New ISR Planes Getting Ready to Take to the Skies

Forward deployed Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) solutions have advanced considerably since the E2 Hawkeye was introduced in 1964. New airborne platforms like ARTEMIS (Airborne Reconnaissance and Targeting Exploitation Multi-Mission Intelligence System) and ATHENA (Army Theater-level, High-Altitude Expeditionary – Next – Airborne) both represent next-gen aerial intelligence gathering for the Army. Both offer advanced sensor packages, with ARTEMIS focusing on multi-mission ISR tasks at lower altitudes and ATHENA focusing on high-altitude, long endurance ISR missions.

Why the intense focus on ever-more-effective ISR platforms?

As airborne ISR has evolved, the military has sought technological leaps to significantly enhance situational awareness, intelligence gathering, and operational effectiveness. Today, “ISR platforms form the backbone of modern military intelligence, enabling superior decision-making through advanced surveillance and reconnaissance systems,” according to Defense Advancement, a platform that showcases technical innovation.

ISR aims to provide commanders with a real-time, comprehensive understanding of the operational environment. It is also crucial for maintaining situational awareness, monitoring enemy movements, and gathering actionable intelligence.

Army’s Program Executive Office Intelligence, Electronic Warfare & Sensors, says ongoing advances will give military leaders “the ability to see farther, see more, and see more persistently than our enemies.”

Other new airborne ISR solutions

The military and government contractors are investing in a range of flying ISR platforms to advance its situational-awareness capabilities.

Sierra Nevada Corp. (SNC) recently won a contract to build HADES (High Accuracy Detection and Exploitation System), a specialized intelligence aircraft.

“It will possess speed, range, endurance-at-range, and altitude for deep sensing, all culminating in its ability to overcome the physical challenges encountered by legacy airborne ISR aircraft, without sacrificing the unique quality and capability of collection that airborne ISR provides to Army and joint force commanders around the world,” an Army spokesman said.

SNC will integrate “a variety of sensors for communications intelligence, electronic intelligence, synthetic aperture radar and moving target indication onto a fleet of Bombardier Global 6500 business jets,” Defense Scoop reports.

The other large push is for use of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) for ISR. Their versatile ISR payloads and long endurance make them critical for battlefield intelligence. “Recent advancements in information technology and reductions in cost have greatly increased the utility of UAS for ISR,” according to the Defense Systems Information Analysis Center. “The use of UAS for ISR has many advantages: UAS are generally less expensive than manned aircraft; they can be deployed for very long missions without being limited by the endurance of human aircrews; and they can operate without putting a pilot at risk of injury, capture, or death.”

For example, General Atomics’ MQ-9 Reaper and Predator drones allow for enhanced sensor packages that enable both tactical and strategic ISR with over 24-hour endurance. Northrop Grumman’s RQ-4 Global Hawk is a high-altitude, long endurance (HALE) platform specifically designed for ISR missions.

What are the core needs in ISR?

At the military looks to expands its airborne ISR capabilities, a number of core needs will determine the effectiveness of proposed solutions. Given the physical and operational constraints of the air domain, considerations will likely include:

• Remote Operation & Forward-Deployed Locations - These platforms must operate effectively in remote, hostile environments. Technology such as edge computing and low-latency communication networks will be key for these operations.
• Data Aggregation and Real-Time Processing - The need to collect data from various sensors into a single coherent stream for analysis. Key technologies will include AI algorithms, edge computing, high-speed storage, and advanced data fusion techniques.
• Fast Data Retrieval – The military requires the ability to store and quickly retrieve vast amounts of data from different sources. Large-scale databases and optimized storage solutions will be needed to handle these loads.
• Scalable Storage and Speed – The growing volume of ISR data, and its mission importance, means the armed forces will need scalable storage solutions and rapid data processing speeds. Drives utilizing NVMe (a storage and transport protocol), high-speed network interconnects, and distributed file systems will all help to support the real-time ISR that drives mission success.
• SWaP (Size, Weight, and Power) – It will be critical that ISR platforms minimize SWaP (size, weight, and power consumption) in order to maximize operational efficiency and adaptability.

While emerging ISR platforms will be key to driving effective mission outcomes, their success will depend on the analysts and AI/ML systems that put the collected outputs to work. Thus, the military will need to ensure the software supporting ISR platforms is intuitive and easy to use, with minimal training required.

How Axellio SensorXpress solves the problem

Axellio's SensorXpress platform offers high-speed data capture, processing, and storage that meet the demands of modern ISR platforms. Its low latency, large-scale storage, low SWaP, and real-time data streaming make it ideal for all ISR applications, including these new airborne platforms.

By leveraging high-performance data processing and real-time analytics, SensorXpress enables rapid decision making by seamlessly ingesting vast amounts of sensor data from multiple sources all in a very small payload. This system dramatically reduces latency, ensuring that critical ISR information is available at the right time, provided to the right analytic solutions, and stored for later detailed post-processing.

SensorXpress enables military and defense agencies to efficiently process and analyze large-scale sensor feeds, enabling better situation awareness, and improving decision-making in time-sensitive environments. By offering rapid data processing and advanced analytics, it enhances ISR capabilities, ensuring quicker insights and more accurate responses to mission situations. Contact us to learn more about SensorXpress and how it can help with ISR collection in airborne platforms as well as other many other edge-based platforms.