Air Force buys tracking system for pilots of remote aircraft

Air Force operators of remotely piloted aircraft will get a new set of software tools with which to track data and communicate with the military units they support through a new situational awareness and collaboration system that will be provided by a unit of Raytheon.

Raytheon Solipsys will install its Zeus system at 18 Air Combat Command, Air National Guard and Air Force Special Operations Command locations under a $9 million contract, the company said in a Dec. 13 announcement.

Zeus gives the operators real-time tracking images from multiple plot and track sources, the announcement states. It also furnishes operators with collaboration and communication tools such as chat, common data formats, cursor-on-target and the ability to participate in a Link-16 network used for exchanging tactical data.

The Zeus technology incorporates previously developed Raytheon Solipsys products, including the Tactical Display Framework and Multi-Source Correlator Tracker, the announcement states.

The Air Force prefers the term "remotely piloted aircraft" to "unmanned aerial vehicles" because the aircraft are manned by pilots at remote terminals.