Gray Eagle gets electronic jamming payload from Raytheon
NewsMay 20, 2013
MARLBOROUGH, MA. Raytheon engineers provided two electronic attack payloads to support the Army's Networked Electronic Warfare, Remotely Operated (NERO) system. NERO is used as an airborne electronic attack system the Army's MQ-1C Gray Eagle Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) for jamming enemy communications systems.
The NERO system is a continuation of sorts from the Army's Communications Electronic Attack with Surveillance and Reconnaissance (CEASAR) program. Since NERO migrates the same pod system and advanced capability to the Gray Eagle UAS, it can fly of two- to three-times longer missions with reduced operating costs when compared with the Army's current C-12 based CEASAR system. Mounting it on an unmanned platform also reduces risk to the warfighter. The NERO payloads are part of a Navy NAVSEA-Crane contract from 2012.
CEASAR, which was first awarded in 2010, is mounted on a Beechcraft King Air C-12 aircraft and used the same lightweight pod as NERO. Each system enables the Army personnel to control the use of the electromagnetic spectrum by enabling beyond line of sight jamming to support ground troop operations.
