Researchers from the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) are helping convert an aircraft used to train pilots into one with intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance (ISR), and light attack capabilities. The new aircraft would provide a less expensive alternative to legacy warbirds like the A-10 and F-16, and could be used by foreign military allies as well as U.S. homeland security agencies.
In recent years, changes in warfare have caused countries to rethink their mix of aircraft. Smaller, slower moving, more agile aircraft can provide greater situational awareness over an extended period of time. And they offer significant cost savings by being more fuel efficient and easier to maintain, explained Byron Coker, a GTRI principal researcher who is leading a demonstration program for the U.S. Air National Guard (ANG).
The program, which began in late 2009, is focused on developing an ISR and light attack platform tailored for ANG needs, executing a demonstration of this platform to include airframe and integrated system capabilities. The contract was awarded to GTRI through SENSIAC, the information analysis center at Georgia Tech that specializes in sensing technologies related to defense activities. GTRI has subcontracted with Hawker Beechcraft to demonstrate ANG and Air Force requirements on its AT-6C, a light attack version of the T-6 turboprop plane used by the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy to train pilots.
Taking an existing aircraft and adapting it for a completely different role demanded considerable systems-engineering muscle. Unlike the turboprops used for close air support and counterinsurgency missions during the Vietnam era, today’s light attack planes must be net-centric. GTRI’s first task was to create an ISR platform, which included: radios that enable communication with other military aircraft, a satellite radio so the plane can connect with networks while airborne, an electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) sensor that allows the aircraft to track individuals and items on the ground, and a downlink that allows imaging from the EO/IR sensor to be relayed to ground operations, mission control, and other aircraft.
An integral piece of the project was to develop an aircraft self-protection system that enables the plane to survive in operational theatre. In the ANG’s assessment, the primary threat comes from manpads – shoulder-launched missiles fired from the ground. GTRI engineers integrated a warning system that detects manpads, along with a dispenser system that fires flares to decoy the missiles. An electronic warfare management system ties the warning and dispenser systems together — and provides the pilot with easy control and display.
GTRI is now tackling the second phase of the AT-6 project, which will investigate the armament of the aircraft according to ANG specifications. The wish list of weapons includes gravity and laser-guided bombs, Hellfire missiles, laser-guided rockets, small-diameter bombs and 50-caliber machine gun pods. Work on the second phase of the project led up to an operational assessment to test weapons capabilities. That milestone was met as scheduled in early 2012.
