AeroVironment’s Wasp AE small UAS has been selected by the Australian Defence Force (ADF), for the AUD $101 Million Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems Program.

Weighing just under three pounds, the Wasp AE has a flight time up to 50 minutes, and can operate at a range of up to five kilometers.

Using its pan-tilt-zoom Mantis i22 AE gimbaled payload, the UAS, which is launched by hand, and can land on the ground, or in fresh or salt water, delivers “live, streaming color and infrared video.”

According to AeroVironment, the UAS provides portability and flexibility for operations such as infantry, littoral or maritime reconnaissance.

“Wasp AE provides all environment situational awareness in a highly portable package,” says Kirk Flittie, AeroVironment vice president and general manager of its Unmanned Aircraft Systems business segment.

The ADF Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (ID/IQ) contract says that AeroVironment has to deliver its Wasp AE systems over a three year period.

Training and logistics support will also be provided for up to a decade as a part of the contract, which will have a value of up to $36.5 million for AeroVironment.

To provide the Wasp AE UAS, AeroVironment is working closely with XTEK, General Dynamics Mediaware and Sentient Vision, all of whom are the company’s Australian partners. To meet the needs of the ADF and the Australian industry, the Wasp AE will be modified with Australian content.

While expanding AeroVironment’s global support capabilities, AeroVironment and XTEK will also help the ADF with its immediate needs by providing local maintenance, training and field support.