AeroVironment‘s[AVAV] Digital Data Link (DDL) will be part of the Army’s $16.7 million contract for 50 new RQ-11B Raven unmanned aerial vehicle systems.
The production order was issued under an existing contract and includes initial spares packages and DDL retrofit kits for 206 existing Ravenr systems.
The introduction of AV’s DDL follows several years of internally funded research and development in addition to a $7.6 million contract awarded in October 2008 for the completion of R&D activities.
“This Digital Data Link enhances the capabilities of our Ravenr system by increasing the number of communication channels by a factor of four, enabling our customers to use more Ravenr systems where they need them,” John Grabowsky, executive vice president and general manager of AV’s UAS segment, said in a Feb. 9 statement. “Our DDL also provides enhanced communications security, and establishes the foundation for a new, highly capable and portable communications network over the battlefield. This marks the transition of an important research and development program into production.”
AV designed its DDL to conform to the weight, volume and power parameters of its 4.2 pound Ravenr small UAS. All of AV’s small UAS originally employed a four-channel analog data link, limiting the number of aircraft that could be operated in a given geographical area. AV plans to develop a smaller version of its DDL that can be incorporated into its smallest production UAS, Wasp(tm).
The Ravenr unmanned aircraft is a 4.2-pound, backpackable, hand-launched sensor platform that provides day and night, real-time video imagery for “over the hill” and “around the corner” reconnaissance, surveillance and target acquisition in support of tactical units. U.S. armed forces use Raven systems for missions such as base security, route reconnaissance, mission planning and force protection.