Unmanned Aerial Systems for the Army National Guard
The Army National Guard has received fiscal year 2023 Congressional funding for 12 new Gray Eagle 25M (GE-25M) unmanned aircraft systems from General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI).
The funding comes after Army National Guard States, which make up 45 percent of the U.S. Army’s combat divisions, requested GE-25Ms to make its divisions multidomain operations capable, deployable, and better able to team with newly formed division artillery brigades. They will also be available to support domestic missions, such as homeland defense and disaster response, as needed.
“Gray Eagle is a valuable tool that gives the Army National Guard capabilities that match the organizational and doctrinal reconnaissance, surveillance, and target acquisition requirements of active Army divisions with up to 40 hours of continuous flight,” said Patrick Shortsleeve, GA-ASI vice president of Department of Defense Strategic Development.
GE-25M is equipped with the new Eagle-Eye multimode radar and electro-optical/infrared sensors, and can host a wide range of additional kinetic and non-kinetic payloads. Equipping National Guard divisions with organic GE-25Ms makes possible the necessary mission planning, targeting, communications, detailed coordination, and realistic training needed to employ the systems successfully in combat.
The Gray Eagle unmanned system has a proven record of performance with millions of hours of safe operations, including automatic takeoff and landing capability. The aircraft excels as an enabler for fires, maneuver, network and intelligence operations. It is also an integral part of the Army Aviation team, working closely with manned rotary-wing systems to achieve overmatch against pacing threats.
