Matthew Nelson
General Atomics' aeronautical systems business has tested the wing structure of an MQ-9B remotely piloted aircraft variant during full-scale static testing period that lasted for three months.
The company said Monday it used specialized fixtures to apply 150 percent of the aircraft's potential maximum load to the SkyGuardian RPA's wingspan for gust and maneuver flight simulations, the company said.
Dee Wilson, vice president for research development and design hardware at GA-ASI, said the wing performance closely matched analytical forecasts and indicated a key step to demonstrating compliance with structural strength and integrity certification standards.
The FSS test was part of the company's efforts to establish its MQ-9B product line's baseline wing design and qualify both the SkyGuardian and SeaGuardian variants to operate in non-segregated airspace.
U.K, Belgium and Australia are among the foreign countries that have expressed interest in procuring the system.
