RQ-11 Raven

Abstract

The Small Unmanned Aircraft System (SUAS), RQ-11B Raven provides the ground maneuver battalions and below with situational awareness and enhanced force protection. The Raven B is a man-portable, unmanned aircraft system capable of handling a wide variety of Intelligence, Surveillance & Reconnaissance (ISR) tasks. The Raven B aircraft has a wingspan of 4.5 feet and weighs 4.2 pounds. It is hand-launched and provides aerial observation, day or night, at line-of-sight ranges up to 10 kilometers. The aircraft has an endurance rate of 90 minutes and can deliver color or infrared imagery in real time to the ground control station and remote video terminal. Raven B obtained Milestone C approval on 6 Oct 05 and successfully completed IOT&E June 06. The program obtained Full Rate Production authority 5 Oct 06. A significant system upgrade completed in early FY10 incorporated a Digital Data Link (DDL) which improved operational capability by: incorporating encryption capability allowing for secure data links; increasing the number of channels allowing for more air vehicles to be flown in a smaller area; extending the operational range through communication relay capability; and integration of advanced digital payloads. The first DDL systems were fielded in December 2010. FY12 engineering services efforts will continue to focus on auto-land accuracy, software blocking integration, chemical payload integration, common controller, and ADS-B integration and noise reduction. Prior to FY11, the funding for this project was in PE 0305204A, Project D10. However, due to an error, $342 thousand for FY11 remains in PE 0305204A.

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Document Details

Document Type
R2 Budgetary Justification
Publication Date
Oct 01, 2012
Source ID
0305232A_7_2040_PB_2012
Change Summary Explanation
Service Agency Name
Army

Entities

Organizations

  • United States Army

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Acquisition
  • Aircrafts
  • Cost Analysis
  • Data Links
  • Digital Data
  • Engineering
  • Governments
  • Ground Control Stations
  • Line Of Sight
  • Manportable Equipment
  • Noise Reduction
  • Program Management
  • Sense And Avoid Systems
  • Situational Awareness
  • Test And Evaluation
  • Unmanned Aerial Systems
  • Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

Readers

  • Naval Mine Countermeasure Systems Development.
  • Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) Autonomous Capabilities and Mission Reconnaissance.

Technology Areas

  • 5G
  • 5G - DoD 5G Program
  • Autonomy
  • Autonomy - UAVs

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