Textron Systems Corporation, a Textron Inc. company, announced today that the Aerosonde® Uncrewed Aircraft System (UAS) took its inaugural operational flight from its first Littoral Combat Ship (LCS), the LCS-28 USS Savannah. In June, Textron Systems was awarded a contract by the U.S. Navy’s Naval Air Systems Command Center (NAVAIR) to provide UAS operational support to one Freedom Class and two Independence Class LCS variants. The Aerosonde UAS will support the LCS missions of forward presence, maritime security, sea control and deterrence with overwatch and extended intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) services with enhanced payloads. The Independence Class LCS marks the fifth class and seventh total ship the Aerosonde system has been contracted to support.
The Aerosonde UAS offers multi-mission capability built upon a family of systems which have amassed over 650,000 flight hours over more than 10 years. Designed for expeditionary land- and sea-based operations and equipped for simultaneous day/night full-motion video, communications relay, signals intelligence and a customer-selected payload in a single flight, Textron Systems’ Aerosonde Uncrewed Aircraft System (UAS) family of products delivers reliable, multi-mission performance in a class by itself. It is field-proven with more than 600,000 flight hours, including desert heat and Arctic cold. The system is equipped for multiple payload configurations with both vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) and fixed-wing options.
“Teaming an uncrewed Aircraft System with a crewed ship is a force multiplier for the ship’s existing mission sets, which we’ve seen with our Aerosonde UAS operating from DDG and ESB– class ships,” said Wayne Prender, Senior Vice President of Air Systems. “The expansion of the Aerosonde system’s services onto the LCS extends the capability of the various mission packages employed by the ship.”
Textron Systems is a world leader in uncrewed air, surface and land products, services and support founded on the combined expertise in our family of brands that includes Textron Systems, Howe & Howe, Lycoming, and ATAC. We harness the unlimited power of teamwork to solve incredible problems across seven specialized domains: air, land, sea, propulsion, weapon systems, electronic systems and test, training & simulation. From product development and manufacturing to training, operations and support, the company integrate and offer ingenious and advanced solutions to support defense, aerospace, and other customer missions. Textron Inc. is a multi-industry company that leverages its global network of aircraft, defense, industrial and finance businesses to provide customers with innovative solutions and services. Textron is known around the world for its powerful brands such as Bell, Cessna, Beechcraft, Pipistrel, Jacobsen, Kautex, Lycoming, E-Z-GO, Arctic Cat, and Textron Systems.
