Mary-Louise Hoffman
General Atomics‘ aeronautical systems business collaborated with California’s Air National Guard and Department of Forestry and Fire Protection to demonstrate how the unmanned MQ-9A Reaper aircraft could support emergency response efforts when equipped with the Rosetta Echo Advanced Payloads pod.
The REAP demonstration on the remotely piloted aircraft aimed to showcase the pod’s ability to provide an airborne-ground communications network bridge in the event of a natural disaster, General Atomics said Wednesday.
GA-ASI and Ultra Intelligence & Communications jointly developed the system to operate with first responder technologies such as the AT&T-built FirstNet public safety broadband platform, P25 mobile radios, line-of-sight very and ultra high-frequency equipment and mobile ad hoc networks.
General Atomics noted the partnership aims to deploy an operational pod to help the Air National Guard and the Army National Guard prepare for the military agencies’ potential implementation in the MQ-9A and MQ-1C Gray Eagle, respectively.
The National Guard Bureau and the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services supported the REAP demo, which was held May 25.
