Alliance Ground Surveillance
Alliance Ground Surveillance ( AGS) is a program of NATO to build a capacity for battlefield reconnaissance and surveillance using unmanned aircraft type RQ -4B Global Hawk. To be stationed the system on the Italian military airfield Sigonella.
Background
The program came as a result of 1989 formulated by the NATO requirement, the ability to advanced battlefield surveillance NATO (Allied Ground Surveillance, also AGS) to improve. During the NATO summit in Prague in November 2002, the requirements of such a system has been reaffirmed in the course of the Prague Capabilities Commitment ( PCC).
In April 2002, the TIPS Industries Consortium ( the predecessor of the AGS Industries GmbH ) NATO had presented her draft AGS solution. This design was shortly afterwards by Raytheon Co-operative Transatlantic AGS System ( CTAS ) is a strong competition. The CTAS design was based mainly on the Sentinel R1 ASTOR with a system ( Airborne Stand-Off Radar ). After long negotiations, the NATO member countries decided on 16 April 2004 for the TIPS offer.
On 26 October 2005, the TIPS consortium of NATO handed over to the Conference of National Armaments Directors (English Conference of National Armament Directors, CNAD ) a completed in collaboration with the TCAR team study on the development, financing and risk assessment of the program. On 15 May 2006, the company EADS, Northrop Grumman, Indra Sistemas, Thales Group, Galileo Avionica and General Dynamics formed the joint venture company AGS Industries GmbH.
The presented in October 2006, NATO offer for the program design and development phases envisaged a mixed fleet of Airbus A321 and several Global Hawk. The revised A321 should be equipped with the Transatlantic Collaborative AGS Radar ( TCAR ) and other sensors that would have been raised in an elongated container mounted above the fuselage. This aircraft would have been roughly comparable to the American E-8 Joint STARS. Mid-2007, was planning to use a manned system in favor of a solution that includes only unmanned aircraft, rejected for cost reasons.
Began on February 20, 2009 with the signing process of a program Memorandum of Understanding ( PMOU ) the first step towards the realization of the project. After completing the drawing, the NATO AGS Management Agency ( NAGSMA ) is set up to prepare for the signing of the contract to coordinate further action.
The planned NATO - controlled multinational operation and financing of the system are similar to the procedure at the Airborne Warning and Control System ( AWACS ).
Waiver
For cost reasons, the following NATO countries have been withdrawn from the procurement:
- Denmark
- Canada
Components
RQ -4B Global Hawk
The planned six Aufklärungsdronen RQ -4B Global Hawk will be equipped with an MP - RTIP radar ( Multi-Platform Radar Technology Insertion Program), developed by Northrop Grumman and Raytheon, and is currently being tested in the United States. It is a so-called Active Electronically Scanned Array radar. The procurement contract signed NATO with the manufacturer Northrop Grumman on 20 May 2012.
Ground station
The ground segment of the AGS should consist of several deployable ground stations that will be connected via data links and will have the capacity for data processing and analysis at the same time interoperability with other C2ISR systems. Furthermore, the system will have elements for mission support at the main base in Sigonella and ground stations for flight control.