Boeing To Demonstrate NATO AWACS Control Of Unmanned Airborne System: "The Boeing Company will demonstrate control of the ScanEagle unmanned airborne system (UAS) by a NATO Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft during Empire Challenge 2010.
This annual demonstration of joint and coalition intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance interoperability is sponsored by the U.S. Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence. Empire Challenge, hosted by the U.S. Joint Forces Command, will take place from July 26 to Aug. 13 at Fort Huachuca, Ariz.
Boeing has tested unmanned vehicles and AWACS in previous Empire Challenge demonstrations, but this will be the first time the company demonstrates full control of an unmanned aircraft by an airborne command and control (C2) platform during an operational scenario. ScanEagle is built by Insitu Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Boeing.
The scenario involves an antipiracy operation in which the NATO AWACS aircraft detects suspicious activity and directs ScanEagle to fly to a certain location and keep track of a suspect vessel - a truck representing a pirate ship - while sending real-time video back to the AWACS."
