PREDATOR ON PROWL DRONE IN MULTINATION NAVAL TESTS EXERCISE KEYS ON DEVELOPING TECHNOLOGY.Byline: Daily News LAKE LOS ANGELES Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. -- A remotely piloted reconnaissance plane flying out of an Antelope Valley This article is about the Los Angeles County region. For the census-designated place in Wyoming, see Antelope Valley-Crestview, Wyoming. The Antelope Valley airstrip took part in a naval exercise involving American, Canadian and Australian ships. The Predator B drone flew from General Atomics General Atomics is a nuclear physics and defense contractor headquartered in San Diego, California. Among other things, it is the manufacturer of the Predator unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). Aeronautical aer·o·nau·tic also aer·o·nau·ti·cal adj. Of or relating to aeronautics. aer  o·nau Systems' Gray Butte Butte, city, United StatesButte (by  t), city (1990 pop. 33,336), seat of Silver Bow co., SW Mont.; inc. 1879. It is a trade, ranching, and industrial center. Airfield southeast of Lake Los Angeles for
Trident Warrior 2006, which started June 13 off the California coast and
will continue this week en route to Hawaii.
General Atomics' partner in the exercise was Lockheed Martin For the former company, see . Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) is a leading multinational aerospace manufacturer and advanced technology company formed in 1995 by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta. , which provided the mission management system and, with General Atomics, is proposing to build an unmanned Navy reconnaissance plane called the Mariner, based on the Predator B but with larger wings and bigger fuel tanks so it can fly longer and farther. The aircraft used in the exercise was borrowed from the Air Force and fitted with a maritime surface search radar Noun 1. surface search radar - a naval radar to search for surface targets naval radar - naval equipment consisting of a shipboard radar , General Atomics spokeswoman Kimberly Kasitz said. The Navy exercise involves ships, submarines and aircraft, focusing on new technologies for giving commanders better information on what their forces and those of the enemy are doing. Lockheed Martin and General Atomics invited reporters and camera crews last week to watch the images captured by the plane, which included Navy ships at sea, a Del Monte freighter and a cruise ship. San Diego-based General Atomics' Predator spy planes have been in service since 1995 with the Air Force, which has used them in the Balkans, Afghanistan and Iraq. They have also been armed with anti-tank missiles for use in the Middle East. The larger Predator B first flew in 2003 and can fly higher, farther and longer, carrying more surveillance gear. The craft are controlled by operators on the ground, using a joystick, throttle and instruments like a conventional aircraft's and watching a video image from a camera in its nose. The Gray Butte Airfield is used for test and checkout flights for Predators and other unmanned aircraft Unmanned Aircraft (UA) is a term used in the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) definition of Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS). UA refers to the aircraft portion of the system required to operate it, also known as Unmanned Aerial Vehicle. . A World War II training base and former radar test facility, it was reopened by General Atomics in 2001 as an airfield for its unmanned aircraft. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: A General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Predator B unmanned reconnaissance plane configured for maritime operations flies over the Pacific Ocean off the California coast. General Atomics Aeronautical Systems |
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