The U.S. Army initiated the Extended-Range Multi-Purpose UAV competition in 2002, with the winning aircraft due to replace the
RQ-5 Hunter. Two aircraft were entered, the IAI/Northrop Grumman Hunter II, and the Warrior.
Performance Issues In March 2011, Gray Eagles started showing poor reliability across all major subsystems. During that month, one Gray Eagle crashed in California when a faulty chip blocked commands to part of the aircraft's flight control surfaces. Flight testing was delayed until the chip was replaced but had left it with fewer available flight hours; the average time between failures of the aircraft or components was 25 hours, while the minimum required is 100 hours. The ground control station's time between failures was 27 hours, while the minimum time required is 150 hours. Sensors failed at 134 hours, compared to 250 hours required. In October 2011, a report concluded the Gray Eagle was meeting only four out of seven "key performance parameters," and its reliability fell short of predicted growth. 11 unplanned software revisions had generally improved reliability.
Designation The Army sought to have the Warrior designated
MQ-12, but the
United States Department of Defense allocated the designation
MQ-1C instead. In August 2010, the US Army announced that the MQ-1C had officially been assigned the name
Gray Eagle.
Improved Gray Eagle On 27 July 2013, General Atomics announced the successful first flight of the Improved Gray Eagle (IGE). The IGE is designed for increased endurance, with 23 additional hours compared to its Block I predecessor. It has 50 percent greater fuel capacity through its deep belly fuselage and features improved payload capacity of 50 percent or more. The upgraded centerline hardpoint supports integration of a 500-pound (227 kg) optional external fuel tank or 360 degree sensor payload. The IGE's additional space, plus an improved
Lycoming DEL-120 Heavy Fuel Engine (HFE), provides growth capability for an improved airworthiness design, with the potential of incorporating lightning protection, damage tolerance, and Traffic Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) features. On 11 October 2013, the Improved Gray Eagle took off from GA-ASI's El Mirage Flight Operations Facility and flew for 45.3 continuous hours until 13 October. The flight was the first of two endurance demonstrations of the IGE for the U.S. Army. From 17–19 January 2014, the IGE performed its second endurance flight demonstration for the Army, flying 36.7 continuous hours. Unlike the previous test where no payload was carried, this test had the aircraft flying with a SIGINT pod on one wing and two Hellfire missiles on the other. With endurance claims carrying the payload configuration validated, the IGE will receive upgrades to make it compatible with the Army's One System Ground Control Station (OSGCS) and future Universal Ground Control System (UGCS), with flights of the upgrade to be conducted in summer 2014. In July 2015, the Army's Gray Eagle procurement plan was amended to include the extended-range Improved Gray Eagle, purchasing an initial 36 units for the Army's intelligence and special forces groups. The first 19 IGEs were ordered in June 2015 for the first delivery in September 2017 and completion by September 2018. The only IGE demonstrator was lost in a flight training incident in early 2015. The maiden flight of the production variant of the MQ-1C Gray Eagle ER came on 29 October 2016. The Gray Eagle Extended Range (GE-ER) was delivered to the Army for operational testing in 2018.
Upgrades In 2014, the US Army was expanding the use of manned-unmanned teaming (MUM-T) technologies to manned aircraft to receive video feeds and control weapons aboard unmanned aircraft, making ground units less reliant on other services' aircraft. The
AH-64E Apache attack helicopter is the first Army rotorcraft with purpose-built MUM-T technology, allowing pilots to remotely control a Gray Eagle, extending the Apache's reach by using the Gray Eagle's sensors and weapons from the helicopter cockpit. Tests demonstrated that the Apache's engagement range increases with MUM-T as the Gray Eagle can designate targets outside the helicopter's own targeting system range, increasing survivability, and potentially needing fewer helicopters as their effectiveness is increased with the inclusion of Gray Eagle. In June 2015, soldiers performed an initial test and evaluation for the One System Remote Video Terminal (OSRVT), enabling ground forces to control a Gray Eagle's payload. The OSRVT is a portable system consisting of a radio transceiver, laptop, antennas, and software to communicate with the UAV and receive video and other data from it. Control of the sensor payload is UAS level of Interoperability 3, a step below control of flight through MUM-T. ==Design==