AeroVironment (Nasdaq: AVAV) will provide operations and maintenance support to the U.S. Army’s Puma long endurance and RQ-20B all environment unmanned aircraft systems under an $86.4 million contract.
The Arlington, Virginia-based UAS builder is scheduled to complete work under the firm-fixed-price contract by the end of September next year, the Department of Defense said Wednesday.
According to AeroVironment, the Puma AE RQ-20B is a waterproof aircraft equipped with infrared camera and illuminator technologies in a single payload and can be operated manually or fly autonomously using GPS programming for a maximum of three hours.
The Puma LE, meanwhile, is less compact than the RQ-20B and designed to fly for up to 6.5 hours. It is interoperable with the RQ-20B and features a bungee launch system that can be set up in less than 10 minutes.
AeroVironment was awarded a separate $20.6 million firm-fixed-price contract in August to deliver Switchblade 300 tactical missile systems to the Army’s Tactical Aviation and Ground Munitions project office.
