On August 21, 1998, a Phase 1 Aerosonde nicknamed "Laima", after the ancient Latvian deity of good fortune, completed a 2,031 mile flight across the Atlantic Ocean. This was the first crossing of the Atlantic Ocean by a UAV; at the time, it was also the smallest aircraft ever to cross the Atlantic. Launched from a roof rack of a moving car due to its lack of undercarriage, Laima flew from Newfoundland, Canada to Benbecula, an island off the coast of Scotland in 26 hours 45 minutes in stormy weather, using approximately 1.5 U.S. gallons of gasoline. Other than for take-off and landing, the flight was autonomous, without external control, at an altitude of 5,500 ft. Aerosondes have also been the first unmanned aircraft to penetrate tropical cyclones, with an initial mission in 2001 followed by eye penetrations in 2005.
Operational history
On 5 March 2012, the U.S. Special Operations Command awarded AAI a contract to provide the Aerosonde-G for their Mid-Endurance UAS II program. The catapult-launched air vehicle has a takeoff weight depending on engine type, with endurance of over 10 hours and an electro-optic/infrared and laser-pointer payload. The Aerosonde has been employed by SOCOM and U.S. Naval Air Systems Command under the designation MQ-19 under service provision contracts. A typical system comprises four air vehicles and two ground control stations that are accommodated in tents or tailored to fit in most vehicles. The system can also include remote video terminals for individual users to uplink new navigation waypoints and sensor commands to, and receive sensor imagery and video from, the vehicle from a ruggedized tablet device. Originally, the Aerosonde suffered from engine-reliability issues, but Textron says it has rectified those issues. By November 2015, Textron Systems was performing Aerosonde operations in "eight or nine" countries for its users, including the U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Air Force, and SOCOM, as well as for commercial users consisting of a customer in the oil and gas industry. Instead of buying hardware, customers pay for "sensor hours," and the company decides how many aircraft are produced to meet requirements. 4,000 fee-for-service hours were being performed monthly, and the Aerosonde had exceeded 110,000 flight hours in service.
Variants
Specifications (Aerosonde)
General characteristics
Crew: Remote-Controlled
Length: 5 ft 8 in
Wingspan: 9 ft 8 in
Height: 2 ft 0 in
Wing area: 6.1 ft2
Empty: 22lb
Loaded: 28.9 lb
Maximum take-off: 28.9 lb
Powerplant: Modified Enya R120 model aircraft engine, 1.74 hp
