Tobyhanna lands Gray Eagle Ground Control Station repairs

By Justin Eimers, CECOMMarch 12, 2014

Tobyhanna lands Gray Eagle GCS repairs
(Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

TOBYHANNA ARMY DEPOT, Pa. (March 12, 2014) -- The Army, Marine Corps, Air Force and Navy have named Tobyhanna Army Depot as the Depot Source of Repair for the Gray Eagle (MQ-1C) Unmanned Aircraft System Ground Control Stations.

The decision by the four services' Maintenance Inter-service Support Management Offices recognizes the depot as the installation best suited for these repairs.

"Through the acquisition process, there is a lot of assessment that takes place, including core logistics analyses that look at our capabilities," said Nick Caprioli, chief of the Business Development Division. "Tobyhanna was selected based on infrastructure, training and technical expertise for this type of work."

Repairs for the new workload will begin in fiscal year 2016, with 19 Ground Control Stations, or GCSs, scheduled per year, totaling more than 75 systems through fiscal year 2018.

The Gray Eagle system is a long-range, high-altitude Unmanned Aircraft System, or UAS, that provides the capability to perform wide-area reconnaissance, surveillance and target acquisition. It is also capable of relaying communications and can be equipped for attack missions. The system consists of the aircraft, GCS, data terminals and data links. Each GCS controls one Gray Eagle aircraft and is used by the operator to perform command and control, payload control and weapon launch operations.

Due to their complexity, Gray Eagle systems and components are currently replaced rather than repaired, exhausting money and resources. Depot personnel are developing cost-effective solutions to repair GCSs and increase capability. Tobyhanna recognizes that the assignment of this Depot Source of Repair, or DSOR, will enable the depot to be selected for additional DSORs for UAS equipment.

Katlin Edmunds, business development specialist, noted that revamping the DSOR decision process will also help substantially reduce costs and bring more UAS work to the depot.

"DSOR selection helps ensure effective use of commercial and organic depot maintenance resources," she said. "We have been aggressively trying to streamline processes, find inefficiencies and figure out the best way to accommodate new UAS workloads."

Based on trends in the market, business management analysts anticipate that UAS will be the depot's largest commodity in the future. As the only Army depot involved in the Integrated Product Team, or IPT, for Air Force and Army UAS, Tobyhanna is well positioned to receive workloads for additional UAS component repairs. The IPT is working with Tobyhanna to identify the need for any new test equipment, facilitation or training necessary for additional UAS work.

"Part of the planning process to bring in this workload is to have our engineers work with the program offices to make sure our capabilities are sufficient to provide the best solution for everybody involved," said Caprioli. "The depot's all-hands-on-deck approach to secure this DSOR selection has helped increase our marketability and should open doors for future UAS workloads."

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Tobyhanna Army Depot is a recognized leader in providing world-class logistics support for Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance, also known as C4ISR, Systems across the Department of Defense. Tobyhanna's Corporate Philosophy, dedicated work force and electronics expertise ensure the depot is the Joint C4ISR provider of choice for all branches of the Armed Forces and industry partners. Tobyhanna's unparalleled capabilities include full-spectrum support for sustainment, overhaul and repair, fabrication and manufacturing, engineering design and development, systems integration, technology insertion, modification, and global field support to warfighters.

About 3,500 personnel are employed at Tobyhanna, which is located in the Pocono Mountains of northeastern Pennsylvania. Tobyhanna Army Depot is part of the U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command. Headquartered at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., the command's mission is to research, develop, acquire, field and sustain communications, command, control computer, intelligence, electronic warfare and sensors capabilities for the Armed Forces.

Related Links:

Army.mil: Inside the Army News

STAND-TO!: Tobyhanna Army Depot - Worldwide support of America's warfighter

Tobyhanna Army Depot