Boeing/Insitu ScanEagle UAV Sets Ship-Based Endurance Record

Posted on: Aug. 20th, 2004 || Source: boeing.com | E-mail Article | Print Article

ST. LOUIS, August 19, 2004 – ScanEagle, a long-endurance fully autonomous unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) developed and built by Boeing [NYSE:BA] and The Insitu Group, recently completed a 16+ hour flight, believed to be the longest flight ever by a UAV launched and retrieved at sea.

Following an autonomous take-off via a wedge catapult launcher aboard Shackleton, a 58-foot fishing boat, ScanEagle flew for 16 hours and 45 minutes over Puget Sound, Wash., waters and the Strait of Juan de Fuca doing area surveillance of sea conditions and ships. The milestone flight ended with ScanEagle being retrieved using Insitu's patented “Skyhook” system, in which the UAV catches a rope hanging from a 50-foot-high pole.

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