Matthew Nelson
Martin UAV has secured contracts from the U.S. Army to continue the development of a vertical take-off and landing drone under the Future Tactical Unmanned Aerial Systems program, FlightGlobal reported Thursday.
The V-Bat unmanned aircraft system is designed to operate up to eight hours and travel 350 miles. The U.S. Navy noted the aircraft performed counter-narcotics surveillance missions in Eastern Pacific and the Carribean.
In March, the company landed a spot along with Textron’s AAI Corp. subsidiary to build non-developmental tactical drones for the Army under a $99.5M contract.
Martin UAV has also sent proposals to the U.S. Marine Corps and Navy in line with their plans to replace the RQ-21 Blackjack and Insitu ScanEagle air vehicles.
