Boeing’s [BA] Insitu subsidiary and PrecisonHawk, two companies that provide unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and related information and services, have formed a strategic partnership to bring best-in-class drone solutions to the commercial market.
The companies said the partnership is focused on “providing business intelligence support for commercial operations, including asset protection, property preservation, safety enhancement and environmental monitoring.”
“While our businesses are diverse, the areas where we intersect have tremendous potential for creating new opportunities in the commercial industries we both serve,” Ryan Hartman, president and CEO of Insitu, said in a statement. “This alliance ensures that more businesses will explore what unmanned technology can offer.”
The companies said that with the integration of their respective proprietary platforms, hardware and software they “plan to deliver even more data insights.”
Insitu is best known for its operationally proven ScanEagle UAS in use with various defense customers. The company’s RQ-21A Blackjack UAS is also operating with the Marine Corps.
PrecisionHawk makes the Lancaster UAS for various industrial uses including farming, energy and mining, emergency response, and environmental monitoring. The company also provides software for drone-based mapping and analytics, and aerial data analytics.
Insitu earlier this week announced the establishment of a new commercial business unit aimed at leveraging its UAS experience for the emerging commercial market for UAS data collection. The company also said that after 18 months of trials Australia’s Queensland Gas Company, part of Royal Dutch Shell, is introducing ScanEagle to inspect gas well, pipelines and processing facilities.
On Wednesday Insitu also said it has opened a new facility at Mississippi State Univ. in an effort to help support the use of commercial UAS.
“We are investing time, talent and resources in Mississippi to develop industry-leading technology that can safely operate in the National Airspace System,” Hartman stated.
Mississippi State leads the Federal Aviation Administration’s Alliance for System Safety of UAS through Research Excellence coalition, and is an FAA Center of Excellence.