Boeing/Insitu ScanEagle UAV Sets Ship-Based Endurance Record

ST. LOUIS%2C August 19, 2004 ScanEagle, a long-endurance fully autonomous unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) developed and built by Boeing and The Insitu Group, recently completed a 16-hour flight, believed to be the longest flight ever by a UAV launched and retrieved at sea.

Following an autonomous take-off via a wedge catapult launcher aboard Shackleton, a 58-foot fishing boat, ScanEagle flew for 16 hours and 45 minutes over Puget Sound, Wash., waters and the Strait of Juan de Fuca doing area surveillance of sea conditions and ships. The milestone flight ended with ScanEagle being retrieved using Insitu's patented "Skyhook" system, in which the UAV catches a rope hanging from a 50-foot-high pole.

ScanEagle's flight was also significant in that it demonstrated a typical mission anticipated for shipboard operations," said David Martin, Boeing ScanEagle program manager. Operating ScanEagle and its electro-optical camera from Shackleton, we were able to gather continuous real-time intelligence. The UAV later completed a night flight and demonstrated its infrared camera as well.

ScanEagle's ability to take off and land autonomously on land or sea gives it more flexibility than other UAVs. Boeing foresees customers using ScanEagle vehicles individually or in groups to loiter over trouble spots and provide intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) data or communication relay.