Lockheed Martin’s Indago vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) quad-rotor unmanned air vehicle (UAV), along with its handheld ground control station (GCS) has reached operational readiness following two years of development.
In addition to this, a new commercial avionics suite that was recently acquired by the company also transitioned from its research and development phase towards operational deployment.
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Lockheed Martin Mission Systems and Training business unmanned solutions director Kevin Westfall said the company will now be able to deliver affordable and effective products to both military and commercial customers.
"The Indago VTOL, handheld GCS and advanced commercial avionics suite will provide mobility and high accuracy for a range of missions – now and in the future," Westfall said.
Equipped with the combat proven Kestrel 3 autopilot system, the Indago UAV is designed to provide situational awareness to soldiers and first responders during emergency response missions, including search-and-rescue (SAR) and disaster relief efforts in small, cluttered, urban environments.
Capable of landing and gathering surveillance data from a remote location and then take off, the UAV features an extended hover, perch and stare capability that delivers aerial reconnaissance to military and civil customers in crowded areas that are unreachable by fixed-wing unmanned aircraft systems.
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By GlobalDataDesigned for outdoor readability, the handheld GCS enables users to operate the drone within 3.1m of range, and can be used with both Indago and as a standalone system with other aircraft.
The commercial avionics suite is claimed to deliver the same performance and reliability offered by the previous products at a lower price.
