U.S. Army To Upgrade Raven Capabilities

U.S. Army To Upgrade Raven Capabilities (NSI News Source Info) December 10, 2008: The Raven digital data upgrade is being done with the $300 million allocated by Congress earlier this year to increase intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets. (U.S. Army) "We are moving a digital data link onto the Raven, which allows us to fly more aircraft," said U.S. Army Col. Greg Gonzalez, project manager for UAS. "We are buying 50 new Ravens and retrofitting 200 which we will start fielding in early 2010."

The Raven digital data upgrade is being done with the $300 million allocated by Congress earlier this year to increase intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets Most UAV systems run on analog systems, which limit the amount of information which can be transmitted in a certain area, Army officials said. "When you can digitally compress video you can smash it into a smaller bandwidth so they can fly a lot more Ravens in the same area because there are more channels," said an executive with AeroVironment, a California company that makes the digital data link.

The 12.5-pound, handheld Raven has logged more than 40,000 flight hours thus far in the current U.S. wars, according to a 2008 Army Posture Statement. So far, the Army has procured at least 376 Ravens, the statement said. The back packable Raven has an electro-optical/infrared sensor designed to beam back images from the terrain below.