Middle Eastern Country to Receive Six Scan Eagle UAVs

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Six ScanEagle small UAVs will be built by Insitu Inc., a subsidiary of the Boeing Co., for the government of Lebanon under terms of a $8.2 million U.S. Navy order. Officials of the Naval Air Systems Command are asking the company to provide six ScanEagle UAVs, support equipment, training, site activation, technical services, and data for Lebanon.

The mission of ScanEagle is to provide persistent surveillance and reconnaissance imagery on land or at sea at lower costs than other surveillance methods for military and agriculture missions.

The ScanEagle UAV is 5.1 feet long with a 5.6-foot wingspan. It weighs as much as 48.5 pounds and can carry a 7.5-pound sensor payload. The UAV can fly for more than 24 hours at altitudes as high as 19.500 feet, and at speeds to 80 knots.

The unmanned aircraft can fly on gasoline or heavy fuels like jet fuel, diesel, or kerosine, according to militaryaerospace.com.

ScanEagle can carry a sensor payload consisting of visible-light camera, medium-wave infrared imager, or both integrated in one turret. The UAV can be launched autonomously and uses a no-nets recovery system that recovers with its wing tip on a rope that hangs from a boom.