USAF TESTS FOR FIRST TIME THE AGILEPOD ON MANNED AIRCRAFT

The AgilePod was built to be integrate onto the MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicle. Recently it was also tested on the Scorpion light attack ISR aircraft.

USAF tests for first time the AgilePod on manned aircraft

The Air Force Research Laboratory’s premier intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance pod, the AgilePod, was recently tested onto the Scorpion jet to demonstrate the ability of the pod to rapidly integrate onto a new class of aircraft, highlighting the benefits of its adaptable architecture for augmenting Air Force mission needs.

The AgilePod is an Air Force-trademarked, multi-intelligence reconfigurable pod that enables flight-line operators to customize sensor packages based on specific mission needs. The pod takes advantage of the AFRL Sensors Directorate Blue Guardian Open Adaptable Architecture construct and Sensor Open System Architectures. Open architectures enable rapid integration of sensor technologies through standardized software and hardware interfaces that enable the pod to seamlessly integrate on platforms that use the standard architectures. This increases the number of missions the pod can augment, expanding the scope of ISR mission possibilities.

Built to integrate onto the Special Operations MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicle, this is the first time the AgilePod was fit-tested on a commercially-built manned platform.

Textron Aviation Defense’s Scorpion ISR/Attack jet is a next-generation, low cost, light attack ISR aircraft built with composite materials and standard interfaces. The industry-standard interfaces enabled the AgilePod to integrate easily on the platform, ultimately demonstrating the value of the pod’s open architecture design for Air Force mission needs.

Source, Images: USAF