Picatinny Arsenal Common Lethality Integration Kit: “Picatinny CLIK”

PURPOSE: Rapid proliferation of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) at all echelons of combat operation has introduced new capabilities for the Warfighter to deliver decisive overmatch and obtain freedom of maneuver across multiple domains. The pace of technology of UAS far exceeds any legacy military platform and associated acquisition lifecycle. UAS lifecycles will trend shorter with greater and more frequent technological platform upgrades. To minimize burden of integration at each platform upgrade, modular lethal payloads must have a common interface and architecture for attachment, power, communication, and safety critical commands. The desired end state is seamless interoperability of the UAS, the modular lethal payload, and the ground station controller.

Combat Capabilities Development Command (DEVCOM) Armaments Center is developing a platform agnostic, Picatinny Common Lethality Integration Kit to weaponize low-cost, attritable UAS. The purpose of this standard is to minimize the proliferation of physical and electronic interface standards on the UAS and the proliferation of physical and electronic interface standards on the payloads. The goal is to enable a Soldier to move, mix and match different payloads on different platforms, without requiring a certification for each combination. The document in the link below provides the base concepts, architectures, requirements and overview for defining the required interoperability of Picatinny CLIK Ecosystem of packaged payloads.

This document (see link below) has been developed with existing reference architectures such as the Modular Payload Design Standard (MOD Payload) and small universal payload interface (sUPI) in mind. The intent is for this document to augment existing reference architectures with a focus on lethality integration and interoperability. Additionally, airworthiness and system safety certifications have influenced the standard with the intent to reduce burden associated with those certifications both to the user and to the developers.

PDF of Picatinny CLIK Design Standard

Small Universal Payload Interface (sUPI) Payload Side Brief

Small Universal Payload Interface (sUPI) Platform Side Brief