The US Navy conducted a UAS demonstration aboard USS Paul Hamilton (DDG 60). (US Navy)
Insitu, a Boeing subsidiary, and L3 Harris demonstrated competing unmanned aircraft systems (UASs) for the US Navy (USN) for a potential prototype project award later in 2022.
The demonstrations to perform wide-area missions took place from 11 to 15 July aboard USS Paul Hamilton (DDG 60) in San Diego.
Insitu and L3 Harris “showcased multiple technologies designed to operate as a portable system in challenging conditions while providing the same wide-area coverage as a shore-based system”, the navy said in a statement on 27 July.
The navy and Marine Corps Small Tactical Unmanned Aircraft Systems program office (PMA-263), Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division's AIRWorks, along with other navy experimentation units, chose the two vendors based on their “ability to provide a system able to operate without additional support systems, deploy without dedicated launch or recovery equipment, and have maximum portability, self-sufficiency, and modularity across UAS hardware and payloads”, the navy said.
The navy could award either contractor an Other Transaction Authority (OTA) prototype project later in 2022.
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