General Atomics Concludes Multimission Control, Pilot Comms Tech Demo

General Atomics’ aeronautical systems business used MQ-9 Reaper aircraft units to test the firm’s multimission control and communication tools in a flight demonstration.

The company said Monday its MMC system allowed a pilot to control the MQ-9 platforms while the Metis tool provided task status and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance data via a social media-based interface.

In addition, Metis works to optimize communication capabilities between aircrew, support units and intelligence cells.

According to General Atomics, the tools can work hand in hand for military and non-defense missions and exhibited a Technology Readiness Level 7 capacity during the flight test.

“These capabilities have the potential to dramatically increase the effectiveness and efficiency of the U.S. Air Force’s MQ-9 enterprise by relieving aircrew manning requirements during certain flight profiles,” said David Alexander, president at General Atomics’ aeronautical systems business.