AFSOC testing backpack-sized UAV

[unhappycamper]

The Battlefield Air Targeting Micro Air Vehicle, being tested this week by Air Force Special Operations Command for possible fielding by the end of the year, can fly for up to 45 minutes and up to 5 kilometers from the control transceiver.


AFSOC testing backpack-sized UAV
By Erik Holmes - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Oct 18, 2007 6:42:03 EDT

Air Force Special Operations Command is testing a new backpack-sized unmanned aerial vehicle this week and expects to field the system with AFSOC combat controllers by the end of the year.

The new BATMAV — short for Battlefield Air Targeting Micro Air Vehicle — is intended to allow battlefield airmen to look for enemy targets beyond their line of sight, said Maj. Chris Larkin, director of operations for the 720th Operations Support Squadron at Hurlburt Field, Fla.

“You want to increase the guy’s situational awareness,” Larkin said, “what’s going on around the other side of the hill or in the building four blocks down. That is the small UAV’s capability.”

The UAV, developed and built by Aerovironment Inc., has a wingspan of 29 inches, weighs 1 pound and carries forward- and side-looking color cameras, according to an Aerovironment press release.

The aircraft can fly for up to 45 minutes and up to 5 kilometers from the control transceiver, according to the release. It can be controlled manually or set to autopilot, according to an AFSOC fact sheet.

The new BATMAV — dubbed Wasp III — will eventually become part of the standard kit carried by combat controllers as they go on missions with other special operators, Larkin said.


Rest of article at: http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2007/10/airforce_batmav_071017W/



uhc comment: These things are under $50,000 a pop. --> http://www2.afsoc.af.mil/library/factsheets/factsheet.asp?fsID=9114