The Insitu ScanEagle has been selected for the US Coast Guard’s Small Unmanned Air System. The contract, valued at $117 million initially and with six option years, covers the contractor-owned contractor-operated (COCO) deployment, at a rate of 200 flight hours per 30-day patrol period, of the ScanEagle on board the Coast Guard’s National Security cutters.
These vessels will be modified to operate the ScanEagle at a rate of three cutters in 2018, followed by others at a rate of two per year. The Coast Guard has evaluated the COCO ScanEagle over the course of three deployments by the cutter Stratton (WMSL- 752), which included over 700 operational flight hours.
Future Coast Guard ScanEagle operations will use multiple mission package options, including visual detection and ranging and communications relay equipment. David C Isby