First Echo Hawk Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Delivered to US Air Force
Aerocross Systems delivered the first Echo Hawk UAS to the US Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC), Air Armament Center, on Monday, 17 August 2009, under the Mobile Airborne Test Range Instrumentation and Communication System (MATRICS) program.
Personnel from the 46th Range Support Squadron accepted Echo Hawk at Eglin Air Force Base Santa Rosa Island Range Complex, where it will undergo initial evaluation and preparation for flight test operations.
Aerocross developed Echo Hawk under an Air Force Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) contract to devise a low-cost method for performing test range instrumentation and communication relay support for the Air Armament Center’s Eglin Test and Training Range. Echo Hawk is the first full scale UAS developed to support this type of mission.
Echo Hawk has a wingspan of 41.5 feet, weighs 1100 pounds and can carry as much as 425 pounds of payload. The system can be configured and operated from a dual-use Ground Control Station/Transporter by a 3-person crew.
Aerocross Systems is headquartered in McKinney, Texas.
The small company specializes in the design, rapid prototyping, low volume manufacturing, integration, and testing of innovative and cost-effective aerospace systems.
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