Aerosonde Ltd

Last updated

Aerosonde Ltd
Headquarters
Australia
ProductsUAV aircraft
Parent AAI Corporation, Textron Systems
Website Homepage

Aerosonde Ltd, now part of Textron Systems Unmanned Systems, [1] is an Australian-based developer and manufacturer of unmanned aerial vehicles, including the AAI Corporation Aerosonde series. [2] The company has customers in Australia, Asia and North America who use its vehicles for reconnaissance and meteorological applications. [3]

Contents

History

The Aerosonde platform, then the sole product of Insitu inc. gained prominence on 21 August 1998 when an Aerosonde "Laima" [4] became the first unmanned aerial vehicle to cross the North Atlantic, covering a 3270 km route in a time of 26 hrs 45 min. [5]

On 22 June 2006, Aerosonde Ltd was acquired by the AAI Corporation. AAI was acquired in 2007 by Textron. [6]

Aircraft

Summary of aircraft built by Aerosonde
Model nameFirst flightNumber builtType
AAI Corporation Aerosonde 19981+UAV

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">AAI RQ-2 Pioneer</span> Type of aircraft

The AAI RQ-2 Pioneer is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that had been used by the United States Navy, Marine Corps, and Army, and deployed at sea and on land from 1986 until 2007. Initially tested aboard USS Iowa, the RQ-2 Pioneer was placed aboard Iowa-class battleships to provide gunnery spotting, its mission evolving into reconnaissance and surveillance, primarily for amphibious forces.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">AAI RQ-7 Shadow</span> American unmanned aerial vehicle

The AAI RQ-7 Shadow is an American unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) used by the United States Army, Australian Army, Swedish Army, Turkish Air Force and Italian Army for reconnaissance, surveillance, target acquisition and battle damage assessment. Launched from a trailer-mounted pneumatic catapult, it is recovered with the aid of arresting gear similar to jets on an aircraft carrier. Its gimbal-mounted, digitally stabilized, liquid nitrogen-cooled electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) camera relays video in real time via a C-band line-of-sight data link to the ground control station (GCS).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Unmanned combat aerial vehicle</span> Unmanned aerial vehicle that is usually armed

An unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV), also known as a combat drone, colloquially shortened as drone or battlefield UAV, is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that is used for intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance and carries aircraft ordnance such as missiles, ATGMs, and/or bombs in hardpoints for drone strikes. These drones are usually under real-time human control, with varying levels of autonomy. Unlike unmanned surveillance and reconnaissance aerial vehicles, UCAVs are used for both drone strikes and battlefield intelligence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">AAI Corporation</span>

AAI Corporation is an aerospace and defense development and manufacturing firm, located in Hunt Valley, Maryland, US. Formerly a wholly owned subsidiary of United Industrial Corporation, AAI was acquired by Textron in 2007. It currently operates as a unit of Textron Systems and employs more than 2,000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">AAI Aerosonde</span> Type of aircraft

The AAI Aerosonde is a small unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) designed to collect weather data, including temperature, atmospheric pressure, humidity, and wind measurements over oceans and remote areas. The Aerosonde was developed by Insitu, and is now manufactured by Aerosonde Ltd, which is a strategic business of AAI Corporation. The Aerosonde is powered by a modified Enya R120 model aircraft engine, and carries on board a small computer, meteorological instruments, and a GPS receiver for navigation. It is also used by the United States Armed Forces for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boeing Insitu ScanEagle</span> Reconnaissance unmanned aerial vehicle

The Boeing Insitu ScanEagle is a small, long-endurance, low-altitude unmanned surveillance and reconnaissance aerial vehicle built by Insitu, a subsidiary of Boeing, and is used for reconnaissance. The ScanEagle was designed by Insitu based on the Insitu SeaScan, a commercial UAV that was intended for fish-spotting. The ScanEagle continues to receive improvements through upgrades and changes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">AeroVironment RQ-11 Raven</span> Family of unmanned reconnaissance aircraft

The AeroVironment RQ-11 Raven is a small hand-launched remote-controlled unmanned aerial vehicle developed for the United States military, but now adopted by the military forces of many other countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">20th Regiment, Royal Australian Artillery</span> Australian Army unit

The 20th Regiment, Royal Australian Artillery is an Australian Army regiment which was raised in 2006 as the 20th Surveillance and Target Acquisition Regiment. Responsible for providing intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance (ISTAR), the regiment has deployed personnel to East Timor, the Solomon Islands, Iraq and Afghanistan, operating a variety of equipment.

