Additional Insitu RQ-21A Blackjack UAS ordered by NAVAIR
NewsJuly 31, 2015
BINGEN, Wash. Insitu engineers are slated to build six RQ-21A Blackjack systems for the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps under the terms of their latest contract -- the $78-million Small Tactical Unmanned Aircraft Systems (STUAS) Lot IV Low Rate Initial Production (LRIP) contract.
This marks the most recent event in the STUAS program's march toward the Initial Operational Test and Evaluation (IOT&E) phase. Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) officials awarded the STUAS Engineering Manufacturing Development contract to Insitu back in 2010 to start the development of RQ-21A Blackjack, a variant of the company’s Integrator unmanned system. The program reached Milestone C in 2013, and delivered the first LRIP system last year. PMA-263, NAVAIR's program office for STUAS, manages STUAS, Shadow, and Raven programs of record and is also responsible for managing intelligence, reconnaissance, and surveillance (ISR) services along with the T-Hawk and Wasp programs, according to the NAVAIR website.
“This award will increase the number of systems to the fleet and bring a greater footprint and capability to the Marine Air-Ground Task Force and Naval Special Warfare teams to meet operational demands,” says Col. Eldon Metzger, program manager for the Navy and Marine Corps Small Tactical Unmanned Aircraft Systems.
RQ-21A has a much larger payload mass, volume, and power than other small UAS platforms currently being deployed by the Marines. The system has electro-optic and mid-wave infrared sensors along with a laser rangefinder and infrared marker. A portfolio of payload options has been created to provide immediate situational awareness for land and maritime missions.
For more information on the RQ-21A Blackjack, visit www.insitu.com. For more information on STUAS, click here.
