Thu, Dec 30, 2010
Purchase Under An Existing Contract Worth $46.2 Million For
AeroVironment
The U.S. Marine Corps placed an order valued at over $46.2
million for 123 new digital Raven small unmanned aircraft systems
(UAS) and initial spares packages, as well as 186 digital retrofit
kits, under an existing contract with the U.S. Army. The order also
includes 339 digital retrofit kits for the Army. AeroVironment said
in a news release Tuesday that the Raven system and retrofit order
represents the remainder of the funds appropriated for RQ-11B Raven
system procurement in the 2010 Department of Defense Appropriations
Act, which was signed into law in December 2009.
Raven UAV Launch
The orders were released under the existing U.S. Army joint
small UAS program of record for AV’s Raven. This program has
included contract additions from the Army, Marine Corps and Special
Operations Command. The items and services provided under these
awards on this multi-year contract are fully funded. Work is
scheduled to be performed within a period of 12 months.
“Raven systems have proven their value and reliability to
military services across the U.S. Department of Defense,”
said Tom Herring, AV senior vice president and general manager,
Unmanned Aircraft Systems. “These backpackable, hand-launched
unmanned systems provide situational awareness directly to our
warfighters, increasing mission effectiveness and safety. We remain
focused on supporting our customers with reliable solutions and
developing ever more capable solutions.”
The Raven unmanned aircraft is a 4.2-pound, backpackable,
hand-launched sensor platform that provides day and night,
real-time video imagery for "over the hill" and "around the corner"
reconnaissance, surveillance and target acquisition in support of
tactical units. U.S. armed forces use Raven systems extensively for
missions such as security, route reconnaissance, mission planning
and force protection. Each Raven system typically consists of three
aircraft, two ground control stations and spares.
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