MAY 7, 2024 – The Army’s Project Management (PM) Office for Aviation Mission Systems and Architecture (AMSA) received a statement of airworthiness qualification (SAQ) for the EAGLE-M, the Army’s critical next generation aviation navigation system.
The Systems Readiness Directorate at Redstone Arsenal, Alabama published the document on April 25, 2024. In addition to the SAQ, the United States Space Force Precise Positioning Service Equipment Certification Office certified the EAGLE-M as reliable, accurate, and secure.
This documentation is the final milestone for avionics equipment qualification and facilitates the attainment of platform unique airworthiness releases.
EAGLE-M, more formally known as the enhanced aviation, GATM (global air traffic management), LPV (localizer performance with vertical guidance), EGI (embedded GPS (Global Positioning System)/inertial navigation system) M-Code, provides position and navigation information to Army Aviation aircraft.
It can be paired with the Multi-Platform Anti-Jam GPS Navigation Antenna (MAGNA) to form the common avionics solution to meet assured position, navigation, and timing (A-PNT) requirements on Army Aviation weapon systems. This form and fit replacement for previously fielded aircraft EGIs delivers enhanced performance within both the tactical and civil airspace operating environments.
Most notably, the EAGLE-M includes an M- Code GPS receiver capable of supplying an extremely precise aircraft position that, when paired with the system’s internal inertial system, provides a resilient navigation solution that dramatically increases aviation operational capability within GPS contested environments.
In addition to providing greater capability to Army aircrews operating within degraded GPS environments, the AMSA team designed EAGLE-M as a backward compatible replacement for the assortment of earlier generation EGIs.
It is the obsolescence replacement for the EGIs that rely on the Selective Availability Anti-Spoofing Module (SAASM) embedded GPS receiver, effectively mitigating supply chain risk. With SAASM receivers no longer in production and limited quantities remaining, the EAGLE-M is essential to both preserving class IX repair part availability and ensuring uninterrupted new aircraft production into the foreseeable future.
PM AMSA designed the EAGLE-M as a backward compatible replacement for the assortment of earlier generation EGIs.
The Army is currently fielding the MAGNA antenna, which received SAQ in 2021, in limited quantities. A controlled reception pattern anti-jam antenna, two types of the MAGNA are available: an integrated version best suited for small platforms with limited payload capacity, and a federated version being integrated onto Gray Eagles and the Army’s manned aircraft fleet. No matter the configuration, the MAGNA antenna provides excellent protection from GPS signal jamming threats.
The EAGLE-M SAQ is the most recent milestone in the Army’s pursuit of enhanced A-PNT technologies for aviation platforms. Integration and testing activities are well underway on a variety of aircraft, and fielding is currently scheduled to begin at the end of this year.
Future developments to qualify additional capabilities inherent to the EAGLE-M and MAGNA systems, including Satellite-Based Augmentation System LPV instrument approach, Precise Positioning System precision vertical guidance recovery, and improved aircrew awareness of GPS degradation, are also already underway.
Collectively, these transformational improvements will ensure Army Aviation remains survivable and lethal in large scale combat operations.
By: COL Burr Miller, LTC Paul Flanigen, MAJ Sean McManus, and MAJ Chad Howard