Airbus finalises acquisition of Aerovel and its UAS Flexrotor

Bingen, Washington, 7 May 2024 - Airbus has finalised the acquisition of U.S.-based Aerovel and its unmanned aerial system (UAS), Flexrotor, in a move to strengthen its portfolio of tactical unmanned solutions. Flexrotor is a small tactical unmanned aerial system designed for intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance (ISTAR) missions at sea and over land.

"We see more and more armed forces and parapublic agencies around the world looking to investigate how unmanned aerial systems can strengthen their intelligence and surveillance capabilities. The Flexrotor, as a vertical takeoff and landing UAS, fits into our strategy to expand our UAS offerings. Together with the VSR700, we will continue to develop manned-unmanned teaming to offer our customers the enhanced and expanded mission capabilities that they require to monitor and safeguard their communities and critical infrastructure, while preserving essential assets such as helicopters,” said Mathilde Royer, Head of Strategy and Sustainability at Airbus Helicopters.

The Flexrotor, a modern Vertical Takeoff and Landing (VTOL) Unmanned Aircraft with a maximum launch weight of 25 kg (55 lbs), has been designed for ISTAR missions for more than 12-14 hours in a typical operational configuration. It can integrate different types of payloads including an electro-optical system and advanced sensors to suit customers’ unique mission needs. With the ability to autonomously launch and recover from either land or sea requiring only a 3.7 by 3.7 m (12 by 12 ft.) area, the Flexrotor is ideal for expeditionary missions requiring minimal footprint. Through the support of the US Department of Defense (DoD), and contracted deployment in a variety of maritime security exercises, the Flexrotor is a mission-proven, force multiplier for operations in harsh, high-threat, GPS-denied environments. The Flexrotor is also being operated for parapublic missions such as forest fire surveillance (providing firefighters with critical images day or night) and can address other demanding mission needs, including ice navigation (helping guide naval vessels through ice in the Arctic ocean), law enforcement, and border patrol.

Aerovel currently employs more than 30 people and presents a significant growth trajectory. It will continue to design and manufacture the Flexrotor in Bingen, Washington in an existing and mature UAS ecosystem.

  USS Paul Hamilton IMX23 Operations, Copyright © Petty Officer 2nd Class Elliot Schaudt
USS Paul Hamilton IMX23 Operations, Copyright © Petty Officer 2nd Class Elliot Schaudt

 

Contacts for the media 

Laurence Petiard
Airbus Helicopters
+33 6 18 79 75 69
 
Courtney Woo
Airbus Helicopters in North America
+1 682 381 4293
Courtney.Woo@airbus.com

Jonathan Murphy
Airbus U.S. Space and Defense
+1 703 401 9319
Email Contact

Featured Video
Jobs
Business Development Manager for Berntsen International, Inc. at Madison, Wisconsin
Equipment Engineer, Raxium for Google at Fremont, California
Mechanical Test Engineer, Platforms Infrastructure for Google at Mountain View, California
Manufacturing Test Engineer for Google at Prague, Czechia, Czech Republic
Mechanical Manufacturing Engineering Manager for Google at Sunnyvale, California
Principal Engineer for Autodesk at San Francisco, California
Upcoming Events
Coastal GeoTools 2025 Conference at 301 North Water Street - Jan 27 - 30, 2025
2025 Los Angeles Geospatial Summit at USC Hotel 540 S Figueroa St Los Angeles - Feb 28, 2025
2025 Los Angeles Geospatial Summit at United States - Feb 28, 2025



© 2024 Internet Business Systems, Inc.
670 Aberdeen Way, Milpitas, CA 95035
+1 (408) 882-6554 — Contact Us, or visit our other sites:
AECCafe - Architectural Design and Engineering EDACafe - Electronic Design Automation TechJobsCafe - Technical Jobs and Resumes  MCADCafe - Mechanical Design and Engineering ShareCG - Share Computer Graphic (CG) Animation, 3D Art and 3D Models
  Privacy PolicyAdvertise