Open architecture sensor sends threat data to command center during test
NewsJanuary 12, 2022
POWAY, Calif. In a recent test, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) announced that the company used two company-owned Avenger anmanned aircraft systems (UAS), each equipped with a Lockheed Martin Legion Pod, to send long-range air threat data captured passively and fused by an advanced sensor algorithm to a command center.
During the flight, officials claim that Legion Pod’s IRST21 infrared search-and-track system detected multiple fast-moving aircraft operating in the area. On-pod Lockheed Martin fusion software blended the sensor data from both pods in real time and the Avengers streamed it to the ground station.
According to the company, this fusion technology was previously tested in F-15-equipped Legion Pods and datalinks at the Northern Edge operational exercise earlier this year. Legion Pod is a long-range passive IRST sensor on multiple platforms including two types of Avenger UAVs.
The sensor’s open design supports Joint All Domain Operations requirements for alternative datalink architectures, and the Open Mission System (OMS) architecture of the Legion Pod sensor allows for rapid integration.
