Fury 1500 UAS achieves 14-hour flight

AME Unmanned Air Systems (AME UAS) announced today another successful flight of the Fury 1500 Special Mission Unmanned Aerial System. This new version of the Fury was developed at AME's UAS facility in San Luis Obispo, Calif. The Fury is operated and controlled by AME's UAS Mission Management software, SharkFin.

The 14.2-hour flight solidifies the Fury's position as the longest-endurance and largest payload tactical and runway-independent UAS flying today. With the largest payload capacity (weight and volume), heavy-fuel propulsion system, highest power-to-payload, and "special mission" capable avionics, Fury 1500 will provide best-in-class capabilities to the Warfighter over a variety of mission scenarios. The Fury 1500's first flight was in November 2010. AME recently moved to a more powerful launcher to eliminate wind and altitude launch constraints when flying above 300lbs at takeoff.

"The Fury 1500 continues its recent string of successful test flights over the last few weeks. We have been demonstrating system reliability by flying back-to-back sorties and have accumulated over 109 flight hours in the last 45 days. Reaching this duration puts us alone in the category of long-endurance, large payload, tactical UAS, but we are not finished yet. We expect to achieve 16+ hours soon, and in a short time will exceed that as well as we continue to improve our heavy-fuel propulsion system," said John Purvis, President and CEO of AME UAS. "Our recent successes over multiple 12+ hour flights serve as a testament to the hard work and talent of our team."

Fury 1500 testing addresses multiple Warfighter requirements. Designed for a broad range of missions and long endurance, Fury 1500's large payload volume and power capacity can support several payloads simultaneously and provide for a flexible, multi-mission capability not currently available with other UAS platforms.

"Fury 1500, and its mission planning and control system, Sharkfin, are progressing nicely toward a fully deployable capability for our Army, Navy, and special mission customers," added Mr. Jay McConville, AME UAS' Chairman. "With its multi-INT capability, small footprint, and open architecture, we expect Fury to add significantly to our nation's mission capability for both land and maritime use, and be easily integrated with existing C2 and intelligence systems. While still new, the open and flexible architecture will ensure a bright future for both Fury and Sharkfin."

Source: AME