AeroVironment has been awarded an additional $16.5 million in funding from the US Army to supply RQ-11B Raven systems, new miniature gimballed payloads and initial spares packages. The total projected value of the contract signed in June for upgrades to the RQ-11B Raven Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS), is in excess of $65 million. A hand-launched sensor, the RQ-11B Raven provides real-time ‘over-the-hill’ surveillance to a portable ground control station. The Raven is used for base security, route reconnaissance and mission planning among other tasks. AeroVironment will provide a single payload to replace the current two separate sensor payloads that the Raven comes equipped with. The single payload will allow the Raven to perform missions from a single package both by day and night.
“The Army is quickly and easily integrating the new miniature gimballed payload into the Raven systems because of its reliability in providing superior imagery and tracking capability in harsh environments,” said Roy Minson, Senior Vice President and General Manager at AeroVironment.