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2022-04-01

Tough Terrains No Bar for MOJAVE

Mojave is a name that brings to one’s mind one of the harshest and most austere desert areas in the world, where deadly rattlesnakes and horned lizards adapt to survive the extreme forces of nature. The region is known for altering of freezing and scorching temperatures.

It’s hence not a surprise that when General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc (GA-ASI) officially introduced a new Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) late last year, it was named Mojave, primarily because of its ability to reach such tough terrains which no UAS had ever reached.

Special operations troops don’t get to pick and choose where they’re deployed on some of the most difficult missions. They not only need the finest support - they need it to be able to go anywhere.

The good news is that today’s forces benefit from 20 years of non-stop innovation, much of which has been enabled by unmanned aircraft systems.

GA-ASI’s Mojave has been introduced following years of preparation and months of successful test flights.

A bold new aircraft, Mojave, joins the Predator-series family of UAS, bringing forward a unique set of capabilities ideal for armed overwatch, attack, and armed reconnaissance missions.

Top Characteristics

The Mojave system takes advantage of all the hard-proven, best-of-breed characteristics that have made its earlier siblings, including the MQ-9 Reaper and the MQ-1C Gray Eagle, the most successful aircraft of their kind. Its avionics and flight control systems are built upon the revolutionary designs and systems of the MQ-9 Reaper and MQ-1C Gray Eagle-Extended Range (GE-ER), parts of a fleet boasting over seven million hours of operation, much of them in combat.

Operators can use direct-line-of-sight or beyond-line-of-sight satellite control. They take command using a highly advanced and yet user-friendly control interface. Mojave’s airframe configuration is well proven.

A closer look will reveal that Mojave isn’t so similar. That’s a big, tough new landing gear under the fuselage – which enables short-field takeoffs and robust weapons payloads, as well as some operations from ships at sea and the use of semi-improved airfields.

The wings are stubbier but sturdier too, with an expanded set of payload stations. Mojave can accommodate an unprecedented new bombload of up to 16 AGM-114 Hellfire missiles or other ordnance – including forward-firing weapons such as the Dillon Aero M134D-H minigun, as well as sensors or other payloads as needed. The aircraft can haul as much as 3,600 pounds if needed – more than twice that of Gray Eagle.

Other improvements can be found underneath the skin, including the highly reliable Rolls-Royce M250 turboshaft engine; high-resolution electro-optical infrared sensor in the nose; the Eagle Eye Long-Range radar – with its synthetic aperture, moving target indication and other capabilities – including signals intelligence and communications relay hardware.

As an unmanned aircraft, Mojave has no onboard crew to put into danger over a combat zone, or support on a lengthy deployment. It also showcases endurance and flexibility unlike any competitor.

With more than 24 hours of flight time in an intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance configuration when the aircraft is “clean” – i.e., when it has no external stores loaded – Mojave outperforms any other human-crewed fixed-wing turboprop light aircraft. It can self-deploy from a U.S. or friendly base, arrive at its patrol station, and immediately get to work.

Logistical Advantage

Mojave provides options for forward-basing operations without the need for typical paved runways or infrastructure. It can take off and land from countless remote semi-improved surfaces while under pilot control via a traditional ground control station or scalable command and control laptop solution.

Its Short-takeoff and landing (STOL) capability increases the number of employment options, potentially including aircraft carrier-based options, unlocking naval missions and sea-based support for special operations forces.

In a scenario in which is deployed from the United States, it might then land at a base in use by American special operations forces or their partner units, refuel, take on weapons and launch again for another mission.

Pilots could handle the aircraft from the local operational area or, using satellite take-off and landing, crews might fly Mojave from a remote station somewhere else, or both – whichever the mission needed.

Special operations commanders have many other options: they could bring Mojave into the operating environment packed with other equipment in a C-130 Hercules or C-17 Globemaster III and set up the aircraft onsite.

Picture Special Forces operating from an austere forward location with no hard shelters or paved runways. A transport aircraft could arrive with Mojave in a high state of readiness – including with some fuel already onboard. Troops on the ground would need only about three hours, expeditionary equipment and hand tools to assemble the aircraft and then launch.

Mojave’s short-takeoff and endurance parameters also flex with the mission. An unarmed aircraft sent up for an intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance mission could get airborne in less than 1,000 feet and stay aloft for more than 20 hours. Longer runways and more fuel permit greater endurance, of up to around 27 hours.

Attack Roles

Mojave can quickly land, re-arm and re-launch from austere sites located in close proximity to non-permissive environments and can carry double the payload of earlier-model aircraft. Its increased wing surface area allows it to carry up to 3,600 lb. (1,633 kg), which totals as many as 16 AGM-114 Hellfire or equivalent missiles. The UAS can be equipped with a sensor suite including EO/IR, Synthetic Aperture Radar/Ground Moving Target Indicator (SAR/GMTI) and Signal Intelligence (SIGINT) to support land or maritime missions.

Likewise for the armed overwatch or attack roles: suppose U.S. troops armed a Mojave with 12 Hellfire air-to-ground missiles. With around 1,600 feet of runway, the aircraft could stay overhead and support them for more than nine hours.

The nicer the airfield, the longer the runway, the more Mojave can do – but special operations forces often don’t get to go nice places. Sometimes all they have is a grass strip in a jungle clearing, or a stretch of sand, or a dry lakebed. That’s OK. Mojave can handle it.

And although the particulars can vary depending on the fuel, runway, ordnance and other factors of a mission, one thing is constant: Mojave outranges, out-endures and outshoots any small, human-crewed turboprop aircraft in the armed overwatch role.

A detachment of Mojaves, working in concert with other U.S. and allied forces, will change the way special operations forces fight. American or friendly troops could have constant surveillance over an area of interest well ahead of an operation, armed support during it, and lingering surveillance after they had returned to base.

New network and hardware give friendly forces more control than they’ve ever had before, including in the hands of joint terminal attack controllers on a mission with special operations forces. Using a small, off-the-shelf tablet about the size of a hardcover book, they can take control of Mojave’s aiming sensors and direct ordnance precisely to where it is needed, with no need to try to talk a distant pilot onto a target over the radio.

GA-ASI, an affiliate of General Atomics, is a leading designer and manufacturer of proven, reliable remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) systems, radars, and electro-optic and related mission systems, including the Predator RPA series and the Lynx Multi-mode Radar.

GA-ASI is continually pushing technologies to adapt to emerging threats. Predator-series UAS have evolved to become not only a critical provider of Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR), but also provide kinetic and non-kinetic capabilities to neutralise threats and achieve overmatch.

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