Textron Systems’ Aerosonde uncrewed aircraft system (UAS) designed to provide maritime overwatch has made its first operational flight from a U.S. Navy littoral combat ship (LCS), according to the company.
The drone demonstration from the USS Savannah comes months after the Textron subsidiary was awarded a $19.5 million contract by Naval Air Systems Command Center (NAVAIR) to provide UAS operational support to one Freedom Class and two Independence Class LCS variants.
“The Aerosonde UAS will support the LCS missions of forward presence, maritime security, sea control and deterrence with overwatch and extended intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) services with enhanced payloads,” the company said.
The Aerosonde UAS is a rail-launched, fixed-wing drone designed to provide extended intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) services. The 75-pound UAS has a wingspan of about 12 feet, endurance of more than 14 hours, and is equipped with either an electro-optical or infrared full motion video.
The contract marks the fifth class and seventh ship the Aerosonde system supports, Textron said.
“Teaming an uncrewed aircraft system with a crewed ship is a force multiplier for the ship’s existing mission sets, which we’ve seen with our Aerosonde UAS operating from DDG [U.S. Navy Destroyer] and ESB [expeditionary sea base]class ships,” Wayne Prender, senior vice president of air systems at Textron Systems, said in a statement. “The expansion of the Aerosonde system’s services onto the LCS extends the capability of the various mission packages employed by the ship.”
