The expeditionary Mark 4.7 system participated in flight demonstrations on June 23-24 at Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona. Developed as a part of AAI’s growing Aerosonde fleet of SUAS, including the Mark 4.4 and Mark 5.0, the Mark 4.7 incorporates unique aircraft, ground control, and system features designed with the Navy’s and Marine Corps’ mission requirements in mind. The system’s modest footprint and integrated launch and recovery system enable fast, flexible ground and/or shipboard automated launch and recovery capability, making the Aerosonde Mark 4.7 a truly expeditionary system.
The Mark 4.7 aircraft delivers greater than 10-hour endurance, a low acoustic signature, and a small footprint, all of which make it ideal for confined-area land or maritime intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions as well as for communications relay. Its modular payload installation allows the rapid addition of new payloads and capabilities as they become available, enabling technology refresh with little to no aircraft or system modifications. The system also uses AAI’s Expeditionary Ground Control Station (EGCS), which is based on the company’s proven One System® command and control architecture to provide interoperability between the Aerosonde Mark 4.7 and other One System platforms, including the Shadow® Tactical Unmanned Aircraft System (TUAS). Users receive digital and analog data from the aircraft’s electro-optic and infrared payloads on compact, ruggedized laptops.
