Raytheon begins flight tests of Persistent Close Air Support system

Raytheon has begun flight testing of the Persistent Close Air Support (PCAS) system. The system will be installed on an A-10 for testing.

PCAS will allow JTACs and other ground operators to send real time ground data to the aircraft, as well as mark multiple targets. It will reduce response times to as low as six minutes. It will also reduce blue on blue incidents as the aircraft will be able to see where the friendly forces are.

Raytheon has started flight tests of the persistent close air support (PCAS) system, the third phase of a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) effort to provide ground troops with faster, more accurate close air support.

Raytheon plans to install the PCAS system on a Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt to test air performance and connectivity with ground-based joint terminal attack controllers (JTACs) equipped with a PCAS ground unit.

"PCAS will help reduce close air support response times from as long as one hour to just six minutes," Tom Bussing, Raytheon vice president of Advanced Missile Systems, says in a prepared statement. "By delivering critical information to decision makers more quickly, PCAS will save lives."

Raytheon serves as systems integrator for the programme, and is working with partners Rockwell Collins, General Electric, BAE Systems and 5-D Systems. It won the $25 million, 18-month phase-3 contract in February. The entire three-year DARPA programme is funded at $82 million, according to DARPA.

www.flightglobal.com...

Great.......
Don't think well make it to Mars at this rate.....
W e cant even feed everybody but we can kill everybody ten times over......human death wish.....WTF.....

a reply to: Zaphod58
can't they just use an Iphone,

Wow, what a system. One part that stuck out to me was the reducing response time to just 6 minutes, are they saying that CAS aircraft will always be airborne and overhead? Seems like the ideal platform for this would be something with a very long loiter time with a decent payload with stealth capabilities. Maybe a new UCAV we don't know about yet, RQ-190?

a reply to: StratosFear

The Reaper has a 24 hour loiter time so it will be overhead most of the time. In the initial stages of any fight CAS will be airborne pretty much 24/7 until things start to wind down.

with all due respect, Zap, your details are pretty vague...is this for communication in areas of engagement for UAV'S, or manned aircraft? and, hasn't this type of communication been used for years? if it is for support from ground units, wouldn't sat. comms. be just effective?

a reply to: jimmyx

No. This is a digital system, which means that instead of map coordinates, they're going to display unit locations input from ground units. Now they get coordinates from them based on where the friendly unit is, and where the enemy units are, and they have to go from there. Now they'll get a moving map display showing where both are, instead of getting to the coordinates and trying to visually identify them. Satcom works fine for giving coordinates, but it's just coordinates that the pilot has to input manually.

a reply to: Zaphod58

More call of duty less Lewis and Clark.

Should help a lot. I've heard some ridiculous stories.

a reply to: mindseye1609

Oh yeah, there are some scary ones out there. Like the CIA team that had a 2,000 lb bomb land between them and the target, because the B-52 crew member transposed two numbers.

a reply to: mindseye1609

This would suck so bad.

m.youtube.com...

(anyone imbed for a poor mobile user?)

a reply to: Zaphod58

Dyslexia and air strikes DO NOT mix lol

a reply to: mindseye1609

a reply to: Zaphod58

True, but I suppose a number of aircraft would be involved and the system basically allows for quicker intel gathering to make the decision of who goes where and does what to who right? Sounds kinky.

Would this info be shared with other assets that might be In the area like artillery or is this just for the guys requesting and the aircraft responding?

Damn, looks like the friendly coordinates got mixed up with the enemy coordinates. I almost didn't want to watch that but the outcome wasn't the one I thought it would be.

a reply to: Zaphod58

Thanks. This kind of thing I imagine would be a thing of the past if there was big ole markers in the pilots heads up display showing him where blue troops are positioned.

a reply to: StratosFear

For now it will be for aircraft. Ground vehicles and artillery have IVIS and other systems to identify where friendly units are. Eventually they may get something like this as well, as part of the "more is better" school of thought.

I worked as a sub-contractor on Phase 1 of this project. Really cool stuff.

a reply to: Zaphod58

Those were some guys from the Big Red One.

I know a few of them. It was a crappy day for them.

They had their bells rung pretty bad.

a reply to: projectvxn

Talk about a buzz kill ehh? They were so excited to hear the fast mover coming in.

I've watched that video a lot and from my best guess it looks like maybe the pilot got confused on what the FOB and the FOP were I think and maybe thought the bigger FOB was the most forward position? And dropped short at the wrong target because of this?

Having markers on the troops and the fop's and convoys and hell anything friendly will make a pilots job a lot easier. I've heard video where even after they take out verified enemies you can hear apprehension in their voices making sure they got the right targets. Sometimes taking just a shot or 2 then making sure with ground troops. A lot of wasted time and lives could be avoided with this system, props to wayfarer and anyone else making this one a reality. Very worth while achievement!

Would this system work with ROBE? I know a couple data link systems (Link-16 among others) route throught it to talk to each other. Or will this be another stand alone for ground control/A-10s? I cant imagine they would build another stand alone after all the work they have done getting everyone on the same systems.

a reply to: Pyle

ROBE is more of a BACN style datalink. It allows networks that don't normally talk to each other, to talk to each other. This system is a ground target designation system, similar to IVIS on vehicles, but for aircraft.