AeroVironment, Inc., a global leader in Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), has announced that the US Army has exercised the first of three options under the sole source Flight Control Systems (FCS) domain of the Army’s multi-year small UAS contract on April 28, 2020. The value of the initial contract option is $21,058,643 and includes avionics and data link upgrade packages to modify radio frequencies employed by the Army’s existing fleet of Raven tactical UAS, the largest fleet of Raven systems in the world. Delivery will take place over a two-year period.
The Army exercised the option under the FCS domain awarded to AeroVironment by the Army in June 2019. FCS is one of six domains comprising the Army’s existing five-year Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) SUAS contract, and has a potential value of up to $55 million.
AeroVironment’s Raven system is designed for rapid deployment and high mobility for operations requiring low-altitude intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. With a wingspan of 4.5 feet and weighing just 4.2 pounds (1.9 kilograms), the hand-launched Raven provides situational awareness, day or night, with an operational range of 6.2 miles (10 kilometers). The Raven’s Mantis i23 EO/IR gimbaled payload delivers real-time video or infrared imagery to ground control and remote viewing stations.
AeroVironment’s family of tactical UAS comprises the majority of all unmanned aircraft in the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) inventory, and its rapidly growing international customer base of 50 allied governments.
About AeroVironment Tactical UAS
The RQ-20A/B Puma™, Puma™ LE, RQ-11B Raven®, RQ-12A Wasp®, together with the VAPOR® Helicopter, comprise AeroVironment’s family of tactical unmanned aircraft systems. This family of systems provides increased capability to the warfighter that gives ground commanders the option of selecting the appropriate aircraft based on the type of mission to be performed. This increased capability has the potential to provide significant force protection and force multiplication benefits to small tactical units and security personnel. AeroVironment provides logistics services worldwide to ensure a consistently high level of operational readiness. The company has delivered thousands of new and replacement tactical unmanned air vehicles to customers within the United States and to 50 allied governments.
