The Army has completed initial flight demonstrations and Modular Open Systems Approach (MOSA) evaluations with Textron Systems and Griffon Aerospace’s offerings for the Future Tactical UAS (FTUAS) program, the service said on Tuesday.
The update on the latest FTUAS milestones arrives as the two firms continue prototype development ahead of delivering production-representative test systems to the Army and the service’s plans to potentially move into procurement in 2026.
“Each vendor will continue prototype development, incorporate feedback and lessons learned and deliver production representative prototypes for use in future government-led testing at [the Redstone Test Center in Huntsville, Alabama] ultimately informing the Army’s selection for the FTUAS program of record,” the Army said on Tuesday.
The Army in September 2023 selected Textron and Griffon Aerospace to move forward in the prototyping effort to develop an enduring FTUAS capability, and in April awarded the third and fourth contract options for the FTUAS prototyping effort following a critical design review with the two firms’ offerings.
Option 3 is covering flight demonstrations and the MOSA verification testing, while Option 4 will include delivery of production representative prototypes for further testing and operational demonstrations that will culminate in a production readiness review.
Textron is offering its Aerosonde Mk. 4.8 Hybrid Quad UAS and Griffon Aerospace is pitching its Valiant drone platform for the FTUAS program.
The Army has said FTUAS aims to replace the legacy Shadow drone, also built by Textron, with a “vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL), runway-independent, reduced acoustic signature aircraft that can be transported organically while providing commanders with ‘on the move’ reconnaissance, surveillance, and target acquisition capabilities.
The MOSA conformance evaluations occurred in May, the Army said, and involved replacing each the mission computers on each vendors’ prototypes with a third-party surrogate mission computer and a mix of third-party and vendor software.
“Swapping the hardware and software allowed an independent assessor to measure the openness and modularity of the prototype systems to determine the extent to which MOSA objectives were satisfied. This MOSA conformance verification demonstrated early implementation of and alignment with required MOSA functional boundaries and will serve as a model for follow-on MOSA evaluations,” the Army said. FTUAS’ [MOSA] approach allows the system to keep pace with technology through rapid capability insertion.”
The flight demonstrations at the Redstone Test Center occurred after the MOSA verification event, with Texton and Griffin Aerospace conducting multiple flights to demonstrate their offerings’ capabilities for Vertical Takeoff and Landing (VTOL), reduced acoustic signature, on-the-move command and control, rapid emplacement, system integration and flight performance, the Army noted.
Brig. Gen. David Phillips, the Army’s program executive officer for aviation, told reporters in April the Army’s FTUAS prototyping effort will inform its push to “aggressively” get after procurement plans, potentially looking at 2026 to begin buying the new drone systems.
“We’re still in competition there, but we’ll have both those aircraft built and we’ll have them out in the field here getting tested later this year is what we anticipate. We’ll get that feedback in, incorporate it into any final design updates or test updates and then move forward with the program starting out in ‘26 with procurement. We’re posturing ourselves appropriately there to aggressively get after procurement with the resources that we’re provided,” Phillips said at the time.