The Army has awarded General Atomics an $18.6 million contract to continue developing an extended range/multi-purpose unmanned aerial vehicle. The contract is but one of the extended range unmanned aircraft military planners are looking at for the next few years. In addition, there is more than $500 million for unmanned aircraft systems in the fiscal 2008 war supplemental, which Congress has yet to act on, according to Aviation Week.
First, the General Atomics contract is for the aircraft called the Sky Warrior. The Sky Warrior is built upon the company’s highly successful Predator and I-GNAT ER airplanes. The aircraft, the first of which flew last year, will perform long-endurance – over 40 hours aloft, surveillance, communications relay, and weapons delivery missions with double the weapons capacity of the Predator.
Via NetworkWorld.
UAV used to knock out cell-networks in “Palestinians Call Drones a Deadly Weapon” from AP.
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