UNMANNED SYSTEMS UPDATE
04 Nov 08. AAI Corp., Hunt Valley, Md., was awarded on Nov 1, 2008, a $135,049,801 cost plus/incentive/fee contract for Shadow unmanned aerial vehicle system, and performance based logistics. Work will be performed in Hunt Valley, Md., with an estimated completion date of Oct. 31, 2009. One bid was solicited and one bid was received. U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity (W58RGZ-08-C-0016).
03 Nov 08. The U.S. Army has awarded Northrop Grumman Corporation a $97m contract to procure, modify and deliver 12 Hunter MQ-5B UAV aircraft; six One-System Block II ground control stations; eight tactical common data link, ground data link terminal sets; two sets of ground support equipment; and four sets of spare parts.
31 Oct 08. AeroVironment Incorporated, Sun Valley, Calif., was awarded Oct. 30, 2008, a $5,810,622 firm/fixed/price contract. This effort is to procure research, development, test & evaluation digital data link effort for the Raven RQ-11B unmanned aircraft System. Work will be performed in Simi Valley, Calif., with an estimated completion date of Jan. 31, 2011. One bid was solicited and one bid was received. US Army Contracting Command Aviation & Missile Command/AMSCC/AMC/ARA, is the contracting activity (W58RGZ-05-C-0338).
24 Oct 08. USN plans to increase focus on unmanned vehicles. The US Navy (USN) plans to increase the service’s focus on unmanned underwater and aerial vehicles, according to USN Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Gary Roughead. Highlighting the future objectives of the submarine fleet on 22 October during a symposium for the Naval Submarine League, in McLean, Virginia, Adm Roughead said the navy needed to aggressively pursue unmanned technologies. (Source: Jane’s)
04 Nov 08. Honeywell received a $65m production contract for its Micro Air Vehicle, known as the T-Hawk(tm). The $65m agreement is for 90 T-Hawk(tm) systems. Each system consists of two T-Hawk(tm) vehicles and one ground control unit, spares, training for operators and maintainers, and field support. Hardware deliveries of the 90 systems will begin in the second quarter of 2009 and conclude in December 2009. Each T-Hawk(tm) is small enough to carry in a backpack and is equipped with video cameras that relay information back to foot soldiers using a portable handheld terminal. The circular vehicle, weighing 17 pounds and 14 inches in diameter, can easily fly down to inspect hazardous areas for threats without exposing warfighters to enemy fire. Honeywell’s T-Hawk(tm) also has the unique ability to take off and land vertically from complex desert and urban terrains without using runways or helipads. (Source: ASD Network)