AeroVironment, Monrovia, Calif., received an order from the U.S. Army for 50 RQ-11B Raven small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) equipped with its new Digital Data Link (DDL). The order, valued at $16.7 million, follows a $41.7 million Raven order placed by the Army in January.

The introduction of the DDL follows several years of internally funded research and development in addition to a $7.6 million contract awarded last October for the completion of R&D activities, AeroVironment said. The company’s small UAS have employed a four-channel analog data link, limiting the number of aircraft that can be operated in a given geographical region.

“This Digital Data Link enhances the capabilities of our Raven system by increasing the number of communication channels by a factor of four, enabling our customers to use more Raven systems where they need them,” said John Grabowsky, executive vice president and general manager of AeroVironment’s UAS business segment.