Australian Boeing-Insitu ScanEagle UAV Achieves 10,000 Flight Hours

Posted on: Feb. 11th, 2008 || Source: Boeing | E-mail Article | Print Article

CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA, Feb. 11, 2008 -- Boeing Australia Limited and Insitu, Inc.'s ScanEagle unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) has successfully delivered 10,000 surveillance and reconnaissance flight hours to help protect Australian troops on active duty in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Boeing Australia Limited President David Withers congratulated the ScanEagle team on its exemplary performance during a recent ceremony.

"ScanEagle is an excellent UAV platform, Boeing Australia Limited delivers vital ground support services, the Australian Army drives the ongoing successful delivery of the program, and the winners are our fellow Australians who put their lives on the line every day to protect our way of life," noted Withers.

Insitu President and CEO Steve Sliwa continued, "Our goal is to provide tools for persistent surveillance in challenging environments. This milestone, achieved in less than one year, demonstrates the success our team has had supporting the Australian Defence Force."

The fully autonomous ScanEagle UAV, developed by Boeing [NYSE: BA] and Insitu, Inc., can capture stationary and moving imagery using an inertially stabilized electro-optical or infrared camera.

Measuring four feet (1.2 meters) long with a 10-foot (3 meters) wingspan, the UAV provides more than 15 consecutive hours of "on-station" coverage. It is launched autonomously via Insitu's pneumatic catapult launcher and flies pre-programmed or operator-initiated missions guided by a Global Positioning System. It is retrieved using the SkyHook™ system in which the UAV catches a rope hanging from a 50-foot (15 meters) high pole.
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