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Insitu has launched a “no compromise” unmanned aircraft system capable of vertical take-off and landing without sacrificing payload capacity.
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The Boeing company, with offices in Australia, the US, and the UK, showcased the new Integrator VTOL UAS at the Navy League’s Sea-Air-Space Global Maritime Expo on 3 April.
The UAS can launch vertically off a ship’s deck or land for wide-area surveillance missions without the need for stationary launch and recovery equipment.
It also retains the performance of fixed-wing aircraft with greater than 16 hours of endurance carrying 40lbs.
Insitu president and chief executive officer, Diane Rose, said the unique design offers three times improvement in range and endurance over hybrid VTOLs.
“Integrator VTOL is a no-compromise unmanned aircraft system,” she said.
“Customers can finally have it all (including) vertical launch and recovery with industry-leading payload capacity and endurance for their most critical missions, even in the most extreme maritime environments and sea states, without sacrificing valuable transport, deck, or hangar space.”
The system has two parts including Flying Launch and Recovery System (FLARES) developed by Hood Tech and the Insitu Integrator air vehicle.
Requiring no modifications to the aircraft, FLARES performs normal operations at half throttle, allowing significant control authority to withstand gusts, lower density air, and higher ship deck motion. To deploy, FLARES engages the Integrator and climbs into the sky before dashing forward to release the Integrator for long-range, wide-area surveillance mission for extended durations.
As the Integrator approaches the end of its mission, FLARES again climbs into the sky with a recovery rope attached and performs Insitu’s well-proven maritime retrieval method. FLARES then lowers the Integrator to the ship’s deck or the landing area to complete the mission.
Insitu has set a company record for longest flight of 25.5 hours with the Integrator Unmanned Aircraft System on 30 March.
The record flight was achieved with a 150-pound Integrator equipped for a multi-payload mission. It surpassed the previous record of 24.2 hours performed in 2014, also with an Integrator.
“Our Integrator provides customers benefits they can’t get with other unmanned aircraft,” said Rose.
“Customers can focus on the mission and have confidence to achieve their critical goals more affordably and reliably with our field-proven unmanned aircraft.”
