HUNT VALLEY, Md., Oct. 20 (UPI) -- AAI, a unit of Textron Systems, has completed U.S. Army fee-for-service operations with Aerosonde Mark 4.7 and Orbiter unmanned aircraft systems.
The company said its work on behalf of the U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Research, Development and Engineering Center for its annual Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance On-the-Move program included executing numerous missions using its Aerosonde Mark 4.7 and the Orbiter UAS, manufactured by Aeronautics Ltd. of Israel.
Over several weeks, the Aerosonde Mark 4.7 and orbiter UAS performed a variety of mission profiles, including communications relay and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, to support customer evaluation of future force concepts, such as soldier radio waveform and a company/squad-level quick-reaction ISR force.
In one scenario, the customer employed Aerosonde aircraft to link more than 40 separate mounted and dismounted SRW nodes using the Aerosonde Mark 4.7 aircraft's communication relay capability. Operators also executed dual communications relay missions by flying two Aerosonde aircraft simultaneously, while one of those aircraft also flew with an ISR payload.
"Our Aerosonde Mark 4.7 and Orbiter UAS offer robust capabilities with small logistics footprints, making them easy to transport, launch and recover, even in austere or shipboard environments," said Stephen Flach , AAI vice president, Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems. "We are continuously incorporating new features into our systems, such as On-the-Move Command and Control, to deliver even greater mission flexibility, performance and value to customers."
