DARPA's PCAS system prototype demonstration completed
NewsSeptember 22, 2015
ARLINGTON, Va. The U.S. Air Force and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) conducted a demonstration of DARPA’s Persistent Close Air Support (PCAS) prototype system on an A-10 Thunderbolt II attack aircraft. The demonstration consisted of 50 sorties near Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada showing that a warfighter serving as a joint terminal attack controller (JTAC) on the ground can coordinate with a pilot and command an airstrike with a few clicks on a tablet.
The PCAS program aims to develop a system that enables real-time situational awareness and weapons-systems data that uses technology compatible with almost any aircraft.
The exercise with the A-10 aircraft consisted of live-fire weapons engagement using a mixture of laser and GPS-guided munitions with ten of the sorties - all completing within a six-minute goal time-frame the program had set, officials say. The PCAS-Ground software and the PCAS-Air coordinated during the exercises. PCAS tactical data links facilitated data sharing between the pilot and JTAC to determine the release of the munitions.
“These and other test results suggest PCAS-like approaches have the potential to provide an unprecedented synchronized understanding of the active battlefield,” says Dan Patt, DARPA's program manager.
The Android Tactical Assault Kit (ATAK) PCAS-Ground version was used during this test. It was developed by a joint effort between the Air Force Research Laboratory in Rome, New York and the U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM). DARPA is also working with the Army on other PCAS transition activity as part of a conclusion to the program.
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