TSAMTO, January 13. The Ministry of Defense of Argentina has approved the conclusion by the command of the country's Navy of a direct contract with the national company Invap for the purchase of the RUAS-160 naval UAV.
As reported by Infodefensa.com, the decree of the Ministry of Defense of Argentina No. 1727/2021 assumes the conclusion of a contract with a total value of $ 1.77 million. for the assembly and delivery of the pre-production version of the RUAS-160 helicopter-type unmanned aerial vehicle. The delivery must be completed within 30 months.
The agreement also provides for the supply of a portable control station, an electro-optical surveillance station with an FHD camera, a long-wave infrared surveillance system, a laser rangefinder, a communication system and a satellite data transmission system.
The purpose of the purchase of UAVs is to expand the capabilities of ground units to perform the tasks of collecting information, surveillance and reconnaissance, support search and rescue operations and monitoring the situation.
The project will be implemented in several stages, starting with the demonstration by Invap of the initial prototype, military tests of the UAV before the delivery of the Navy apparatus after testing is completed.
RUAS-160 is a helicopter-type unmanned aerial vehicle developed jointly by Cicare, Invap and Marinelli Technology, first introduced in 2020.
The length of the UAV is 3.1 m, height is 1.72 m. The device can stay in the air for up to 5 hours, reach a maximum speed of 85 knots, and fly at a range of up to 600 km (320 nautical miles).