Boeing‘s [BA] ScanEagle unmanned aircraft (UA) logged a pair of service milestones as it surpassed 50,000 combat flight hours with Marine Expeditionary Forces (MEF) in Iraq and 1,000 shipboard recoveries with the Navy, the company reported.
ScanEagle is a joint effort of Boeing and Insitu Inc.
ScanEagle entered service with the Marines in July 2004 and provides persistent intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance services. The Navy has used ScanEagle since July 2005 aboard the USNS Stockham (T-AK 3017), USS Whidbey Island (LSD-41), USS Oscar Austin (DDG-79), USS Oak Hill (LSD-51), and the USS Carter Hall (LSD-50).
“Tens of thousands of flight hours for the Marines demonstrate the maturity and reliability of the ScanEagle system,” Jim Havard, Boeing ScanEagle Marine Corps program manager said. “The system also is providing the MEF with a powerful and versatile capability ranging from convoy protection and surveillance to base security.”
Don Iverson, Boeing ScanEagle Navy program manager, added, “During more than 1,000 shipboard recoveries, the safety record of the ScanEagle system has been outstanding. There have been no injuries to personnel or damage to any of the ships deploying the system.”
A ScanEagle UA carries inertially stabilized electro-optical and infrared cameras. The gimbaled cameras allow the operator to track both stationary and moving targets. Capable of flying above 16,000 feet and loitering over the battlefield for more than 24 hours, the platform provides persistent low-altitude reconnaissance, Boeing said.
ScanEagle is launched autonomously via a pneumatic SuperWedge(tm) catapult launcher and flies preprogrammed or operator-initiated missions. An Insitu-patented SkyHook(tm) system is used for retrieval–the aircraft catches a rope suspended from a 50-foot-high tower. The patented system makes the ScanEagle system runway-independent, with a small footprint similar to that needed for vertical takeoff and landing vehicles, Boeing added.
Insitu, of Bingen, Wash., designs, develops and manufactures unmanned aircraft systems for commercial and military applications.