Aurora's Skate poised for SWAT team operations
Aurora Flight Sciences has announced that it has recently signed an agreement with the Boston area Metropolitan Law Enforcement Council (MetroLEC) to establish a programme to evaluate Aurora’s Skate Small Unmanned Aerial System (SUAS) by their Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) operations.
The programme will allow MetroLEC to evaluate the utility of SUAS in a law enforcement environment. Aurora will provide the Skate SUAS system for the evaluations, and will also provide MetroLEC with operator training and planning and support for SWAT operations.
According to the company, the Skate SUAS is tailored for use in urban or crowded environments. Designed to be lightweight, easily portable, deliver long endurance on quiet electric power, and provide autonomous operation, the ISR platform is ‘ideal for budget conscious military, law enforcement, and commercial operators.’
MetroLEC is a consortium of 43+ local area police departments and law enforcement agencies. These agencies work together to provide unique and highly specialised law enforcement resources to its member communities. MetroLEC is currently in the process of obtaining a Certificate of Authorization (COA) from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and following a thorough operator training programme, will begin the operational evaluation of Skate SUAS during training and live SWAT exercises.
Carl Schaefer, Aurora’s director of small UAS programmes, said: ‘MetroLEC SWAT is an extremely forward thinking and innovative agency that has great ideas on UAS applications in law enforcement. We are excited for this opportunity to work with them to evaluate the capabilities of Skate to support law enforcement.’
More from Uncrewed Vehicles
-
First flights of Rattler Supersonic Target prove successful
The US Department of Defense (DoD), along with QinetiQ, successfully conducted the first flights of the Rattler Supersonic Target MkI marking a significant advance in supersonic target technology.
-
Dedrone supplies CUAS systems to Ukraine and increases signal library
Dedrone has announced a strategic expansion via 16 new governmental contracts as the US-based CUAS company continued to develop its drone countermeasure technologies.
-
Baykar’s Akıncı UCAV completes live firing trials over the Black Sea
The Turkish company’s advanced unmanned combat aerial vehicle demonstrated its capabilities during successful live firing trials.
-
Iranian UAV threat leaves Israel’s defence industry searching for answers
Iran has continued to invest heavily in its drone-building capacity, supplying Russia and Iranian proxies throughout the Middle East, leading defence experts in Israel to call for more defensive solutions be developed to deter the threat from UAVs.
-
Emgepron and Tidewise team up to develop first ‘made-in-Brazil’ USV
Brazil's Emgepron and Tidewise have partnered to construct the Suppressor unmanned surface vessel by 2025 amid potential interest from the Brazilian Navy.
-
Autonomous navigation drives UUVs proliferation in the Indo-Pacific
The US Department of Defence has teamed up with Anduril Industries to develop advanced AI-driven long-range uncrewed underwater vehicles (UUVs), countering China’s escalating UUV advancements.