The World Surveillance Group (WSGI) revealed its plans of extending the flight testing schedule for its Argus One UAV at the Yuma facilities at the U.S. Army grounds in Arizona.
ArgusOne UAV
WSGI has also decided to speed up the integration of specific customer payloads into the Argus One’s pod bay before the commencement of testing. In agreement with the test directors at Yuma, WSGI has spread the testing of Argus One over two periods. The first round would target on testing the free flight and aerodynamic manoeuvring, which would begin during the latter half of the month of August and span over several days.
The second phase of testing would consist of demonstration and payload, which is likely to be conducted during October 2011 at Yuma. This phase would emphasise the testing and performance of the UAV with different communications and ISR payloads to create a lighter than air platform. The newly added modular sensor bay on the Argus One has the capacity to house a variety of payloads and sensors with easy to use plug and play architecture. WSGI’s potential partners had shown special interest in testing the Argus One as a mobile platform for various ISR and communication payloads at Yuma; therefore, WSGI has modified its testing program to suit the convenience of test operators at the ground facilities at Yuma.
During the second phase of testing, WSGI intends to test the UAV along with the tracking and monitoring system provided by Global Telesat Corp. The tracking system is responsible for processing the data that is collected by low earth orbit satellite constellation using the company’s proprietary web-based online platform. In order to suit the needs of the partners, additional systems for communication can be integrated into the pod bay of the Argus, which is located midway in the UAV to enhance its stabilization and damping of vibrations. There is a provision to remove or attach the modular sensor bay as required for rapid launch scenarios and easing mobilization.