After transfer to the Ohio LTA UAS Consortium, the Argus One was immediately dispatched to the Electronic Warfare Associates Engineering Facility in Fairmont, West Virginia. There it underwent static testing, inspection and design assessment. When this was completed, the propulsion and avionics pod of the Argus One was separated from the envelope assembly for installation at the Center for UAV Exploitation (CUE) in Dayton, Ohio that is co-located with the United States Air Force(USAF) Rapid Prototyping Center. The CUE is a supporting partner of the Consortium and this is presently the only commercial product under testing and development within the facility. Beside avionics and flight control testing, the pod will also be evaluated there for the possible installation of a hybrid propulsion system similar to types presently under development by the USAF.
The envelope assembly of the Argus One will be housed with the Unmanned Systems Innovation Center (USIC) at Springfield Beckley Airport near Dayton, Ohio. Two Argus One demos are planned at the USIC this year in conjunction with the Ohio/Indiana UAS Center and Test Complex. One demo will highlight the new ducted fan/vectored thrust propulsion system presently under development and the other will be for congressional staff. We anticipate Certificates of Authorization will be secured for these events through the Ohio/Indiana UAS Center and Test Complex, allowing for untethered operation.
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