Marshall Frith and Scott Ponsor have been working on DARPA’s PCAS project which has just recently completed a weapons demonstration for the MV-22 tiltrotor aircraft. The program has lead to several transitioning technologies and has opened a larger discussion of modern CAS technology within the DoD.
On March 27, DARPA successfully tested the full PCAS prototype system for the first time as part of TALON REACH, a U.S. Marine Corps infantry/aviation training exercise conducted in the southwest region of the United States in partnership with the Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics Squadron One and the Marine Infantry Officer Course (IOC). The demonstration marked the first successful integration of automated, digital, real-time coordination capability into a military aircraft system, including rail-launched munitions, digital data links and advanced software in support of ground forces.“I am very pleased with the successful PCAS demonstration that we had during TALON REACH,” said Lt. Gen. Jon M. Davis, the Marine Corps’ deputy commandant for aviation. “I have emphasized to my team that we will network every one of our aircraft.”
