MARINE CORPS BASE QUANTICO, Va. – Insitu, a maker of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) for the Navy and Marine Corps, will use its ScanEagle plane to re-compete for a reconnaissance and surveillance services contract early next year, a company official said this week at the Modern Day Marine symposium.
Insitu, a wholly owned subsidiary of Boeing [BA], has been providing the service with the swept wing ScanEagle. Scan Eagle is a catapult-launched system with a wingspan of 10.2 feet that can fly for more than 24 hours using gas engine propulsion. The next contract is set for competition early next year, said Dave Silva, Insitu’s director of sales.
ScanEagle has logged more than 500,000 combat hours in missions in Iraq and Afghanistan, Silvia said. He would not disclose the nature of the missions.
The service Insitu provides with Scan Eagle is a holdover program until the program of record comes online. The UAS for that program is the company’s Integrator. Integrator has a 16-feet wingspan and is designed to stay aloft for 24 hours. Also catapult launched, it is designed to carry a host of sensors, including electro optic (EO), long wave infrared (LWIR), mid-wave infrared (MWIR), IR Marker and laser rangefinder.
Integrator is scheduled to begin coming online in early 2013 as part of the Small Tactical UAS program, Silva said.