Maritime sensor-to-shooter capability demoed with Puma 3 AE UAS and Switchblade 300
NewsOctober 19, 2021
SIMI VALLEY, Calif. AeroVironment, Inc. announced the maritime demonstration of a Puma 3 AE small unmanned aircraft system (UAS) and Switchblade 300 tactical missile system sensor-to-shooter (S2S) capability as part of NATO REP(MUS) 21, Europe’s largest maritime unmanned systems operational experimentation exercise.
According to the companu, a key component of the exercise was demonstrating the interoperability of multiple U.S./U.K. control system capabilities to facilitate the transfer through the Puma 3 AE comm relay connection of tactical control and planning tasks of interchangeable, cross-domain assets.
Launched from the USNS Carson City, Puma 3 AE UAS served as an intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) and targeting asset during the S2S exercise. Post launch, control of the Puma 3 AE was transferred to C-SCAPE, which was acting as the command and control station on the USNS Carson City for this mission segment.
Using its high-resolution Mantis i45 payload, officials claim the Puma 3 AE was used by military operators from the Maritime Operations Center (MOC), located in Troia, to positively identify the moving exercise target of interest. The target location was then digitally transferred from Puma 3 AE to a Switchblade 300 via S2S prior to its launch.
