Photo courtesy U.S. Army military Proving Pa U.S. Army is leveraging in-house integration and testing capabilities to expedite interoperability for unmanned aircraft systems by Frank Colucci he U.S. Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Rapid Integration and Acceptance Center (RIAC) will test the Gray Eagle UAS with the Block III Apache Longbow attack helicopter this June. As part of Block III production prove-out testing, the Apache crew will steer the UAS flight path and operate Gray Eagle sensors through a Tactical Common Data Link (TCDL) and cockpit controls and displays. can connect to our airplane digitally while still on the ground and launch that Apache completely situationally aware ... seeing our said Lars Ericsson, senior scientist for the Project Manager UAS (PM UAS) at the Army Program Executive Office for Aviation in Huntsville, Ala. The manned helicopter is expected to exercise Level IV control over the Unmanned Air Vehicle (UAV) at distances greater than 50 km and stream stored UAS video to ground stations greater than 100 km away. the Gray Eagle, the Apache is just another ground The RIAC at Dugway Proving Ground, Utah, the UAS Technical and Certification Centers at Redstone Arsenal, Ala., and the Joint Systems Integration 14 Avionics Magazine August 2012 www.avionicstoday.com