U.S. Army Purchases New Micro-UAS
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The U.S Army recently purchased 36 Maveric unmanned aerial systems as a result of an urgent request from soldiers in theater.
The request was made to the Rapid Equipping Force at Fort Belvoir, Va., in March and Soldiers will receive them by December. According to Unmanned Systems the 36 Maverics, which are not in the Army’s current UAS inventory, cost $4.5 million and are made by Prioria Robotics Inc., a technology firm in Gainesville, Fla.
The Maveric is classified in the micro-UAS category because it is smaller than the Army’s smallest UASs, the Raven and Puma.
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Maveric will support Soldiers at the squad level, while Raven and Puma are company-level tactical assets. Another difference is that Maveric’s wings are flexible and enable the system to naturally blend into the environment.
Maveric can be flown for 60 minutes before it needs to be refueled. It also contains sensors for day, night or obscured hazy environmental reconnaissance work. The Maveric cruises at 26 knots and dashes up to 55 knots, but more importantly can fly in sustained winds of 20 knots and up to 30-knot gusts. At this time, the REF has no plans to purchase more Maverics, but that could change pending Soldier feedback or additional requirements from theater.
Maveric did undergo testing earlier this year at Yuma Test Center in Arizona by the Army Testing and Evaluation Command, which published a Safety Release for Soldier Training, Safety Confirmation and Capabilities and Limitation report.
