Martin UAV has been awarded a contract to support the U.S. Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory’s Organic Reconnaissance, Surveillance and Target Acquisition (Airborne) effort. The company will provide its V-BAT VTOL (vertical takeoff and landing) UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) as a contractor owned/contractor operated service, following the agreement with the Marine Corps Systems Command.
The Marine Corps is aiming to develop tactics, techniques and procedures for extended real-world operations with the V-BAT, which has also been delivered to the U.S. Army as part of the Future Tactical Unmanned Aerial System (FTUAS) program. FTUAS aims to evaluate potential candidates and select a replacement for the Army’s current RQ-7 Shadow UAS.
Martin UAV’s CEO Ruben Martin commented, “The V-BAT was purpose-built from the ground up to support deployed operations and simply has no equal in the maritime domain. We are excited to hear what the Marines and Sailors in the Amphibious Ready Group think about employing the system, and to see what novel uses they come up with. I have no doubt they will think of things that haven’t occurred to us.”
