Thursday, January 21, 2010

Insitu Upgrades UAV Performance, Reliability

Bingen, Washington-based Insitu, a developer unmanned aircraft systems, reported today that it has successfully flight-tested electronic fuel injection on the firm's heavy fuel engine for its unmanned aircraft. The firm said the move is a key risk-reduction milestone for its family of unmanned aircraft, and allows its aircraft to perform better in extreme temperatures and high altitudes, including in mountainous terrain. The firm said it will be incorporating the technology into its entire family of unmanned aircraft, and will begin offering field upgrades to existing ScanEagle unmanned aircraft this summer. The firm--a subsidiary of Boeing--sells its unmanned aircraft to the military, which has been using Insitu's aircraft in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2004.