Demand for the ScanEagle unmanned air system (UAS) continues to grow even as successor systems are prepared for service. Steve Morrow, president and chief executive officer of ScanEagle maker Insitu, a Bingen, Wash.-based subsidiary of Boeing Co., said the UAS had exceeded 500,000 flight hours and 55,000 combat flight hours in seven years of service to the U.S. military and other customers. Speaking to reporters Aug. 16 at the Association of Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) Unmanned Systems 2011 North America exposition in Washington, he said that at any time 22 ScanEagles are airborne somewhere in the world, sustained with a 99 percent readiness rate.
展开▼