Officers at the Naval Air Systems Command at Patuxent River Naval Air Station, Md., sought an industry partner to provide intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) services for the ScanEagle unmanned aircraft (UA). They issued a $65 million contract to Boeing in Seattle and Insitu Inc. in Bingen, Wash., to provide ISR services through May 2009.
Superior ISR services are critical to the success of the warfighter’s mission, says Don Iverson, ScanEagle U.S. Navy program manager for Boeing.
The long-endurance, autonomous ScanEagle UA carries inertially stabilized electro-optical and infrared cameras. The aircraft is capable of flying above 16,000 feet and loitering over a battlefield for more than 20 hours, providing persistent low-altitude reconnaissance.
The ScanEagle UA, which entered service with the U.S. Navy in 2005, has been deployed with sea and land detachments in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other areas of the world. In fact, the ScanEagle has been deployed aboard 15 different Navy vessels, including the dock landing ships USS Whidbey Island, USS Carter Hall, and USS Oak Hill, as well as the guided missile destroyer USS Oscar Austin.
For more information, visit Boeing and Insitu online at www.boeing.com and www.insitu.com.
