Lockheed Martin announced Tuesday its first U.S. customer, Aurora Flight, for a new vehicle control software — the Vehicle Control Station software VCSi — that boasts the ability to control dozens of unmanned vehicles at the same time.
The decision was made by Aurora Flight and Lockheed following testing of VCSi flight modes and route uploads against their existing ground and flight software. The system allows operation of machines in the air, at sea or under water. VCSi builds on the unmanned vehicle control software Lockheed Martin has, for decades, worked with the U.S. Army to create.
“Aurora Flight Services has been flying with our vehicle control station VCS-4586 product for the past decade,” Keith Purtle, business development manager for Lockheed Martin CDL Systems, said. “When the opportunity arose to help design and build our newest iteration, VCSi, Aurora was a preferred choice.”
A unique trait of the system is its open architecture framework. It has no restriction on the hardware or operating system it needs to be plugged into. It works with numerous military and industry standards and, with a vehicle integration and development kit, can be integrated into each customer’s unique systems.