Aerosonde UAV makes first operational flight from USS Miguel Keith
An Aerosonde UAS is launched from USS Miguel Keith. (Photo: Textron)
The Textron UAS is also deployed on three other USN ships.
On 1 February, Textron announced that its Aerosonde UAS on board the Expeditionary Support Base (ESB) USS Miguel Keith (ESB 5) had made its first operational flight.
The sortie follows an October 2022 contract award to provide uncrewed aviation support aboard the ship for up to five years.
Textron is tasked with deploying Aerosonde to provide ISR services to the ship.
Textron air systems senior VP Wayne Prender said: ‘Having an unmanned aircraft system operational aboard the ship acting as a remote sensor contributes to overall maritime domain awareness and mission success,
‘The Aerosonde system is providing added reach beyond the horizon and an ability to operate multi-INT ISR consistently, both great examples of the benefits of teaming unmanned aircraft with manned ships.’
The Aerosonde UAS is also being used to support operations aboard USS Hershel ‘Woody’ Williams (ESB 4) and two USN destroyers.
The UAS itself has racked up over 600,000 flight hours in US and allied service.
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