The US Air Force Research Laboratory’s AgilePod mounted
under the port wing of the Textron Scorpion light attack/ISR jet during test
fitting at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, on December 21. USAF/AFRL
US AIR Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) officials
announced on January 2 that AFRL’s intelligence, surveillance and
reconnaissance (ISR) pod, the AgilePod, has been successfully test-fitted on
Textron Aviation Defense’s Scorpion light attack ISR jet aircraft. Andrew Soine, an electronics systems engineer
in the AFRL Materials and Manufacturing Directorate, said: “We met with the
Textron Aviation Defense Scorpion team and discussed the possibility of doing a
fit check with their Scorpion platform and the AgilePod. A few days later they called and said they
could get the plane to Wright-Patterson within the week. We couldn’t miss this opportunity to show the
AgilePod’s capabilities on a new class of aircraft.”
The AgilePod is an Air Force-trademarked, multi-intelligence
reconfigurable pod that enables flight-line operators to customize sensor
packages based on specific mission needs.
The pod takes advantage of the AFRL Sensors Directorate Blue Guardian
Open Adaptable Architecture construct and Sensor Open System
Architectures. Open architectures enable
rapid integration of sensor technologies through standardized software and
hardware interfaces that enable the pod to seamlessly integrate on platforms
that use the standard architectures.
This increases the number of missions the pod can augment, expanding the
scope of ISR mission possibilities.
“We showed the openness of the pod by taking an aircraft
with a standard set of mechanical and electrical interfaces and attaching the
pod. Ultimately, we demonstrated the
AgilePod’s plug-and-play ability to rapidly integrate on an open architecture
platform. This is a new paradigm for
ISR,” said Soine.
Built to integrate onto the Special Operations MQ-9
Reaper unmanned aerial vehicle, this is the first time the AgilePod was
fit-tested on a commercially-built manned platform. Textron Aviation Defense’s Scorpion
ISR/Attack jet is a next-generation, low cost, light attack ISR aircraft built
with composite materials and standard interfaces. The industry-standard interfaces enabled the
AgilePod to integrate easily on the platform, ultimately demonstrating the
value of the pod’s open architecture design for Air Force mission needs.
“This is a win-win situation for the Air Force as well as
industry,” said Capt. Russell Shirey, the chief engineer of the AFRL Sensors
Directorate’s Advanced Projects Branch and former Blue Guardian team lead. “The AFRL Blue Guardian team has been
developing rapid integration sensor technologies and standards, which are not
only on the AgilePod, but are beginning to show up on aircraft as well. For the Air Force, we are augmenting
efficiency by enabling aircraft operating around the globe to swap out sensors
and missions right on the flight line.
By removing the proprietary sensor fittings and interfaces from the
field, we open competition and expand capability.”
“Just mounting the pod on the plane in the hangar shows
how adaptable the AgilePod is designed to be,” said Capt. Juliana Nine, the
AFRL Blue Guardian programme manager.
“The reconfigurability allows us to focus on different mission sets
compared to the past, and we can do this with short notice.”
The benefits of open architecture and standardization are
viewed favorably by industry as well.
“This really demonstrates what can be done with plug-and-play
capability,” said Travis Cottrell, the vice president for Scorpion Program
Management at Textron Aviation Defense.
“Being able to put a lot of capability in a small package provides a
value in terms of cost, from both the acquisition and operational
perspective. This shows the ‘art of the
possible’ when you bring commercial and military solutions to the table.”
While the day focused only on demonstrating the speed of
integrating the AgilePod on a new platform with short notice, airworthiness,
ground integration and communication tests need to occur before it can be
tested in flight. Nevertheless, the
integration, aided by AgilePod’s Leidos contract team, was a rapid and smooth
success. “All of this came together in
only a few weeks, really showing the agility of the AgilePod. It’s a winning
situation all around,” said Shirey.
Original post: warnesysworld.com
AgilePod
The AgilePod, the first physical system to be trademarked
by the Air Force, is a multi-intelligence, open architecture, flight-line
reconfigurable pod designed for the intelligence community. A new effort to
develop a suite of platform-agnostic AgilePods in various sizes is currently in
progress, teaming AFRL with industry partners. (U.S. Air Force photo/David
Dixon)
AgilePod, the first physical system to be trademarked by
the Air Force, is a multi-intelligence, open architecture, flight-line
reconfigurable pod designed for the ISR community. Comprised of compartments
ranging in length from 28 to 60 inches, the pod can be assembled in different
configurations—similar in concept to Legos—to enable diverse sensor
communication packages for a mission. For example, high-definition video,
electro-optical and infrared sensors and radar can be deployed in a single
AgilePod, eliminating the weight that might accompany multiple pieces of
equipment to do the same.
Open Architecture sensor software, which is a set of
common messages and interfaces that allow proprietary sensors and systems to
integrate from a mechanical and electrical perspective, played a large role in
the success of the original AgilePod, as it enabled multiple sensors to
integrate on a single platform. This, along with a full Digital Thread capture
of design decisions, will also play a role in the new Mini-AgilePod effort,
ultimately saving time and money over the lifecycle of the system.
“Digital Thread captures the steps and decisions that
lead to the ultimate physical design of a platform,” said Capt. Blake McCollum,
Chief Engineer for AgilePod at the AFRL Materials and Manufacturing
Directorate. “By having the data in a single package, you can disseminate it to
others who may want to build a sensor to fit the platform, increasing
capabilities while saving time and money that typically accompanies redesign
and fit.”
The Mini-AgilePod effort has AFRL engineers working in
conjunction with Leidos, the University of Dayton Research Institute and
Advanced Consulting and Programmatics to optimize the design and configuration
of the AgilePod platform. The resulting family of pods will be available in
multiple sizes and take advantage of lessons learned from the original AgilePod
design to make the new platform-agnostic family even better than the first.
The Mini-AgilePod, conceptualized here, will be designed
with an open floor plan and reconfigurable middle sections in various sizes
that can be changed depending on specific sensor technologies and missions. The
resulting family of AgilePod platforms will be able to host optimized sensors
and fit an increased number of aircraft. (U.S. Air Force graphic/David Dixon)
“We are seeking ways to enable faster configuration of
the pod by modifying fasteners and relocating screws and mounting structures.
We are also using AFRL materials expertise to improve the outside skin of the
pod and to address future maintenance and sustainment,” said Shirey.
A big change, according to Shirey, will be the use of an
‘open floor plan’ in the new pod design.
“The first pod was designed as a series of blocks with
five different modules,” he said. “We found that having interior bulkhead walls
between modules limits air flow and adds weight. We’re now exploring an open
floor plan with a reconfigurable middle section and removable nose and tail
cones for the new design. Instead of hosting three different sensors in three
different sections, we will have one long section with three sensors inside.”
Source af.mil
Scorpion Attack Aircraft: Details
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