AeroVironment Receives $20M Army Award for RQ-11B Raven Upgrade

Photo Courtesy of AeroVironment

By Ashley Addington



Today, AeroVironment announced that the U.S. Army placed a $20 million order to further enhance the military’s fleet of RQ-11B Ravens. 



The Ravens will have additional features added on to them that further their tilt, zoom, and multi-access pan, which provides better imagery and information to the troops below. So far there are more than 5,000 Ravens being used, according to reports from the U.S. Department of Defense. The Raven weighs approximately 4.5 pounds, can be hand launched and is has real-time video imagery. 



“The Army’s Raven system, with AeroVironment’s rugged gimbaled sensor payload and the recent digital data link upgrade of its entire fleet, is a modern tool for gaining superiority on the battlefield,” Roy Minson, AeroVironment senior vice president and general manager of the company’s UAS business segment, said in a press release. 



The U.S. Armed Forces uses the Raven particularly for missions, security observation and mission planning. Each Raven system is equipped with three aircraft and two ground stations.