TSAMTO, February 17. On February 9, AeroVironment confirmed the conclusion of a contract with the US Department of Defense for the supply of small-sized Puma LE UAVs to an unnamed union state under the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program.
The value of the agreement signed on January 21, 2022 amounted to $10.534 million. The delivery must be completed within six years. The contract also provides for the supply of additional UAVs, initial sets of spare parts, training and support services.
According to Trace Stevenson, vice president and general manager of AeroVironment's small UAV line, the delivery of the Puma LE and other small-sized UAVs allows customers to equip units with means for conducting reconnaissance "over the horizon".
As reported by TSAMTO, the maximum take-off weight of the ultralight UAV "Puma LE" is 12.2 kg, the weight of the UAV with the Mantis i45 observation unit is 23.5 pounds (10.7 kg), wingspan is 4.6 m, length is 2.2 m, payload weight is 2.5 kg. The launch can be carried out "by hand" or by catapult.
The UAV is equipped with an EO/IR monitoring unit Mantis i45 and an additional payload compartment with a payload capacity of 2.5 kg with a separate power supply and Ethernet. The flight duration is 5.5 hours (with the Puma Smart 2500 Battery – 6.5 hours), the range of application is from 20 to 60 km (when using a long-range LRTA antenna).
Although AeroVironment does not disclose the customer, TSAMTO reported on the agreement signed on January 21, 2022 by the US Department of Defense with AeroVironment with a close value ($11.01 million) for the supply of sets of small-sized unmanned aerial vehicles "Puma LE" to the security forces of the self-proclaimed Republic of Kosovo. According to Shephard Defense Insight, the customer can get about 40 UAVs, based on the cost of $ 215 thousand per unit.
