Company Hopes Aircraft Will Be A STUAS/Tier II Contender 

AAI Corporation announced Monday it has offered the newest in its Aerosonde fleet of small unmanned aircraft systems (SUAS), the Mark 4.7, as a contender for the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps’ joint Small Tactical Unmanned Aircraft System (STUAS)/Tier II program. The expeditionary Mark 4.7 system participated in flight demonstrations on June 23-24 at Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona.

Developed as a part of AAI’s Aerosonde fleet of SUAS, including the Mark 4.4 and Mark 5.0, the Mark 4.7 incorporates aircraft, ground control and system features designed to fit the Navy’s and Marine Corps’ mission requirements. The system has a small footprint and integrated launch and recovery system, AAI says.

The Mark 4.7 aircraft delivers 10+-hour endurance and a low acoustic signature. AAI says it designed the system for confined-area land or maritime intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions as well as for communications relay. Its modular payload installation allows the addition of new payloads and capabilities as they become available, enabling technology upgrades with little to no aircraft or system modifications. The system also utilizes AAI’s Expeditionary Ground Control Station (EGCS), which is based on the company’s One System command and control architecture to provide interoperability between the Aerosonde Mark 4.7 and other One System platforms, including the Shadow Tactical Unmanned Aircraft System (TUAS). Users receive digital and analog data from the aircraft’s electro-optic and infrared payloads on laptops.

“For decades, AAI has not only designed and manufactured unmanned aircraft systems, but fielded them alongside our customers through skilled, experienced field service and performance based logistics support,” says Vice President of Unmanned Aircraft Systems Steven Reid. “We are confident that our Aerosonde Mark 4.7 system meets the unique Navy and Marine Corps requirements for a small, tactical solution both today and well into the future. We also back our Aerosonde systems with the same robust availability management and life cycle support that has made the Shadow TUAS the U.S. Army’s and Marine Corps’ battlefield workhorse, logging more than 415,000 operational flight hours to date.”

FMI: www.aaicorp.com