LONDON, Sept. 17, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- The U.K. Ministry
of Defence has awarded Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) a contract to
support the Desert Hawk 3 programme and establish the small
unmanned aerial system (UAS) as a Core Defence Capability.
"Desert Hawk has served the U.K. military well in providing
intelligence, reconnaissance and surveillance to tactical
warfighters," said Jay McConville,
Lockheed Martin director of business development for Unmanned
Solutions. "We look forward to continuing this record of success
through the award of the Desert Hawk Core Support Programme, and we
continue to enhance its capabilities based on user feedback. Desert
Hawk's maturity and proven performance, as well as the enhanced
capabilities now available, make it a crucial asset on the modern
battlefield."
Desert Hawk 3 has flown more than 30,000 hours, mostly under
austere conditions, to support critical mission needs such as
enhanced situational awareness, security and counter-IED
operations, threat detection, route reconnaissance and battle
damage assessment.
Defence Minister Philip Dunne
said: "Desert Hawk has proved its worth on operations in
Afghanistan, providing our Armed
Forces with vital intelligence and allowing our commanders to stay
one step ahead of the enemy. We recognise that unmanned and
remotely-piloted air systems are increasingly important in today's
operational environment, and our protected Defence budget and £160
billion investment in equipment has allowed us to bring Desert Hawk
into our core programme."
The battery-powered Desert Hawk 3 is designed for portability,
ruggedness, rapid employment and reliability. The hand-launched
system weighs only 8 lbs. (3.6 kg) and can fly for up to 90 minutes
with a 2-lb. (0.91 kg) payload. Recently the U.K. Desert Hawk 3 was
upgraded to a digital data link achieving Ministry of Defence Full
Operational Capabilty on schedule.
Lockheed Martin recently upgraded Desert Hawk 3 to the Desert
Hawk 3.1 configuration by providing simplified launch, deep stall
landing, all-environment capability, longer endurance, updated
sensor payloads and operation using Lockheed Martin's mobile ground
control system. Desert Hawk 3.1 is a modification kit to a
Desert Hawk 3 configuration.
With five decades of experience in unmanned and robotic systems
for air, land and sea, Lockheed Martin's unmanned systems are
engineered to help our military, civil and commercial customers
accomplish their most difficult challenges today and in the
future.
For additional information, visit our website:
http://www.lockheedmartin.com/us/products/desert-hawk.html.
About Lockheed Martin
Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin is a
global security and aerospace company that employs approximately
112,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the
research, design, development, manufacture, integration and
sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services.
The Corporation's net sales for 2014 were $45.6 billion.
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SOURCE Lockheed Martin