The U.S. Army plans to implement a new technology designed to help the service branch’s AH-64 Apache helicopter operators communicate with up to two unmanned aerial vehicles, Defense News reported Sunday.
The report said Manned-Unmanned Teaming X system will work to help AH-64E crews to operate the sensors and flight paths of Textron‘s RQ-7 Shadow and General Atomics‘ MQ-1C Gray Eagle UAVs.
L3 Technologies secured $69.3 million contract in late August to develop MUMT-X hardware for the Army.
The system will include an air-to-air-to-ground kit that works to transmit and receive video to ground units as well as an upper receiver designed to aid Apache communications with UAVs.
The Army aims to complete verification tests on the helicopter upgrades at the Dugway Proving Ground in Utah by the end of the year.