AeroVironment to Provide Puma LE Drones to U.S. Ally

AeroVironment received a $10.5 million U.S. Department of Defense Foreign Military Sales (FMS) contract award on January 21 to deliver Puma LE drones to an ally.

The contract includes the delivery of Puma LE small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) over a six-year period to an allied nation, as well as add-on air vehicle kits, initial spares packages, training and support, the company said in a release today.

Weighing only 10.7kg, the ultra-lightweight Puma LE is hand or bungee launchable. The aircraft comes equipped with the Mantis i45 gimbaled EO/IR sensor suite and secondary payload bay with dedicated power supply and Ethernet for a total payload capacity of 2.5kg. On-board batteries provide up to 6.5 hours of flight endurance with an operational range of 60kg when used with AeroVironment’s Long-Range Tracking Antenna (LRTA) and Puma Smart 2500 Battery.