source AAP;
Australia's troubled Boeing Wedgetail airborne early warning and control (AEW and C) aircraft have demonstrated the ability to simultaneously control three unmanned drone aircraft.
In a trial conducted in the United States last month, operators aboard the RAAF aircraft flying over Washington state remotely flew three ScanEagle unmanned aircraft systems (UAS).
The airborne operators issued NATO-standard sensor and flight control commands by way of a UHF satellite communication link and ground-station relay.
Boeing will conduct another demonstration of this capability at RAAF Base Williamtown, NSW, next month with a Wedgetail controlling ScanEagles operated by Boeing Defence Australia personnel at Woomera, South Australia , 1,730km away.
Pierce Lutter, Boeing associate technical fellow for unmanned vehicle control systems, said this would have been a considerable achievement if conducted in a laboratory setting.
"But we used currently fielded platforms and systems in a real-world setting to demonstrate a new level of command-and-control capability for war fighters," he said in a statement.
Under the $3.45 billion Wedgetail program, Australia is buying six Boeing 737 airborne early warning and control aircraft, each equipped with an advanced radar able to watch over a 400km radius, directing fighters to any threat.
The project has faced significant delays because of technical problems with the radar.
Under the original delivery schedule, the RAAF was to receive its first Wedgetails in November 2006. Under a new deed of agreement with Boeing , the first aircraft will arrive this November to begin aircrew training. It will have limited operational capability.
The remaining aircraft are scheduled to arrive by mid-2010 with full capability.
During his visit to the US this week for the annual Australia-US Ministerial talks (AUSMIN), Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon will hold talks with US company Northrop Grumman on Wedgetail radar progress.
Australia troops employed ScanEagle drones in Iraq and currently do so in Afghanistan .
Maureen Dougherty, Boeing vice-president in charge of the AEW and C program, said the ability to remotely control ScanEagle substantially increased the operational versatility of Wedgetail.
She said it also demonstrated that operational 737 AEW and C systems were robust enough to allow integration of future capabilities.
In the test last month, three ScanEagles were launched from Boeing's Boardman Test Facility in eastern Oregon, about 190km away from the airborne Wedgetail.
Operators tasked them with area search, reconnaissance, point surveillance and targeting.