timeline in PB23 schedule integrated into each of the payload development timelines for the PB24 schedule. -Production Air Vehicles timeline removed as it is not part of Increment II development (RDTE) for MUX/MALE. It is a production activity in Increment I funded by APN-4. -MALE Increment I EOC milestone removed as it is not part of Increment II development (RDTE) for MUX/MALE. It is a production activity in Increment I funded by APN-4. -Kit/pod procurements added to align with modification program -MALE Increment I IOC milestone removed and replaced with IOC to represent Increment II IOC for MUX/MALE. Technical: N/A
Service Agency Name
Navy

Entities

Organizations

  • United States Navy

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Autonomy
  • Kinetic Weapons
  • Sensors

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Acquisition
  • Aircrafts
  • Contracts
  • Earth Orbits
  • Electromagnetic Radiation
  • Ground Control Stations
  • Logistics Support
  • Low Earth Orbits
  • Maritime Domain Awareness
  • Medium Altitude
  • Product Development
  • Program Management
  • Reconnaissance
  • Systems Engineering
  • Test And Evaluation
  • Unmanned Aerial Systems
  • Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

Readers

  • Maritime Combat Support and Expeditionary Logistics.
  • Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) Autonomous Capabilities and Mission Reconnaissance.

Technology Areas

  • Autonomy
  • Autonomy - UAVs
  • Microelectronics
  • Microelectronics - Microelectromechanical Systems
  • Space
  • Space - Satellites

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