Textron Techniques Company, a Textron Inc. (NYSE:TXT) firm, introduced that it has been awarded an preliminary contract valued at as much as $19.5 million by the U.S. Navy’s Naval Air Techniques Command (NAVAIR) to supply UAS operational assist to 2 Independence Class LCS and one Freedom Class LCS variants. This award joins the Expeditionary Sea Base (ESB)-4 and ESB-5, in addition to two DDG- class ships, bringing the full variety of U.S. Navy ships supported by the Aerosonde® UAS system to seven.
Textron Techniques will deploy its Aerosonde UAS to supply mission overwatch and prolonged intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) providers with enhanced mission payloads as seen aboard the ESB-5.
“Contractor-owned/contractor-operated contracts like this assist the Navy’s continued investments in uncrewed property for his or her ships,” mentioned Wayne Prender, Senior Vice President, Air Techniques. “We’ve seen the advantages of our Aerosonde UAS for DDG and ESB- class ships already, and we’re honored to be increasing into this new ship class, permitting us to proceed supporting maritime area consciousness and missions whereas delivering operational and logistical capabilities.”
The Aerosonde system continues to set the usual for mission readiness and ease of use, amassing greater than 600,000 flight hours serving a number of U.S. clients and allies. It’s designed for expeditionary land- and sea-based operations with each fixed-wing and vertical takeoff and touchdown (VTOL) choices. Textron Techniques has offered turnkey, UAS operations for purchasers world wide for greater than 10 years.
NAVAIR Public Launch 2023-538 Distribution Assertion A – “Accredited for public launch; distribution is limitless”
