Air Force Takes Delivery of Wasp UAS

AeroVironment, Monrovia, Calif., said the U.S. Air Force has taken delivery of an initial BATMAV micro unmanned aircraft system (UAS), including the Wasp III air vehicle, under the Air Force Beyond Line of Site (BLOS) program.

AeroVironment received the BATMAV, or Battlefield Air Tactical Micro Air Vehicle, contract award last December. The company has received orders for 30 systems through the program's indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity, which provides for purchases of up to $45 million over five years.

Wasp III has a wingspan of 29 inches, weighs 1 pound and carries integrated forward and side looking electro-optical color cameras as well as a modular forward or side-looking electro-optical or infrared payload. The system is backpackable and is capable of operating for up to 45 minutes at up to 5 kilometers from the transceiver. It can be operated with the same common ground control and user interface as AeroVironment's Raven and Puma small air vehicles.

Wasp III is a block III version of the Wasp micro UAS, which AeroVironment developed under a contract with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

AeroVironment now has won three open competitions for U.S. Department of Defense small and micro UAS programs of record. As a result, the company is the sole supplier of these small UAS systems to U.S. Army, Special Operations Command, Marine Corps and Air Force programs.