Aerovironment to Provide Raven and Puma 3 AE Drones to NATO Support and Procurement Agency

AeroVironment announced its receipt of two orders totaling $9.8 million from the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA) to provide Raven and Puma 3 AE tactical unmanned aircraft systems and spares.

The contracts were awarded on March 5 and April 16 of this year, the company said on June 10.

Delivery for the first order is anticipated by August 2020 and the second order by October 2020.

The orders are part of a three-year base contract received from NSPA in January 2020. The contract includes an option for two additional years of logistics support for Raven, Wasp and Puma tactical UAS. The total potential value of the multi-year contract is $80 million, encompassing the procurement and sustainment of AeroVironment tactical unmanned aircraft systems employed by the defense forces of several NATO countries.

AeroVironment’s Raven system is designed for rapid deployment and high mobility for operations requiring low-altitude intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. With a wingspan of 4.5 feet (1.4m) and weighing just 4.2 pounds (1.9kg), the hand-launched Raven provides situational awareness, day or night, with an operational range of 6.2 miles (10km). The Raven’s Mantis i23 EO/IR gimbaled payload delivers real-time video or infrared imagery to ground control and remote viewing stations.

The AeroVironment Puma 3 AE is a fully man-portable unmanned aircraft system designed for land and maritime operations. The hand-launched Puma 3 AE has a wingspan of 9.2 feet (2.8m), weighs 15 pounds (6.8kg) and can operate for up to 2.5 hours at a range of up to 12.4 miles (20km) with a standard antenna, and up to 37.2 miles (60km) with AeroVironment’s Long-Range Tracking Antenna (LRTA). Capable of landing in water or on land, the all-environment Puma, with its Mantis i45 EO/IR sensor suite, empowers the operator with extended flight time and a level of imaging capability never before available in the tactical UAS class.

AeroVironment’s family of tactical UAS use a common ground control station and software, allowing for improved interoperability and decreased training and logistics costs for NATO forces.