Commanders on the ground could be getting much greater flexibility and lethal capability with the MQ-1C Gray Eagle extended range multi-purpose unmanned aerial system soon.

The U.S. Army Operational Test Command’s Aviation Test Directorate concluded an Initial Operational Test last week on the Gray Eagle at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., and the National Training Center, Fort Irwin, Calif., to meet the Secretary of Defense requirement for a UAS surge to support increased intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance support in theater.

“The IOT is a milestone C test, and the data we collected will go forward to validate the system for full-rate production,” said Col. Eduardo Gutierrez, AVTD director. “We should finish our report next week to submit to the Army Evaluation Center so they can determine if the system meets critical operational issues and criteria thresholds.”

The MQ-1C Gray Eagle conducts reconnaissance, surveillance, security, attack and mission control in support of division and brigade operations, Gutierrez said, throughout the full spectrum of Army operations.

All UAS’s are currently a Corps-level asset, according to Lt. Col. Michael Gill, AVTD’s Unmanned Division chief.

“The Gray Eagle will be the first UAS to be a divisional asset controlled by the combat aviation brigade commander,” he said. “This is a huge leap for a UAS to go from a strategic to an operational platform.”

Nearly 5,000 Soldiers, Department of the Army Civilians and contractors deployed to support the IOT, said John Moltenberry, test officer.

“For nearly 30 days the team was working non-stop 24/7 to make this test a success,” he said. “There was no break; the fight never stopped. It’s a 150-mile hike from Edwards to NTC, so people were working 14-hour shifts.”

The player unit that supported AVTD’s test team was Company F, 1st Aviation Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, Fort Riley, Kan., Moltenberry said.

“Participating in this IOT was a huge undertaking for this unit,” he said. “The company commander, Capt. Joseph DiFrancesco, had been with the unit for less than three months and there were multiple missions he wanted to accomplish during the test.

“A lot of his personnel were also new to the unit, so Capt. DiFrancesco used this opportunity to conduct a Mission Readiness Exercise to validate his Soldiers’ ability to deploy as well as making sure they were trained on the UAS in order to help us conduct the IOT,” Moltenberry said.

The collective trainer for the 1st Avn. Regt., 1st Inf. Div. was the 21st Cavalry Brigade (Air Combat) from Fort Hood. Subject-matter experts came from Fort Rucker, Ala.; Fort Huachuca, Ariz.; and Fort Bliss, Moltenberry said. Test support contractors came from Fort Hood and were also hired locally in California.

“The scope of this test was so big,” Moltenberry said, “that we needed three Operations Research Systems Analysts from OTC.”

Lead ORSA was Will Manning, with Keith Fruge serving as the performance ORSA and Ronni Parsons providing the Reliability/Availability/Maintenance expertise.

“We had to operate in a restricted area,” David Rogers, AVTD operations officer, said. “The test team developed and issued missions to the MQ-1C Gray Eagle Company in addition to the mission support they were providing to an NTC division and brigade combat team. These missions were subject to airspace availability and coordination with owning agencies and users.”

Gunnery activity included eight Hellfire missile shots conducted at NTC, according to Gill.

“Two were fired autonomously from the Gray Eagle using its own laser designation,” he said, “and six were fired cooperatively from an AH-64 Apache Attack Helicopter and a Gray Eagle. The Apache fired four with Gray Eagle providing laser designation, and the Gray Eagle fired two with the Apache providing the laser designation.”

Data collection efforts included performance data harvested during 1,095.4 flight hours accumulated during 102 tactical flight mission, RAM data showing there were no aborted missions due to systems failures and instrumentation data collection including video/audio of all flights.

“We went totally digital on collecting RAM data,” Gill said, “using tablets instead of pencil and pads, recognizing some cost efficiencies there.”

The staffs at NTC and Edwards Air Force Base were supportive of the IOT, Gill said.

“Conducting this test at the birthplace of U.S. flight testing somehow seemed appropriate,” he said.

Moltenberry spoke proudly of the AVTD Gray Eagle test team.

“There is no other organization that could have pulled this test off,” he said.