
Textron [TXT] Systems, which unveiled a kit last year that converts its Aerosonde small unmanned aircraft system into a vertical-takeoff-and-landing (VTOL) UAS, is now developing a longer-endurance version of the kit.While a standard Aerosonde can fly 16 to 17 hours with a day/night video camera payload, an Aerosonde with the existing VTOL kit is limited to eight to 10 hours due to increased drag and weight. But Textron is working on a series of design tweaks to increase the VTOL…