Sun, Sep 04, 2011
Aircraft The Result Of More Than Four Years Of DARPA
Research
A lightweight and man-portable VTOL UAS has been introduced by
AeroVironment. Dubbed the Shrike VTOL, the aircraft was developed
through a contract awarded in 2008 from DARPA to develop a
portable, stealthy, persistent perch and stare (SP2S) unmanned
aircraft system. Shrike VTOL represents the conclusion of this
development effort.
“With more than four years of customer funding behind it,
our new Shrike VTOL unmanned aircraft system is designed to address
the need for a small, light-weight hovering aircraft that delivers
unique surveillance and intelligence capability not provided by
current solutions. Not only does Shrike VTOL hover for more than 40
minutes with a high resolution video camera, but its innovative
design also allows for the transmission of several hours of live
video as a remotely emplaced perch and stare sensor,” said
Tom Herring, senior vice president and general manager of
AeroVironment’s UAS business segment. “This new
solution adds an important set of new capabilities to our existing
and battle-proven family of small unmanned aircraft systems that
are saving lives in theater today.”
Herring said the Shrike VTOL system delivers the superior
imagery, endurance and encrypted video found in all AeroVironment
small unmanned aircraft systems. Operating quietly enough to go
virtually undetected, Shrike weighs approximately five pounds and
is small enough to fit in a backpack.
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