Textron Systems is set to provide COCO UAS services for the U.S. Navy’s Littoral Combat Ships (LCS).
The Navy’s Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) has awarded Textron a $47 million task order for the UAS for three Independence Class LCS deploying to 5th fleet.
The award follows a 2023 contract to provide Unmanned Aerial System support to LCSs, bringing the total number of U.S. Navy ships supported by the Aerosonde® UAS to 10.
Textron Systems will deploy its Aerosonde UAS and skilled personnel to provide mission overwatch and extended range intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) services with enhanced mission payloads as seen aboard the Expeditionary Sea Base (ESB)-4 and ESB-5, as well as two DDG-class ships and three LCSs. In December 2023, the Aerosonde UAS took its inaugural operational flight from its first LCS, the LCS-28 USS Savannah.
David Phillips, Senior Vice President Air, Land and Sea Systems, said; “Textron Systems has delivered COCO services with our Aerosonde UAS for over a decade, demonstrating the flexibility and value a model like this brings to the services.
“Because we are managing the full life cycle of the system, including technology integration, human factors, spares and repairs, employing the Aerosonde UAS enables the Navy customer to focus solely on their mission. We extend the customer’s capabilities across the mission packages of each ship reliably and quickly.”
