AeroVironment calls on US Army to scrap FTUAS Increment 2
A RQ-7B Shadow UAS launches from a ramp at the Regimental Engineer Squadron, 2d Cavalry Regiment at Balli UAS Airfield, Vilseck, Germany. (Photo: US Army)
A leading competitor involved in the US Army's Future Tactical Unmanned Aerial System (FTUAS) programme wants to see a forthcoming phase in the project axed.
Ahead of the US Army preparing to announce an industry contractor for Increment 1 of the Future Tactical Unmanned Aerial System (FTUAS), AeroVironment has said the service should cancel Increment 2 in order to save between '$50-100 million' and move directly to a programme of record.
Designed to source a replacement for the RQ-7 Shadow, the FTUAS effort wrapped up an extensive test and demonstration phase in Q4 2021, involving Aerovironment's Jump 20, Textron’s Aerosonde HQ, L3Harris Technologies’ FVR-90 and Martin UAV's V-Bat.
Following the test phase, industry had been asked to submit Increment 1 proposals before 31 October 2021, which were to be
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