The team, lead by Raytheon, will offer the
KillerBee unmanned aerial vehicle, developed by Swift
Engineering. Several Raytheon business units will provide
products and services for the program, including the ground
control system, C4ISR integration, and Mission Support. Optical
Alchemy will provide payloads elements for the UAS. The team
expects to leverage from extensive work undertaken by Raytheon,
developing common Ground Control Systems (GCS), incorporating
advancements realized from the development of Raytheon's Multi-Vehicle
Control System, capable of simultaneously controlling multiple,
dissimilar vehicles. Based on standard NATO architecture (STANAG
4586) the system supports vehicle flight control and a visual
presentation of flight data.
"KillerBee offers the warfighter an affordable unmanned
aircraft system, and the Swift Engineering vehicle has both
longer endurance and the ability to carry a larger payload,"
said Ken Pedersen, Raytheon vice president of Advanced Programs.
He noted that the team will offer proven technology to facilitate
rapid fielding of the KillerBee in the near term. The KillerBee
uses blended wing body design which sets it apart from similar
sized unmanned aerial vehicles and is designed to operate
ashore or aboard ships with a minimal footprint.
Through extensive air and ground testing, Swift claims that
KillerBee has demonstrated performance outperforming any vehicle
in its class. Control, processing and display functions were
validated, and demonstrated suitability for naval and marine
corps applications. The companies plan to continue flight
testing throughout 2008, to ensure matured readiness level
of the entire KillerBee system. Ongoing flight tests have
demonstrated the integrated architecture that includes the
hosting of the vehicle specific module in the aircraft mission
computer, further validating the STANAG 4586 architecture,
and the KJ-640 electro optical-infrared sensor system.