AeroVironment gets $22M order for US Marine Corps

AeroVironment has received a $21,779,408 order for a RQ-12 Wasp AE small unmanned aircraft system and initial square packages for the U.S. Marine Corps.

“Together with the professionals at ADS Inc., whose military-experienced personnel procured this order by demonstrating a clear understanding of the customer’s mission and requirements we are confident that Wasp AE will provide deployed Marines with valuable situational awareness that will help them operate more safely and effectively,” said Roy Minson, AeroVironment senior vice president and general manager of its unmanned aircraft systems business segment.

According to the company, the Wasp AE weighs 2.8 pounds, operates for up to 50 minutes at a range of up to five kilometers and delivers live, streaming color and infrared video from its Mantis i22 AE gimbaled payload. The aircraft is launched by hand and is capable of landing on the ground or in fresh or salt water.

“Wasp AE delivers unmatched portability and flexibility with its small size, all-environment operation and advanced capabilities,” Minson said.

The U.S. Marine Corp recently revealed its next generation of small unmanned aircraft systems and is adding RQ-12 Wasp AE as the short-range solution. Its small UAS family also includes the AeroVironment RQ-11B Raven and RQ-20A Puma, all of which operate with a common ground control system.  The Puma AE utilizes AeroVironment’s turnkey data collection, processing and delivery solution used to provide commercial customers with engineering-quality information, across industries such as oil and gas, agriculture, mining and others, according to the company. 

AeroVironment also received three orders from the U.S. Army totally $27,178,075 for RQ-11B Raven and RQ-20A Puma AE unmanned aircraft systems spare parts.

The three orders increase the total value of orders for the two UAS to $77.6 million since May 2014.

“Recapitalizing the Army’s large fleet of Raven and Pluma AE systems ensures that soldiers have the most effective and reliable small UAS available to support them, wherever and whenever required,” said Roy Minson, senior vice president and general manager of AeroVironment’s UAS business segment. “With AeroVironment-original spare parts and upgrades, operators can continue to rely on our combat-proven solutions to deliver better information, on-demand, and help them operate safely and effectively.”