AeroVironment To Supply Raven Unmanned Aircraft Systems To Portuguese Army

The Portuguese Army has ordered Raven unmanned aircraft systems equipped with Mantis i23 sensors and pocket Remote Video Terminals (p/RVT) from AeroVironment, Inc.

The fixed-price contract award announced on September 13 valued at $5,962,494 from NSPA on August 20, 2018, has delivery scheduled over a three-year period.

“AeroVironment’s Raven unmanned aircraft system, equipped with our Mantis i23 gimbaled sensor suite and pocket Remote Video Terminal, packs significant capabilities into a portable, man-packable platform for operations in austere environments around the globe,” said Kirk Flittie, vice president and general manager of AeroVironment’s Unmanned Aircraft Systems business. “Our small UAS deliver valuable situational awareness directly to frontline warfighters at a fraction of the procurement and lifecycle cost of larger UAS.The Raven system will provide the Portuguese Army with rapid and effective force protection as well as interoperability capabilities with NATO forces, supporting coalition mission integration.”

With the Family of Systems (FoS) concept, customers can add other AeroVironment small UAS to augment their capabilities while utilizing the same ground control station and software for added simplicity and efficiency, providing for interoperability across NATO forces.The Portuguese Army’s adoption of the Raven system represents the 18th of 29 NATO member nations to adopt AeroVironment’s family of small UAS.