Army asks AeroVironment to provide small long-endurance surveillance unmanned aircraft in $11 million deal

摘要

U.S. Army unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) experts needed long-range small unmanned aircraft for Kosovo that warfighters can launch by hand in the field. They found their solution from AeroVironment Inc. in Simi Valley, Calif. Officials of the Army Contracting Command at Redstone Arsenal, Ala., announced an $11 million contract to AeroVironment on Friday for the RQ-20 Puma Long-Endurance (LE) unmanned aircraft system for surveillance missions. Puma LE is a ultra-lightweight group 2 aircraft that is launchable by hand or by bungee, and provides flight endurance of as long as 6.5 hours. This represent Group 2 capabilities in a Group 1 footprint while stowed in a two-case mission packout, company officials say. The Puma UAV weighs 23.5 pounds. The Puma's secondary payload bay offers dedicated power and Ethernet wireless connectivity, providing 3.4 pounds of payload capacity.