Northrop Grumman Enters the Sand Dragon with a Bat

Off you go(click to view full) On August 12, 2011 Northrop Grumman was awarded $26,178,369 on a cost-plus-fixed-fee contract modification basis for Sand Dragon B Tier II UAVs. The goal is to develop and deploy a counter-IED unmanned aerial system. Northrop Grumman told DID that the product in question is the Bat-12 model within the company’s Bat family of medium altitude UAS’s. The contracting activity is the Research Laboratory (AFRL) at the Wright-Patterson, OH Air Force Base (FA865011C7147). [youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyHGfvBRy7Q] Release and catchclick to play video 12 stands for the vehicle’s wingspan in feet. The system’s brochure [PDF] mentions up to 14 hours of endurance and 970 nm / 1,800 km in range with a typical 50 lb payload (max payload+comms is 75 lb / 34 kg). Northrop Grumman acquired Bat from Swift Engineering in April 2009 and flew its maiden flight with the new series in January 2010. That first flight involved launches from the hydraulic rail launcher used for RQ-7 Shadows followed by recovery in a net. [youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeyGb5vM5YA] Slingshotclick to play video Bat-12 looks relatively similar to the UAV that won the first Sand Dragon contract, awarded in early 2010 for $13,099,472 to ChandlerMay subsidiary AeroMech Engineering (FA865010C7036). The […]