UTC Aerospace Systems' MS-177 multi-spectral sensor has passed its first flight test on the RQ-4B Global Hawk UAV.
"With the Global Hawk flight complete, MS-177 will now commence a six-month integration, testing and qualification phase before official fielding in late 2017," a UTC news release said.
The test was conducted in February at Northrop Grumman's Palmdale, California, facility.
"As the most advanced imaging sensor of its kind, the MS-177 is a game-changer in airborne surveillance," said Kevin Raftery, vice president of ISR and space systems at UTC. "During its first flight on Global Hawk, MS-177 demonstrated its ability to take the aircraft's imaging capabilities to a new level in terms of coverage area, quality and accuracy."
The MS-177 is the successor to the Senior Year Electro-optical Reconnaissance System, or SYERS, sensor, currently flown on U-2S aircraft. The SYERS-2 sensor pivots from side to side, while the MS-177 also scans forward and backward.