May 18, 2020

SAGE Electronic Intelligence (ESM/ELINT) Accredited by DoD for UAS Platform

After a 36-month collaboration with the US Department of Defense, Leonardo Electronics US SAGE ELINT system has been accredited as a trusted US payload platform on a significant UAV platform.

SAGE is a digital electronic support measure and electronic intelligence (ESM/ELINT) system that builds target locations and provides situational awareness and advance warning of threats. SAGE works by collecting all parameters of RF signals for identification.

The shift to UAVs is important to military, homeland security and humanitarian missions, capturing earthquake images and checking the integrity of infrastructure such as cell phone towers, but designing electronic intelligence for UAV offers some unique challenges:

  • SWaP-C: SAGE fully integrates into the fuselage, which prevents impacts to aerodynamics and saves space for pods or weaponry. SAGE can fly on every mission without impacting mission time or range.
  • Speed: On unmanned platforms, data funnels down a narrow pipe in near real-time providing ample warning  to the pilot and sensor operator can maneuver or execute countermeasures. The success of the data throughput models developed will offer an advantage for other airborne platforms.

The accreditation required an early briefing of relevant government agencies prior to submission for approval as well as an iterative process with organization engineers to ensure that the flow of data did not interfere with flight paths.  After arriving at a design that meets all the requirements, this ELINT system was packaged, documented and installed with a training and support plan in place.

With the accreditation approved, Leonardo Electronics US can now significantly compress development time for other airborne platforms, reducing customer investment by as much as half.

Leonardo currently provides government training for ELINT analysts in a classified environment, train-the-trainer and 1:1 training. The company is also pursuing an initiative to bring training to its Huntsville, AL location to further support this program.

Learn more information about SAGE Electronic Support Measures.