AeroVironment, based in Monrovia, Calif., introduced man-portable Shrike VTOL unmanned aircraft system (UAS). The company said the UAS was developed under a DARPA contract, awarded in 2008, to develop a portable, stealthy, persistent perch and stare (SP2S) unmanned aircraft system.
Shrike weighs about 5 pounds, is small enough to fit in a backpack and has the capability to hover for more than 40 minutes.
“With more than four years of customer funding behind it, our new Shrike VTOL unmanned aircraft system is designed to address the need for a small, light-weight hovering aircraft that delivers unique surveillance and intelligence capability not provided by current solutions. … Its innovative design also allows for the transmission of several hours of live video as a remotely emplaced perch and stare sensor,” said Tom Herring, senior vice president and general manager of AeroVironment’s UAS business segment. “This new solution adds an important set of new capabilities to our existing and battle-proven family of small unmanned aircraft systems that are saving lives in theater today.”
Herring said the Shrike VTOL system delivers the superior imagery, endurance and encrypted video found in all AeroVironment small unmanned aircraft systems.