INDUSTRY INTERVIEW: AeroVironment Inc.
John Grabowsky
Executive Vice President and General Manager
Unmanned Aircraft Systems
AeroVironment Inc.
John F. Grabowsky joined AeroVironment in April 2003, serving initially as director of programs from April 2003 to March 2004, as vice president and general manager, unmanned aircraft systems from April 2004 to August 2006, and since September 2006 as executive vice president and general manager, unmanned aircraft systems. Prior to joining AV, Grabowsky served as the vice president and general manager of the Opto-Electronics business unit of Teledyne Technologies Inc., a leading provider of sophisticated electronics and communications products, systems engineering solutions, and aerospace products and components, from March 2000 to April 2003. From 1997 to 2000, he served as the vice president of Teledyne’s Broadband Communications division.
Q: Let’s start with a little background on AeroVironment.
A: AeroVironment [AV], a technology company based in Southern California, develops, produces, supplies and supports a portfolio of battery-powered small UAS [SUAS] that includes the Raven B, Wasp III and Puma AE, while also developing innovative new UAS solutions. Each of these production air vehicles is hand-launched and carries electrooptical and infrared sensors that transmit live, streaming video directly to a handheld controller with an embedded color monitor. The information that these systems provide helps U.S. and allied military forces operate more effectively and more safely in situations where knowing what lies beyond the next hill or what is taking place on an approaching watercraft can save lives.
Q: Can you give me an overview of your UAS solutions?
A: Sure, let me start with the RQ-11B Raven, which is the most widely deployed UAS in the United States military arsenal, with thousands procured by the Department of Defense. With a wingspan of 4.5 feet and weighing only 4.2 pounds, the rugged Raven can fly for 90 minutes per battery pack. The Wasp is the smallest production UAS employed by the U.S. military. Selected under an Air Force program in 2006, the Wasp has also seen significant combat use by the Marine Corps. It has a wingspan of only 28.3 inches, total weight of only 1 pound and an endurance of 45 minutes. The Aqua Wasp, a variant of the Wasp, is designed to land on the water and be relaunched. AV’s Puma AE was selected by the U.S. Special Operations Command in July 2008 to meet the all-environment capable variant SUAS program. Puma has a 9-foot wingspan and 13-pound weight, but is still handlaunched and lands vertically to the ground like Raven. Its unique design permits landings on fresh and salt water, making Puma the first SUAS capable of true maritime operation. It is the first of our SUAS to feature a fully stabilized mechanically gimbaled sensor with digital image stabilization, providing high quality, persistent intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance and targeting data, with a flight duration of two hours. AV’s handheld ground control system operates each of the three production air vehicles in its SUAS portfolio, facilitating interoperability across these products.
Q: There are honestly a lot of UAV/UAS platforms out there on the market. What makes your lineup stand out in the crowd?
A: Our SUASs are portable, reliable, easy-touse assets that provide enhanced situational awareness when and where needed. The Raven, Wasp and Puma can be launched by hand from a ship as small as a RHIB without having to modify the vessel. Operating a Puma from a Coast Guard cutter provides real-time, eyes-on-target, color and infrared video without the need for any complicated launchers or catching devices. This capability could be very helpful for search and rescue, interdiction, or littoral observation missions. For example, Puma was employed by the Coast Guard to spot fishery poachers during a demonstration along the California coast in the summer of 2009. It can extend a ship’s visual range across a 10- to 20-kilometer radius at a fraction of the cost of larger, manned or unmanned systems. In general, AV has done a good job of optimizing the competing requirements of size/ weight/power, reliability/durability, functionality, and cost to provide winning solutions to our customers.
Q: What are you doing to stay ahead of the competition and develop products and systems that the surveillance professional will need in the future?
A: The U.S. military continues to adopt and deploy SUAS, and we continue to enhance the capabilities of our current production systems through upgrades, and to support deployed systems with training, repairs and spare parts services. We are also developing breakthrough, new UAS solutions that represent potentially important new capabilities. One example of these is Global Observer, a large unmanned aircraft system optimized for long duration flight of up to a week at stratospheric altitudes of 55,000 to 65,000 feet. From this vantage point GO is designed to provide affordable persistence for communications relay and remote observation across a large area. This capability could enhance border and shoreline surveillance operations as well as provide broadband communications relay for offshore maritime operations. A system consisting of two aircraft, trading position over a designated geographic area, could provide continuous coverage at a significantly lower cost than available alternatives. Three Global Observer aircraft are at various stages of assembly under a joint capability technology demonstration program funded by six U.S. government agencies. With a strong portfolio of production SUAS and key UAS development initiatives moving forward, we believe that we are well positioned to support our customers with valuable capabilities today and well into the future. ♦