Mini Spy in Sky Passes Flight Test
8
2,005
edited by Robert H. Williams
A
tiny autonomous reconnaissance craft—the brainchild of Honeywell
of Phoenix, Ariz., and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency—successfully
went through its first paces at a facility in Laguna, N.M.
The 13-inch micro air vehicle was designed to be carried in the
field by a single soldier. It is outfitted with forward and downward
looking cameras and in the recent test took off, maneuvered to waypoints
and landed on its own. It can operate in day or night.
The MAV was conceived as a system to provide soldiers with enhanced
situational awareness, improved security and the capability to acquire
targets from the air in urban and rural settings.