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SAS 2017: AeroVironment Showcasing its Multi-Pack Launcher for Blackwing & Switchblade UAVs

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Sea Air Space 2017 Online Show Coverage - AeroVironment
 
 
 
SAS 2017: AeroVironment Showcasing its Multi-Pack Launcher for Blackwing & Switchblade UAVs
 
During the Navy League's Sea-Air-Space 2017 exposition held recently near Washington D.C., AeroVironment was showcasing its newly introduced Multi-Pack Launcher (MPL). MPL is used to launch up to six Blackwing or Switchblade UAVs from land or from surface vessels.
     
AeroVironment Showcasing its Multi-Pack Launcher for Blackwing & Switchblade UAVMulti-Pack Launcher on AeroVironment stand at Sea Air Space 2017.
     
The MPL is an all weather remotely operated autonomous launch battery for standard Switchblade missile and Blackwing ISR systems.

The MPL with 6 round capacity can also be vehicle or ship board mounted for mobile operations. The launcher provides several power choices: solar with internal battery and shore/Tactical Vehicle power. The MPL is equipped with a 100' remote operation control cable providing flexible application in FOB/COP Operation bunkers & buildings, Tactical Vehicles, and Ship command centers.
     
AeroVironment Showcasing its Multi-Pack Launcher for Blackwing & Switchblade UAVBlackwing on AeroVironment stand at Sea Air Space 2017.
     
AeroVironment’s Blackwing is designed to provide rapid response intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) from a wide variety of operational platforms including undersea, surface, air, land, and mobile launch vehicles. The miniature flying ISR package can be operated manually or autonomously. Blackwing’s built-in, jointly interoperable datalink enables cross-domain command and control (C2) relay operations between land, surface and undersea manned and unmanned vessels. Blackwing provides the operator with real-time video for information gathering and feature/object recognition.

The vehicle’s small size and quiet motor make it difficult to detect, recognize and track even at close ranges. Blackwing has a modular payload bay to enable specific mission capabilities.

AeroVironment developed the Blackwing system as part of a 2013 Navy and United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) sponsored JCTD called Advanced Weapons Enhanced by Submarine UAS against Mobile targets (AWESUM). This JCTD was completed in September 2015 with a strong recommendation to transition the capability into the fleet.
     
AeroVironment Showcasing its Multi-Pack Launcher for Blackwing & Switchblade UAVSwitchblade on AeroVironment stand at Sea Air Space 2017.
     
AeroVironment’s combat proven Switchblade continues to provide conventional and special operations forces with a back-packable, rapidly deployable, loitering precision strike munition for use against beyond-line-of-sight (BLOS) targets.

This miniature flying lethal missile can be operated manually or autonomously. Switchblade provides the operator with real-time video and Cursor-on-Target GPS coordinates for information gathering, targeting, or feature/object recognition.

The vehicle’s small size and quiet motor make it difficult to detect, recognize and track even at very close range. The Switchblade is fully scalable and can be launched from a variety of air, sea, and ground platforms.