Northrop, Quest roll out demonstrator

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HERNDON, Va., July 12 (UPI) -- A special mission short take-off and landing aircraft demonstrator has been shown to U.S. law enforcement officials by Northrop Grumman Quest Aircraft Co.

The Air Claw demonstrator, spotlighted at the Airborne Law Enforcement Association conference in Nevada, is the result of a teaming agreement earlier this year, in which Northrop would be the dealer of the Quest Kodiak aircraft as well as a joint special mission aircraft integrator.

"This is an exciting moment for us," said Tom Kubit, director of airborne operationally responsive systems campaign, Northrop Grumman Technical Services. "Air Claw offers a highly affordable yet extremely capable and rapidly adaptable special mission aircraft in today's budget-constrained environment.

"We employed 21 years of special mission aircraft integration experience, with law enforcement, partner nations and special operations in mind as the end users. Air Claw can be delivered for considerably less than today's most popular base airframes before they're ever modified."

The companies said the baseline Air Claw features Hawkeye wide-area motion imagery sensor from Persistent Surveillance Systems, a FLIR 380HD electro-optical infrared camera and tactical voice communications as well as a Wide-band data link.

The aircraft's interior can be quickly reconfigured for multi-mission use.

Additional details were not disclosed.