The US Army has narrowed the field of players in its $325 million Tactical Unmanned Air Vehicle (TUAV) competition from seven to four. They will participate in a fly-off later this year.
The AAI Shadow 200, Alliant Techsystems Outrider, General Atomics Prowler II and S-TEC STM-5B Sentry will take part in systems capabilities demonstrations at Ft Huachuca, Arizona, scheduled between early October and November. Final selection of a single team and award of an engineering and manufacturing development contract is due by year end.
A Marconi Astronics-led team offering the Freewing Scorpion Tilt-Body UAV, a Sagem/Dyncorp team offering the SPERWER, the export derivative of France's Kestrel UAV, and AeroVironment with the Spy Glass UAV are eliminated.
The US Army requires 42 brigade-level UAV systems with a range of 50km (27nm), costing less than $4 million each, with at least three electro-optical and infrared sensor-equipped air vehicles and a tactical control station. It will provide real-time reconnaissance, surveillance and target acquisition information.
The AAI-led team includes Raytheon and United Defense. TRW and Israel Aircraft Industries form S-TEC. Alliant's bid is based on a modified Outrider.
Source: Flight International
