General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) test flew the new NATO Pod for the first time last month.
The November 23 flight saw an MQ-9A unmanned aircraft flying with the under-the-wing enclosure, designed to carry “sovereign, cross-domain intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance sensors.”
Plug-and-Play
GA-ASI and Spanish firm Sener Aeroespacial co-developed the pod for international customers interested in plugging their own mission-specific capabilities into the MQ-9A or MQ-9B aircraft.
The pod’s quick integration contrasts with the lengthy traditional process of installing customizable payloads on unmanned aerial systems.
GA-ASI is working with Sener and other European suppliers to integrate their sensors with the pod.
NATO Standard
The pod fulfills UK and NATO certification standards for airworthiness, including lightning protection and bird impacts.
“This is a truly momentous product design and implementation effort,” GA-ASI vice President of Mission Payloads and Exploitation Satish Krishnan said.
“We’ve worked closely with Sener to meet requirements and keep our combined teams in sync to achieve this great outcome. Our successful test flight allows us to begin marketing this new capability to our international partner nations as a way to rapidly add sovereign payload capability.”
