By Geoff Fein
Next year, BAE Systems is looking to add a hostile fire detection system into its Remote Guardian System (RGS), the all-quadrant defensive weapon system for the V-22, according to a company official.
The hostile fire system will identify, classify and slew to target, Dave Adamiak, business development RGS, told Defense Daily on Wednesday at the Modern Day Marine Military Expo at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Va.
Adamiak had briefed reporters earlier in the day on RGS.
RGS is a turreted weapon system that consists of an interchangeable turreted sensor and interchangeable turreted Gatling gun (Defense Daily, Oct. 5, 2007).
In January 2008, SOCOM awarded BAE a $491,000 contract for rapid development, installation, testing, and qualification of a weapon capability that provides defensive fire protection to all quadrants of the aircraft. The contract has a potential value of $16.3 million (Defense Daily, Jan. 23).
To date, BAE has conducted three successful live-fire events from a Humvee, and is delivering RGS to the United States Special Operations Command.
RGS is also the first software-controlled weapon system certified by the Navy and Air Force, Adamiak said.
“[We] tried to create a system that is modular, flexible and scalable,” he said. “We have integrated three separate sensors already to prove flexibility.”
Those three separate 8-inch to 9-inch sensor balls include: CCD (charge-coupled device), Infrared (white hot/block hot) and a laser range finder, Adamiak said.
The RGS sensor is separate from the V-22’s sensor and requires no modification to the aircraft, or any impacts to the V-22’s operational software, he said.
“The fact we are doing no aircraft modification brings that cost down,” Adamiak added. “The 80 percent solution at 50 percent of the cost.”
Operation of the gun is another area where BAE has demonstrated the flexibility of its system.
The gunner station is at its foremost a point-and-shoot operation, operated from a hand-held device that looks like a computer game controller, Adamiak said. He added that younger Marines are accustomed to these type of devices.
“What BAE found when it proposed multiple variants of controllers, whether they be dual or single joy sticks, was that gunners can pick up operation of the RGS controller very quickly,” he said.
And because there is no dedicated gunner station inside the V-22, the hand-held unit enables the gunner to operate the gun system from any seat in the cabin, Adamiak added.
Currently, the V-22 uses a manned weapon that can be fired from the Osprey’s rear ramp. RGS will not replace that gun.
RGS is mounted on the underbelly of the Bell Helicopter Textron [TXT]-Boeing [BA] V-22 Osprey. Adamiak said that was the best location for the weapon system.
“The belly gun was the best solution for 360-degree coverage and the ability to maintain, at very low cost,” he said.
RGS will use the Marine Corps’ GAU 17, 7.62mm mini-gun on the MV-22 and the Air Force Special Operations Command’s GAU 2 on the CV-22, Adamiak said.
The gun is adaptable to maritime platforms and multiple airborne platforms, too, he added.
The weapon system also comes with some unique features that enable point-and-shoot operations, Adamiak noted.
According to a BAE, “the system’s use of a continuously computed impact point means the gunner simply points and shoots, while the weapon control computer adjusts the weapon to compensate for wind and vehicle motion.”
“All [the gunner] has to do is put the weapon on the threat and pull the trigger,” Adamiak said.
RGS also has geo reference–geo location, he added. If the gunner lets go of the controller the system automatically geo locates and will hold that position. For example, if the pilot has to maneuver for defensive reasons, tactical reason, or to terrain mask, any maneuver whatsoever, and the gun will hold that point, Adamiak said.
BAE has also taken lessons learned from aviators and gunners on the ability to train on weapon systems, the difficulty in getting range time…all the things that can make training opportunities scarce, and built a trainer into RGS, Adamiak said.
“That built-in training mode provides the opportunity, regardless of whether you have the weapon deployed, regardless of whether you have rounds in the gun, the gunner can train at any given moment in time,” Adamiak explained. “He can be flying any day in any way and be able to train. You don’t need range time, don’t have to spend any rounds.”
Additionally, BAE has developed a desktop trainer that Adamiak said looks like a video game. “It has the gunner station built into it. So the gunner doesn’t even have to fly to train,” Adamiak said.