The Army has selected Lockheed Martin [LMT] and
Northrop Grumman [NOC] to work on developing sensing and electronic warfare payloads for its Launched Effects drone program.
The multi-phased competitive prototyping effort will begin with both firms testing and integrating payloads to mature their existing technologies, with an aim to inform future program plans.
“This competitive first phase of a multi-phased [Other Transaction Authority] project will develop a vendor statement of work and an initial project plan for Phases 2 and 3,” the Army’s Program Executive Office for Intelligence, Electronic Warfare and Sensors (PEO IEWS), said in a statement.
Launched Effects (LE) is the Army’s program to field new autonomous air vehicles that can be launched from aircraft or ground platforms with a variety of payloads and mission system applications to provide a range of effects for reconnaissance, extended communications links and eventually lethal capabilities.
“LE will provide standoff sense and effect capabilities for soldiers while keeping air and ground forces outside the range of adversary weapon systems. In addition, LE will provide complimentary support to forces entering and exiting mission areas,” PEO IEWS said.
For Phase 1, the two companies are expected to be awarded $100,000 for each “vendor-provided payload,” PEO IEWS noted.
Northrop Grumman was selected to develop two payloads and Lockheed Martin was tapped to work on one LE payload.
“Phase 2 will mature the [Technology Readiness Level] 6 payloads and integrate them into a captive carry test event, leading to Phase 3 which will be a final integration and flight test in a chosen uncrewed aerial vehicle,” Dennis Teefy, the Army’s project director for sensors-aerial intelligence (PD SAI), said in a statement.
PEO IEWS said the total value of the OTA agreement for LE payload program is expected to total $37 million over all three phases.
A total of five vendors submitted initial white papers for the program, a PEO IEWS spokesperson told Defense Daily, with the multi-phased prototyping effect expected to be completed in fiscal year 2025.
The Army has previously experimented with an Launched Effects-Small prototype air vehicle at its EDGE and Project Convergence experimentation events, using an ALTIUS-600 drone built by Anduril Industries subsidiary Area-I (Defense Daily, May 16 2022).
The Army noted the LE program is supported by multiple program offices, with PD SAI and PEO IEWS working on the sensing and non-lethal effects payloads and PEO Aviation managing the overall program of record.
“The first iteration of LE to support user evaluations before fielding with Army Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft and Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft is expected no earlier than Fiscal Year 2030,” PEO IEWS said.