Cubic receives subcontract to develop data
link
for RQ-7B Shadow® 200 tactical unmanned aircraft system
SAN DIEGO, Calif. – November 14, 2006 -- Cubic Defense
Applications, the defense segment of Cubic Corporation (Amex:
CUB), has received funding to integrate its advanced Tactical
Common Data Link (TCDL) aboard the U.S. Army’s RQ-7B
Shadow® 200 unmanned combat aircraft system manufactured
by AAI Corporation.
Under its contract with AAI, Cubic will place
a compact version of the TCDL aboard the Shadow 200 by
next summer
for a government-sponsored demonstration of the data link’s
capabilities.
The Army’s Aviation and Missile Command
Redstone Arsenal awarded a contract to AAI this summer
to develop, demonstrate
and test advanced tactical common data link technology as
a path toward achieving interoperability and connectivity
among various manned and unmanned intelligence, surveillance
and reconnaissance (ISR) platforms.
Cubic will modify its existing TCDL technology
to install a reduced-size TCDL into a wing pocket of the
unmanned aircraft.
Engineers are currently working on integrating the TCDL into
AAI’s OneSystem® Ground Control Station.
So far, variations of Cubic’s TCDL are being used
in several U.S. government programs, including the Navy Communications
Data Link System and Fire Scout UAV. Cubic is also developing
a combined TCDL-HIDL system for the United Kingdom’s
Watchkeeper UAV program.
“This contract gives Cubic a chance to demonstrate
its TCDL technology on a smaller UAV platform,” said
Jim Ruane, director of Data Link Applications for Cubic. “TCDL
will provide secure, high bandwidth streaming video from
the Shadow unmanned aircraft system to the warfighter on
the ground. Manned aircraft will also be able to utilize
the Shadow sensor data while staying out of harm’s
way.”
Shadow is a registered trademark of AAI Corporation.
Cubic
Defense Applications (CDA) is one of Cubic Corporation’s
two major segments. CDA is a world leader in realistic combat
training systems, mission support services and defense electronics.
The corporation's other major segment, Cubic Transportation
Systems, designs and manufactures automatic fare collection
systems for public mass transit authorities. For more information
about Cubic, see the company's website at www.cubic.com.