The US Department of Defense (DoD) has awarded two foreign military sale (FMS) contracts to AeroVironment for Puma 3 All Environment (AE) small uncrewed aircraft systems (SUAS).
Under the firm-fixed-price contract awards, totalling $20.86m, the company will provide the UASs to two allied nations.
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The deal also requires AeroVironment to supply initial spares packages, training, and contractor logistics support (CLS).
The 15.4lb Puma 3 AE has a wingspan of 9.2ft and offers multiple mission capabilities in all environments.
Equipped with AeroVironment’s Long-Range Tracking Antenna, the UAS can operate for nearly 37.2 miles.
AeroVironment vice-president and SUAS product line general manager Trace Stevenson said: “Deployed for well over a decade, our Puma UAS have continued to be a low-cost, man-portable, easy-to operate UAS for our customers.
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By GlobalData“With each new generation of Puma, optimisations have been made for more robust flight, durability, and operational flexibility, but its purpose of providing reliable and persistent situational awareness, critical force protection, and force multiplication capabilities to our customers remains the same.
“Our allies are continuing to adopt and deploy Puma 3 AE and other AeroVironment systems as they recognise the importance of equipping their frontline forces with lifesaving, force overmatch solutions.”
Puma 3 AE makes it easy for operators to switch between its Mantis i45 and Mantis i45 N, the night variant, payloads.
The Puma 3 AE can be launched by hand, bungee, rail, or vehicle, and it is recoverable in tough terrains by deep-stall landing.
In January this year, AeroVironment launched the Switchblade 300 sensor to shooter kit to reduce engagement timelines and cognitive load on the operator.
