AeroVironment RQ-20B Puma Launches With U.S. Navy
AeroVironment announced the U.S. Navy has used the newly designated RQ-20B Puma. The UAS, which is commonly known as the Puma AE (all environment), was successfully tested and deployed on a Flight I Guided Missile Destroyer.
Some of the Puma AE’s primary uses will be search-and-rescue missions, as well as personnel recovery missions and man-overboard missions. The UAS can be recovered on ship, or in the water if necessary.
The Department of Defense designated the RQ-20B for the block two Puma AE, which has a lighter propulsion system, lighter and more robust aircraft and an updated user interface.
In a report from earlier this month, Office of Naval Research Science advisor Inez Kelly spoke to the impact that the Puma AE will have on military operations.
“The goal was to put Pumas on ships that don't have a helicopter or an organic airborne capability of some kind. The Pumas and other small UAVs give those platforms some eyes in the sky they never had before. They allow ships to have better situational awareness of where they are by providing an overlook capability.”
The Puma AE was developed by AeroVironment in 2008 for the U.S. Special Operations Command’s program of record. Since its creation, the Puma AE has been used by the U.S. Navy Expeditionary Combat Command Coastal Riverine Forces, the U.S. Army and the U.S. Marine Corps.
