AeroVironment releases new Puma 3 UAS

AeroVironment, Inc. of Huntsville, AL announced on March 26 at the AUSA Global Force Symposium that the company has released its new Puma 3 small unmanned aircraft system.

“We are in constant communication with our customers to ensure they have the most innovative and advanced small drones to successfully complete their missions. As a result of their feedback, the new Puma 3 includes air vehicle upgrades for operation in even more rugged environments than before, improved ability to support advanced third-party payloads and software applications and reliability in challenging electronic warfare/cyber environments where interference is prevalent,” said David Sharpin, vice president of AeroVironment’s Tactical UAS business.

AeroVironment upgraded the Puma’s airframe to enable robust operation of its i45 EO/IR sensor suite with SIGINT payloads in harsh and demanding environments. In addition, the Puma 3 incorporates AeroVironment’s latest digital data link (DDL) with security upgrades to support operation in more challenging radio frequency (RF) environments, with M1/M2/M5 and M3/M4/M6 frequency bands and with AES-256 encryption.

Sharpin said that, as part of ongoing efforts to stay at the forefront of battery technology, AeroVironment is releasing a new Puma smart battery that is more efficient and includes safety enhancements. AeroVironment also has optimized the portability of Puma from six transport cases to four, with a flyable configuration in a single transport case that features luggage-type handles. All these upgrades are incorporated while maintaining Puma 3’s all-environment capability.

As previously announced, AeroVironment also is developing an upgrade to the RQ-11B Raven, called Raven 3. The upgraded Raven system will incorporate new camera technology into the i23 gimbaled sensor, similar to advancements made to Puma 3 and its i45 gimbal. These upgrades are still in progress and more information on Raven 3 will be available at the AUSA Symposium in October.

Source: AeroVironment