Small Firms Turn to Drones, Demand Grows for Unmanned Craft

Posted on: Oct. 31st, 2005 || Source: washingtonpost.com | E-mail Article | Print Article

A soldier wary of what's over the next hill can snap together the nose, tail, body and two wings of the Evolution XTS, all six pounds of it, and find out. Just load a hand-held sling shot and let the airplane fly, for 90 minutes if needed. Guide it by computer and watch real-time video stream in.

BAI Aerosystems Inc. assembles the miniature planes for the military on its factory floor in Easton. In Manassas, Aurora Flight Sciences Corp. is developing a pilotless plane with a similar mission, only this one looks like a trash can with fins and takes off like a helicopter. And in Ellicott City, the fledgling Optemax LLC, only two years old, plans to create technology for the Navy that it says would allow shoulder-launched planes to transmit data equivalent to nine DVDs in one second.

After Sept. 11, 2001, "mini" drones have created big business for small Washington area companies, those that make them and those that load them with tiny cameras and sensors.

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