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AFSOC testing backpack-sized UAV
By Erik Holmes - Staff writer
Oct 17, 2007 12:55:33 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.
The UAV was developed through a program with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, he said.
The Marine Corps is planning to buy the system, Larkin said, and AFSOC airmen demonstrated it for Special Operations Command officials last week.
By Erik Holmes - Staff writer
Oct 17, 2007 12:55:33 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.
The UAV was developed through a program with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, he said.
The Marine Corps is planning to buy the system, Larkin said, and AFSOC airmen demonstrated it for Special Operations Command officials last week.
