Insitu Inc. has announced the successful first maritime flight of the US Navy and US Marine Corps small tactical unmanned aircraft system (STUAS) RQ-21A. The nearly two-hour flight launched from the USS Mesa Verde (LPD 19) after three months of land-based development testing and operational assessment.

“Insitu is extremely proud of the partnership we have with Naval Air Systems Command,” said Insitu Senior Vice President of Integrator Programmes Ryan Hartman. “We see this milestone as confirmation of our government-industry team’s commitment to delivering the first expeditionary, multiintelligence UAS in this class to the Navy and Marine Corps.”

RQ-21A is an expeditionary, no-runway solution that supports missions afloat and ashore and has demonstrated rapid payload integration to help commanders quickly adapt to emerging threats.

Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) awarded the STUAS programme to Insitu for its Integrator UAS in July 2010 to provide persistent maritime and land-based tactical intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance data collection and dissemination capabilities. The Integrator UAS design served as the baseline for the RQ-21A UAS design.