Northrop Grumman Corporation's (NYSE:NOC) Hunter Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS), in use with the U.S. Army since 1996, has successfully completed testing of the new GPS-guided Viper Strike (VS) weapons system at White Sands Missile Range, N.M. — GPS VS will soon deploy to theater on board Hunter in support of contingency operations.

GPS VS aides the weapons guidance by providing proximity based on coordinates while maintaining pinpoint accuracy with laser guidance. While previous VS systems required the Hunter to be directly overhead, GPS VS offers the advantage of nearly six miles of stand-off range. GPS VS can also hone in on both moving and stationary targets. The MQ-5B Hunter, which is currently deployed in contingency operations, provides warfighters with state-of-the-art reconnaissance, surveillance, and target acquisition (RSTA), communications relay, signal intelligence, and weapons delivery. Hunter recently surpassed 80,000 flight hours, 53,000 of which are combat-related.

The RQ-5A Hunter was the Army's first fielded UAS. The MQ-5B is the nexgen Hunter and gathers RSTA information in real time and relays it via video link to commanders and soldiers on the ground. The MQ-5B Hunter is distinguished by its heavy fuel engines, its "wet" (fuel-carrying) extended center wing with weapons-capable hard points and a modern avionics suite. The MQ-5B Hunter system uses the Army's One System ground control station and remote video terminal. It also carries a communications relay package to extend the radio range of warfighters. A differential GPS automatic takeoff and landing system was recently fielded to the UAS Training Battalion in support of Hunter training.

The MQ-5B features a robust, fixed-wing, twin tail-boom design with redundant control systems powered by two heavy fuel engines - one engine to "push" and another to "pull" the air vehicle. Another Hunter capability is its relay mode that allows one Hunter to be controlled by another UAV at extended ranges or over terrain obstacles typical of those found in the Balkans and Afghanistan. Hunter maintains an operational readiness rate at more than 95 percent in operational theaters. It is an ideal platform for spiral enhancements and technology refresh payloads. Recently, Northrop Grumman integrated a new suite of avionics for Hunter, including upgraded flight and mission computers, an auxiliary power distribution unit, the LN-251 inertial navigation system with GPS, a downsized data link system, and an APX-118 IFF transponder. The avionics suite improves performance by reducing size, weight, and power consumption of the equipment used to control the aircraft and manage its critical subsystems.