AeroVironment Awarded $2.6 Million Contract from U.S. Ally to Enhance Existing Puma™ Fleet with Puma LE Capabilities, Plus Existing Fleet Support
May 12, 2020
- Contract includes spares to support customer’s existing fleet of tactical unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and adoption of Puma LE (Long Endurance)
- Puma LE provides Group 2 features in a Group 1 footprint, 5.5-hour endurance and persistent data with increased time on station in an economical two-case mission packout
- Customer is one of more than 45 allied governments employing AeroVironment’s innovative family of tactical UAS
SIMI VALLEY, Calif., at vSOFIC, May 12, 2020 – AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV), a global leader in unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), today announced that a U.S. ally and longtime customer awarded the company a firm-fixed-price contract valued at $2,685,057 on February 20, 2020 for AeroVironment’s recently introduced Puma™ LE. The order also included spares to support the customer’s existing fleet of AeroVironment tactical UAS. The contract award period of performance is one year.
“Puma LE is the newest member of our combat-proven family of tactical unmanned aircraft systems,” said Rick Pedigo, vice president of sales and business development for AeroVironment. “Puma LE provides customers with Group 2 UAS endurance capabilities, nearly doubling the time on station of Puma 3, with cost savings and the footprint of a Group 1 unmanned aircraft.”
The AeroVironment Puma LE weighs only 22.5 pounds (10.4 kilograms), is launchable by hand or bungee and provides a dedicated secondary payload bay in addition to its Mantis i45 gimbaled EO/IR sensor. On-board batteries provide 5.5 hours of flight endurance with an operational range of 37.2 miles (60 kilometers) when used with AeroVironment’s Long-Range Tracking Antenna (LRTA). Puma LE’s economical dual-case mission pack contains everything needed to perform two complete 5.5-hour missions with a single aircraft and Ground Control System (GCS). Puma LE utilizes plug and play, interoperable line-replaceable unit (LRU) components that can be shared with other Puma AE aircraft.
AeroVironment’s family of tactical UAS comprises the majority of all unmanned aircraft in the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) inventory and its rapidly growing international customer base numbers more than 45 allied governments.
Learn more about Puma LE by attending a virtual product presentation at vSOFIC https://www.sofic.org/vsofic, Tuesday, May 12th at 1 PM (EST) in the AeroVironment, Industry Showcase.
About AeroVironment Tactical UAS
The RQ-20A/B Puma™, Puma™ LE, RQ-11B Raven®, RQ-12A Wasp®, together with the VAPOR® Helicopter comprise AeroVironment’s family of tactical unmanned aircraft systems. This family of systems provides increased capability to the warfighter that gives ground commanders the option of selecting the appropriate aircraft based on the type of mission to be performed. This increased capability has the potential to provide significant force protection and force multiplication benefits to small tactical units and security personnel. AeroVironment provides logistics services worldwide to ensure a consistently high level of operational readiness. AeroVironment has delivered thousands of new and replacement tactical unmanned air vehicles to customers within the United States and to more than 45 allied governments.
About AeroVironment, Inc. (AV)
AeroVironment (NASDAQ: AVAV) is a global leader in intelligent multi-domain robotic systems, uncrewed aircraft and ground systems, sensors, software analytics, and connectivity. Headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, AeroVironment delivers actionable intelligence so our customers can proceed with certainty. For more information, visit www.avinc.com.
Safe Harbor Statement
Certain statements in this press release may constitute "forward-looking statements" as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are made on the basis of current expectations, forecasts and assumptions that involve risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, economic, competitive, governmental and technological factors outside of our control, that may cause our business, strategy or actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, our ability to perform under existing contracts and obtain additional contracts; changes in the regulatory environment; the activities of competitors; failure of the markets in which we operate to grow; failure to expand into new markets; failure to develop new products or integrate new technology with current products; and general economic and business conditions in the United States and elsewhere in the world. For a further list and description of such risks and uncertainties, see the reports we file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We do not intend, and undertake no obligation, to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
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