The proposed Aurora IVHMS will use the BAMS/Global Hawk class UAS as the vehicle on which to base development. As such, NASA will have the opportunity to retrofit their Global Hawk with the Aurora IVHMS. Because NASA's Global Hawk is used in extreme flight environments, such as hurricane and severe storm research, such a PHM system would provide valuable vehicle state information. It is anticipated that other NASA vehicles would also benefit from the Aurora IVHMS system as it matures and is developed for other families of manned and unmanned air vehicles.
The initial Aurora IVHMS will be focused on as single UAS, such as BAMS, marketed as either a retrofit or for incorporation in the production process. Aurora believes the same IVHMS can, with minimal modifications, also be marketed as a retrofit to the existing Global Hawk fleet. The combined inventory of RQ-4 A,B, and N vehicles is expected to continue growing in the immediate future and will provide a steady market for the Aurora IVHMS as the process of developing Aurora IVHMS products for other UAS families begins. It is also expected that Aurora IVHMS will be an appealing addition to other UAS applications, such as Auroras own products like the Orion UAS.
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