ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Navy has awarded a contract for 34 ScanEagle unmanned aerial vehicles for four partner nations adjacent to the South China Sea.
The Naval Air Systems Command awarded a $47.9 million contract on May 31 to Boeing’s Insitu in Bingen, Washington, for the UAVs as well as “spare payloads, spare and repair parts, support equipment, tools, training, technical services and field service representatives,” according to a Defense Department announcement.
The UAVs will be built for the governments of Malaysia (12 UAVs), Indonesia (8), the Philippines (8) and Vietnam (6).
The ScanEagle is a small Group 2 UAV that can be launched from a pneumatic rail launcher ashore or from ship and recovered by a line that intercepts a hook on the wing of the UAV. It can carry sensor payloads such as electro-optical imaging, infrared imaging and millimeter wave radar. The UAV can stay aloft for 18 hours. Deliveries are expected to be completed by March 2022.