VMUT-2 Military unit

Marine Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Training Squadron 2 (VMUT-2) is an unmanned aerial vehicle training squadron in the United States Marine Corps that is transitioning from operating the RQ-21A Blackjack to the MQ-9A Reaper. The squadron is based at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point in Havelock, North Carolina and will serve as the MQ-9A Reaper Fleet Replacement Squadron, training UAS officers and enlisted sensor operators. Historically, VMUT-2 provided aerial surveillance, offensive air support, and electronic warfare for the II Marine Expeditionary Force. VMUT-2 falls under the command of Marine Aircraft Group 14 and the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing.

Orbital Corporation Limited, formerly Orbital Engine Corporation Limited pioneered by Ralph Sarich, is an Australian company based in Balcatta, Western Australia, that aims to provide clean engine technologies and alternative fuel systems with reduced environmental impact from gas emissions and improved fuel economy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elbit Hermes 450</span> Israeli military drone, 1998

The Elbit Hermes 450 is an Israeli medium-sized multi-payload unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) designed for tactical long endurance missions. It has an endurance of over 20 hours, with a primary mission of reconnaissance, surveillance and communications relay. Payload options include electro-optical/infrared sensors, communications and electronic intelligence, synthetic-aperture radar/ground-moving target indication, electronic warfare, and hyperspectral sensors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aeronautics Defense Systems</span> Israeli defense company

Aeronautics Ltd. is an Israeli company specializing in the manufacturing of Unmanned Aerial Systems for military uses. Since its establishment in 1997, the company has sold its products to more than 20 defense, military and homeland security customers in 15 countries. Its headquarters are in Yavne, Israel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elbit Skylark</span> Type of aircraft

The Elbit Systems Skylark I and Skylark II are miniature UAVs developed by Elbit Systems. Initial models of the Skylark entered service in 2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Insitu</span> American company

Insitu Inc. is an American company that designs, develops and manufactures unmanned aerial systems (UAS). The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Boeing Defense, Space & Security, and has several offices in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Its unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) platforms—ScanEagle, Integrator, Integrator Extended Range (ER), ScanEagle 3 and RQ-21A Blackjack, have logged 1.3 million operational flight hours as of May 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">AeroVironment T-20</span> Type of aircraft

The AeroVironment T-20 unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is a medium range, composite aircraft capable of internal and external payloads. Launched from a portable catapult, it can be recovered with a shipboard landing system, or belly land on unimproved surfaces. The T-20 carries a retractable gimbal-mounted, digitally stabilized, electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) camera that relays video in real time via a C-band LOS data link to the ground control station (GCS). Powered by a 4-stroke, fuel injected gasoline engine, the aircraft burns 2 lb (910 g) of fuel per hour at cruise. AeroVironment, Inc. acquired Arcturus UAV, the original developer of JUMP 20 and T-20 on February 22, 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boeing Insitu RQ-21 Blackjack</span> Unmanned air vehicle by Boeing Insitu

The Boeing Insitu RQ-21 Blackjack, company name Integrator, is an American unmanned air vehicle designed and built by Boeing Insitu to meet a United States Navy requirement for a small tactical unmanned air system (STUAS). It is a twin-boom, single-engine monoplane, designed as a supplement to the Boeing Scan Eagle. The Integrator weighs 61 kg (134 lb) and uses the same launcher and recovery system as the Scan Eagle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Loitering munition</span> Type of guided unmanned aerial vehicle

A loitering munition is a kind of aerial weapon with a built-in munition (warhead), which can loiter around the target area until a target is located; it then attacks the target by crashing into it. Loitering munitions enable faster reaction times against hidden targets that emerge for short periods without placing high-value platforms near the target area and also allow more selective targeting as the attack can be changed mid-flight or aborted.

822X Squadron is a Royal Australian Navy Fleet Air Arm squadron established in October 2018. Its role is to trial unmanned aerial vehicles.

A weather drone, or weather-sensing uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV), – is a remotely piloted aircraft weighing less than 25 kg and carrying sensors that collect thermodynamic and kinematic data from the mid and lower atmosphere.

References

  1. Lionel, Ekene (13 October 2022). "Textron Systems delivers Aerosonde 4.7 VTOL drones to Nigerian Army". Military Africa.
  2. "Aerosonde Mark 4.7 Small Unmanned Aircraft System (SUAS)". Naval Technology.
  3. Katz, Justin (4 April 2022). "Textron's Aerosonde UAS operating in 7th Fleet, second drone coming this year". Breaking Defense.
  4. "Where will Insitu land?". The Columbian.
  5. Ahn, J. H. (19 December 2016). "N.Korea possibly copied world-record holding drone, images suggest | NK News". NK News – North Korea News.
  6. "AAI Corp Acquires Leading Australian UAV Developer Aerosonde" June 2006. Retrieved 9 July 2012.
    - "Textron Buys UAV Makers AAI & Aerosonde", Defense Industry Daily, 10 October 2007. Retrieved 9 July 2012.