Northrop Grumman has won a four-year, $46 million contract to continue development and then demonstrate in the field the heterogeneous airborne reconnaissance team, or HART, system. “This contract award is a significant milestone for the HART program as it allows us to mature the technology and bring the system closer to theatre deployment,” said Carl Johnson, Northrop’s vice president of advanced concepts-air and land systems, in the company’s release. HART is designed to manage a mix of manned and unmanned aircraft and sensors autonomously, allowing troops in the field to use handheld computers to request, on demand, overhead full-motion video of an area of interest, such as a suspected enemy position. Soon thereafter, the imagery is then available on the soldier’s handheld device. The Air Force Research Lab and DARPA sponsor the program. HART was formerly known as HURT, with the focus on urban operations.
The Air Force has embraced new technical approaches like open mission systems and rapid software updates for cutting-edge aircraft like the B-21 and Collaborative Combat Aircraft. Increasingly, though, the service is also working to apply these to its older, “legacy” aircraft, officials said this week.