Posted in Beijing 2024-02-01 09:00.
Textron Systems announced on January 30 that the Aerosonde drone made its first flight aboard the first Littoral Combat Ship, the USS Savannah.
Last June, Textron Systems was awarded a contract by the U.S. Navy's Naval Air Systems Command Center (N**Air) to provide drone combat support for one Freedom-class and two Independence-class Littoral Combat Ship modifications.
The Aerial Sonde UAV will support the forward presence, maritime security, maritime control, and deterrence missions of Littoral Combat Vessels through surveillance and extended intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) services, as well as enhanced payloads.
Wayne Prender, Senior Vice President of Aeronautical Systems, said, "Combining unmanned aircraft systems with manned ships can augment the power of a vessel's existing mission set, as we have seen with the UAS of aerosondes operating on DDG and ESB-class vessels. Extending the service of the Aerial Sonde System to the Littoral Combat Ship expands the capabilities of the various mission packages used by the ship. ”
Aerial sonde drones offer multitasking capabilities based on a range of systems that have accumulated more than 650,000 flight hours over more than 10 years. The system is equipped with a variety of payload configurations, including vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) and fixed-wing options.
Designed for expeditionary land- and sea-based operations, Textron Systems' Aerial Sonde Small Unmanned Aircraft System (SUAS) delivers simultaneous day/night full dynamics**, communications relay, signals intelligence, and customer-selected payloads in a single flight, providing best-in-class multimission performance. It is field-proven in conditions such as desert heat and arctic cold, with more than 500,000 hours of flight time.
System features:
Expeditionary land-based or sea-based operations.
Powered by a Lycoming EL-005 heavy oil engine for benchmark-setting reliability.
Covert operation, visual and auditory characteristics are negligible.
Multiple intelligent payloads in a single flight, i.e., electronic warfare (EW) and communication relay.
Available payload capacity:
Full dynamic** and day and night imaging.
Voice communication relay.
Self-organizing networks.
Synthetic aperture radar.
Electronic warfare. Signals intelligence.
Communications intelligence. 3D mapping.
Automatic Identification System.
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