Lockheed Martin has announced that its Indago quadrotor unmanned air vehicle and a new handheld ground control station (GCS) have reached operational readiness.
A number of the company's other recently acquired UAVs and related systems have also been approved.
Indago, a vertical take-off and landing aircraft, can provide situational awareness during emergency response efforts, including search and rescue and disaster relief missions, Lockheed says.
Lockheed Martin
The VTOL UAV operates within line-of-sight from the control station, up to about 3nm (5km). The unit weighs 2.2kg (4.9lb) and is 0.8m (2.7ft) across. Indago can be flown for up to 45min using the handheld GCS, which has a 4h battery life and can also be used to control other types of unmanned aircraft.
Indago was developed by Procerus Technologies, which Lockheed acquired in 2012.
Lockheed has also launched its commercial avionics suite – a low-cost product that will allow it to sell UAVs to both commercial and military customers. The new equipment uses fewer waypoints and has a smaller communications range than avionics offered to military or law enforcement operators, the company says.
Source: FlightGlobal.com
