Apache receives real-time video from UAV
By Kris Osborn - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Jan 18, 2007 7:06:48 EST
The Army successfully beamed video from unmanned aerial vehicles to
an Apache AH-64 Block III attack helicopter in a demonstration,
service officials said.
In recent tests at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, an
Apache pilot in flight watched video beamed from a UAV that was 75
kilometers away. The UAV was the Future Combat Systems Class I
Micro Air Vehicle, a small 50-pound, 3-foot UAV being developed for
the Armys Future Combat Systems.
The test checked the software, logistics and communications
systems.
The video demonstration was part of a broader effort called FCS
1.1, which includes experiments with high bandwidth networking with
vehicles, helicopters and UAVs. Today, the AH-64D has the ability
to digitally send target information to ground vehicles; the idea
with FCS 1.1 is to demonstrate how an Apache could share
information with all sorts of forces.
The signal travels from the MAV to a ground station where it is
beamed, encrypted, to the chopper in near real-time, program
officials said. The AH-64 Block IIIs mission computer,
Manned/Unmanned Common Architecture Program, has five times the
processing power of what is on the AH/64D model, said Larry
Plaster, Boeings manager of Apache modernization.
Although its only in a demonstration phase at the moment, the
capabilities could give pilots a greater understanding of
surrounding threats. Col. Derek Paquette, project manager for the
Apache said, any time you can get situational awareness before you
arrive on the scene, you are in a better position to win the
battle. The whole key is information dominance.
A VIP demonstration is planned for the first week of February at
White Sands, where Apaches and other aircraft will receive video
from nearby UAVs.
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2007/01/dfnApache070118/
I think with our emphasis on UAVs, our 3G RSAF Apache helicopters
will have such capability real soon. 
