the Airborne 
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Lockheed is more aggressive than most defense firms in self-funding projects that make sense to them, and the Airborne Multi-Intelligence Laboratory (AML) was their response to the rising popularity of small manned surveillance planes like the USA’s MC-12W Liberty, the MARSS program, etc. Now, their AML is moving from a privately-funded surveillance variant of the Gulfstream III business jet, to a money-making platform, courtesy of the Italian Ministry of Defence.
Under an agreement for an undisclosed sum, Lockheed Martin will provide its AML as a contracted ISR(Intelligence, Surveillance & Reconnaissance) service “in a live operational environment,” which probably means Afghanistan. The service goes beyond the jet…
Italy’s contract includes full flight crew and maintenance personnel, plus 3 intelligence-processing ground stations, for 1 year. An option could extend the contract to 2 years. The sensor package will include day/night cameras and SIGINT electronic eavesdropping gear, other undiscussed communications and sensor packages, plus any new equipment the Italians choose to add and integrate.
Lockheed Martin says that its AML team includes L-3 Communications Systems-West, Rockwell Collins, FLIR Government Systems, and Finmeccanica’s DRS.
To date, the Gulfstream III AML has been used as a test platform to develop the architecture for swappable sensors that could be packaged in different mounting assemblies, and installed on a wide variety of planes. The firm now markets this offering as its Dragon series, with “Dragon Star” marketed as the modification for Gulfstream III sized jets, and “Net Dragon” as the name for the kind of rent-a-capability service the Italians are buying.
The Italian order will help the firm refine its core architecture, broaden its sensor choices, hone both parties’ understanding of how to operate and use a service like this, and give its Dragon line some operational credentials.
Those credentials may be a useful selling point in non-military markets as well. The mineral surveys of Afghanistan that recently found huge resource deposits used military assets, including magnetic imaging sensors on board P-3 maritime patrol aircraft. Unmanned drones have also shown considerable flexibility, with hunter-killer platforms like the MQ-9 Reaper refitted to take on roles like firefighting assistance. Manned aircraft with packages like the Dragon series offer similar potential, without the issues drones have getting permission to fly in civil airspace.
Updates
March 14/17: Lockheed Martin has announced that they have upgraded the Airborne Multi-INT Lab (AML) to speed up the mission system’s ability to turn sensor data into intelligence for customers. The modified Gulfstream III aircraft is used to test various onboard sensors for military and non-military purposes and is fitted to enable in-air experimentation for products with intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance applications. Upgrades added by Lockheed Martin include an autonomous sensor control mode that can coordinate operations between the plane and onboard sensors which will accelerate the aircraft’s ability to produce actionable intelligence from experimental data.
March 23/16: Lockheed Martin is to go ahead with its Net Dragon upgrade planned for the USAF’s U-2S fleet. The system will equip the fleet with a beyond-line-of-sight communications relay capability for forward-deployed forces on the ground or in the air. At present, the aircraft uses a Dragon Fly modem that will allow a soldier on the ground to relay full-motion video to another soldier miles away. The new upgrade increases the difficulty for competitors to get ahead of Lockheed, with a planned L-3 Communications upgrade due on the plan within the next few months. An L-3 Communication satellite modem will allow the same forces on the ground to call up imagery and other information from intelligence databases, such as the distributed common ground system.
