Digital Raven: Hand-Launched UAV Goes Binary
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AeroVironment gets $37.8 million in orders for new digital Ravens, retrofit kits, and spare parts. (Feb 23/10)
The RQ-11 Raven is a 4.2-pound, backpackable, hand-launched UAV that provides day and night, real-time video imagery for “over the hill” and “around the corner” reconnaissance, surveillance and target acquisition.
Each Raven system typically consists of 3 aircraft, a ground control station, system spares, and related services.
The digital upgrades enable more Ravens with improved capabilities to operate in a given area by using L-band spectrum more efficiently…
Ravin’ bout Ravens
The Raven has received positive reviews from Army units in the field.
Commenting about the digital upgrades in National Defense magazine, Col. Gregory Gonzalez, project manager of the the Army’s unmanned aerial system (UAS) program, said:
“This allows us to have more capable and faster processing for better payloads. By using the frequency spectrum in [the L-band] more efficiently, we will be able to [fly] up to 16 Ravens in a specific geographical area, as opposed to just four.”
In addition, Col. Gonzalez’s office is proposing adding 2 new sizes of Ravens: 1 that would be smaller than the current model and 1 that would be larger. The current Raven is 4.5 feet long and weighs 4.2 pounds with a line-of-sight range of up to 6.2 miles. All 3 sizes would use the same controller and frequency, and would link into the Army’s “One System” remote video terminal. The proposal still needs to be approved by the Army leadership.
The digital upgrade also includes greater communication security through signal encryption. The analog Ravens have come under scrutiny because they send unencrypted video signals that could be intercepted by insurgents equipped with a laptop computer, reports the Associated Press.
The Raven system can be flown manually or autonomously through set way-points with options of either a daylight or infrared camera. Over 3,000 Ravens have already been deployed to US forces for use in light infantry Military Operations in Urban Terrain (MOUT) and dismounted warfare.
Full funding for the digital upgrade order was provided by a US Department of Defense supplemental funding bill. Deliveries of the Raven digital systems and kits began in October 2009.
Contracts and Key Events
Feb 23/10: AeroVironment in Monrovia, CA announces that it received firm fixed-price orders valued at $20.7 million for digital Raven UAVs and digital retrofit kits, and $17.1 million for Raven system spare parts, repairs and training services for the US Army and US Marine Corps. The Raven system and retrofit order represents a portion of the $121 million appropriated for RQ-11 Raven system procurement in the FY 2010 Department of Defense Appropriations Act. The items and services provided under these awards are scheduled to be delivered over the next 12 months.
Dec 21/09: AeroVironment in Monrovia, CA announces that it recieved a $23.9 million firm-fixed-price contract modification to supply digital RQ-11 Raven hand-held unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and digital kits to upgrade existing analog RQ-11s being used by the US Army and US Marine Corps. If all options are exercised, the potential value of the contract modification is $66.6 million.
