ScanEagle UAV Achieves Service Milestones

Boeing/Insitu ScanEagle UAVs have now accumulated more than 50,000 combat flight hours with the U.S. Marine Expeditionary Force in Iraq and more than 1,000 shipboard recoveries with the U.S. Navy. Credit: Boeing Photo

The ScanEagle unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) jointly produced by Boeing Company and Insitu Inc. has achieved two service milestones with the U.S. Marines and U.S. Navy.

ScanEagle UAVs have surpassed 50,000 combat flight hours with the U.S. Marine Expeditionary Forces (MEF) in Iraq and 1,000 shipboard recoveries with the U.S. Navy.

The long-endurance, fully autonomous ScanEagle entered service with the Marines in July 2004. The service uses the UAV to provide low-cost, persistent intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance services.

The Navy has used the ScanEagle since July 2005 aboard the USNS Stockham, USS Whidbey Island, USS Oscar Austin, USS Oak Hill and the USS Carter Hall.

"Tens of thousands of flight hours for the Marines demonstrate the maturity and reliability of the ScanEagle system," said Jim Havard, Boeing's ScanEagle U.S Marine Corps program manager. "The system also is providing the MEF with a powerful and versatile capability ranging from convoy protection and surveillance to base security."

"During more than 1,000 shipboard recoveries, the safety record of the ScanEagle system has been outstanding. There have been no injuries to personnel or damage to any of the ships deploying the system," added Don Iverson, Boeing's ScanEagle U.S. Navy program manager,

Each ScanEagle UAV carries inertially stabilized electro-optical and infrared cameras. The gimbaled cameras allow the operator to track both stationary and moving targets easily. Capable of flying above 16,000 feet and loitering over the battlefield for more than 24 hours, the ScanEagle platform provides persistent low-altitude reconnaissance.

ScanEagle is launched autonomously via a pneumatic 'SuperWedge' catapult launcher and can fly either pre-programmed or operator-initiated missions. An Insitu-patented 'SkyHook 'system is used for retrieval — the aircraft catches a rope suspended from a 50-foot-high tower.

This patented system makes the ScanEagle runway-independent, with a launch-and-recovery "footprint" similar in size to that needed for vertical take-off and landing vehicles.

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