Aerovironment lead player in long term military strategy

A small award of a DARPA contract that probably went unnoticed in the hustle and bustle of Wall st made me pause as it is compelling further proof that AVAV is right there in the minds of top US military technologists when they want to achieve a future goal. The article below highlights a new program to fly drones from ships for reconnaissance and strike, drones that can stay airborne for a long time, and travel a long way. As I said in a previous post on the announcement of the solar powered Puma drone, AVAV is leading the way in this important technology. MAPC is a privately owned contractor to the navy when they want a way to quickly demonstrate ideas.

ARLINGTON, Va., 4 Sept. 2013.Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) experts at AeroVironment Inc. in Monrovia, Calif., are joining a U.S. military research program to develop a medium-altitude long-endurance UAV for long-term maritime surveillance that can launch and recover from relatively small ships to provide airborne intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) and strike mobile targets anywhere, around the clock.

Scientists at the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) have awarded a $2.3 million contract to AeroVironment for the initial phase of the Tactically Exploited Reconnaissance Node (TERN) program, which seeks to develop technology to enable small ships to serve as mobile bases for UAVs.

AeroVironment joins Maritime Applied Physics Corp. (MAPC) in Baltimore on the initial phase of the TERN program. MAPC won a $2.2 million DARPA contract for the program last month.