:

Navy/USMC

Textron Eyes Endurance Upgrade To Vertical Takeoff Variant of Aerosonde UAS

By Marc Selinger

Wednesday, July 5th, 2017

SHARE:

Textron Eyes Endurance Upgrade To Vertical Takeoff Variant of Aerosonde UAS

Aerosonde HQ, the vertical-takeoff-and-landing variant of Textron's Aerosonde unmanned aircraft. (Photo courtesy of Textron Systems)

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…

Congress

Baldwin Concerned With Army’s JLTV ‘Mismanagement,’ Seeks Support For Marines’ Procurement Plans

Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) has raised concerns with the “Army’s mismanagement” of the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) program, and is seeking assurance that the Marine Corps can be supported […]

Congress

SASC Cites Concern With Army’s sUAS Approach, Seeks Info On Plans To Scale Fielding

Senate defense authorizers are seeking more info from the Army on its plans for scaling and deploying small drone capabilities citing concern with the service’s current “fragmented and insufficient” approach. […]

SASC Bill Would Raise Amphib Requirement To 33 Ships

The Senate Armed Services Committee’s (SASC) fiscal year 2027 defense policy bill adds new provisions that would raise the Navy and Marine Corps’ minimum requirement for amphibious warships and extend […]

Army

Army Plans To Initiate ISV-Heavy Competition Later This Year, Official Says

The Army is planning to initiate its competition to build the Infantry Squad Vehicle (ISV)-Heavy in the fourth quarter of this year, a senior acquisition official has said. Jesse Tolleson, […]