AeroVironment expands Puma UAS family

3rd April 2018 - 12:30 GMT | by The Shephard News Team

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AeroVironment has introduced a new version of its Puma UAS, the Puma 3 small UAS, at the AUSA Global Force Symposium 2018.

The new UAS has an upgraded airframe for more robust operation of its payload in challenging environments.

In addition to enabling concurrent operation of the UAS' i45 gimbaled EO/IR sensor suite and signals intelligence (SIGINT) payloads, Puma 3 also incorporates AeroVironment's latest digital data link with security upgrades to support operation in more challenging radio frequency environments, with M1/M2/M5 and M3/M4/M6 frequency bands and with AES-256 encryption.

The company has also optimised the portability of Puma from six transport cases to four, with a flyable configuration in a single transport case that features luggage-type handles.

David Sharpin, vice president of AeroVironment’s tactical UAS business, said: ‘We are in constant communication with our customers to ensure they have the most innovative and advanced small drones to successfully complete their missions.

'As a result of their feedback, the new Puma 3 includes air vehicle upgrades for operation in even more rugged environments than before, improved ability to support advanced third-party payloads and software applications and reliability in challenging EW/cyber environments where interference is prevalent.’

Puma AE