Was Gorgon Stare Increment 2 operational on 8 March 2014?
Sierra Nevada (1 Jul 2014): deployed to Afghanistan ‘earlier this year’ and at IOC. Air & Space Forces (7 Apr 2014): Col Brandon Baker — second iteration ‘has been tried operationally’ and would undergo a six-month evaluation. Mercury SEC: 18-month QRC delivery from a 2011 win. None of these pin 7–8 March.
PB2013 scheduled Increment 2 development through Q2 FY2013 and multi-year fielding bars. Those bars are not Afghanistan IOC. Lt Gen Larry James, 16 Nov 2012: ‘getting ready to field.’ Mike Meermans, Apr 2013: ‘Gorgon Stare Increment 2 is ARGUS-IS. We are the first operational implementation of this technology’ — a characterisation, not a theatre-arrival date. What is still needed: acceptance, first operational flight, Afghanistan arrival and IOC records, especially 53rd Wing / ACC / BIG SAFARI.
Sources
- Sierra Nevada, 1 Jul 2014
- Air & Space Forces, 7 Apr 2014
- Mercury Computer Systems SEC exhibits 2011–2012
Related
Gorgon Stare
BIG SAFARI wide-area surveillance · podded, not MQ-9-only
USAF: Gorgon Stare Increment 2 ‘tried operationally’
Air & Space Forces · 7 April 2014 · Col Brandon Baker
Thinking About the U.S. Military’s Next-Generation UAS Force
OSD Office of Net Assessment · September 2013 · 112 pp. · HQ0034-09-D-3007-0013