AeroVironment, Inc. today announced it has received a contract from the United States Army totaling $3.4 million for RQ-11B Raven unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) to supply the Spanish Ministry of Defense via the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program.
Raven is the most widely used UAS in the world today. It is designed for rapid deployment and high mobility for military applications requiring low-altitude intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. With a wingspan of 4.5 feet and weighing 4.2 pounds, the hand-launched Raven provides aerial observation, day or night, at line-of-sight ranges up to approximately 6.2 miles (10 kilometers).
“As the global leader in the design and manufacture of small unmanned aircraft systems, AeroVironment continues to set the standard for delivering increasingly valuable capabilities in some of the most challenging conditions and places in the world,” said Kirk Flittie, AeroVironment vice president and general manager of the company’s Unmanned Aircraft Systems business segment. “All U.S. armed services and more than thirty global allied forces rely on our unmanned aircraft systems to gain rapid intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance for information superiority in today’s hot zones.”
“Our small UAS deliver powerful insight, on-demand for valuable, real-time situational awareness – whenever and wherever needed – that helps military personnel operate more safely and effectively,” Flittie said.
To date, AeroVironment has delivered more than 25,000 new and replacement small unmanned aerial vehicles to customers worldwide.
RQ-11B Raven, RQ-12 Wasp AE, RQ-20A Puma AE and Shrike VTOL comprise AeroVironment’s Family of Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems. Operating with a common ground control system (GCS), this Family of Systems provides increased capability to the warfighter that can give ground commanders the option of selecting the appropriate aircraft based on the type of mission to be performed. AeroVironment has delivered thousands of new and replacement small unmanned air vehicles to customers within the United States and to more than 30 international governments.
The Puma AE small UAS comprises one component of AeroVironment’s advanced, turnkey data collection, processing and delivery solution employed to provide commercial customers with engineering-quality information, on-demand, across multiple industries such as oil & gas, agriculture, mining and others.
The Qube small UAS is tailored to law enforcement, first response and other public safety missions. Small enough to fit easily in the trunk of a car, the Qube system can be unpacked, assembled and ready for flight in less than five minutes, giving the operator a rapidly deployable eye in the sky at a fraction of the cost of manned aircraft and large unmanned aircraft.
AeroVironment is a technology solutions provider that designs, develops, produces, supports and operates an advanced portfolio of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) and electric transportation solutions. The company’s electric-powered, hand-launched unmanned aircraft systems generate and process data to deliver powerful insight, on-demand, to people engaged in military, public safety and commercial activities around the world.
