Northrop Grumman, Yamaha Team Up to Create Unmanned Helicopter

Photo courtesy Times of San Diego

 By Priya Potapragada



Northrop Grumman Corp. and Yamaha Motor Corp. have joined together to develop an unmanned helicopter, the Rotary Bat, which will be used for search-and-rescue missions, power line inspection and forest fire observation. 



"The R-Bat joins our existing Bat family of unmanned aircraft systems used for tactical intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions," says George Vardoulakis, vice president for medium-range tactical systems at Northrop Grumman. "Yamaha Motor's lineage of reliable products speaks to the strength of R-Bat as a new member of our proven unmanned system portfolio."



The R-Bat will be equipped with intelligence-gathering technologies and is based on the Yamaha Motor R-Max remotely piloted unmanned helicopter that is used for industrial and agriculture applications.