Boeing and the Insitu Group have demonstrated autonomous launch and recovery of their ScanEagle unmanned air vehicle from a ship. The camera-equipped UAV was launched by pneumatic catapult from a fishing boat, flew pre-programmed and operator-directed waypoints over Washington's Puget Sound, and was recovered using Insitu's Skyhook - a rope hanging from a boom, which was rotated back to the ship for retrieval of the UAV and an immediate launch for a second autonomous mission.
Source: Flight International
