SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, 29 Dec. 2009. Engineers at Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) integrated Parvus DuraCOR 810 mission computers into the MQ-5B Hunter unmanned aircraft system (UAS).
More than 40 DuraCOR 810 subsystems have been delivered to sub-contractor Melhcorp and configured to operate as the payload interface unit (PIU) for the Hunter UAS. These DuraCOR 810 units monitor, control, and communicate between payloads onboard the Hunter, as well as control the mounted payloads that include electronics and sensors.
Melhcorp chose the Parvus DuraCOR 810 for the Hunter program because of its rugged modularity and MIL-STD-810F environmental compliance for extreme temperatures, shock/vibration, and ingress, Parvus officials say. This commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) tactical computer server integrates a low-power Intel Pentium M CPU together with a MIL-STD-704/1275 power supply in a rugged aluminum chassis with MIL-DTL-38999 connectors. As many as six spare PC/104(+) slots are available for integrators or Parvus to integrate mission-specific I/O functionality.
"The rugged design of the DuraCOR 810 from Parvus fulfills my operational requirements and the fact that these systems can endure the harshest environment make the unit a perfect fit for the Hunter UASs," says Julio Melhado, president of Melhcorp. "By working with the Parvus Duracor 810, Melhcorp is helping deliver durable, reliable interface units for the Hunter UAS program."
Currently being deployed by the U.S. Army, the MQ-5B Hunter UAS conducts battlefield surveillance using its multimission optronic payload. Flying over the battlefield, it gathers reconnaissance, surveillance, target acquisition, and battle damage information in real time. The Hunter then relays this information via video link to commanders and soldiers on the ground.
