06:04 GMT, September 1, 2010 MONROVIA, Calif. | AeroVironment, Inc. (AV) (NASDAQ:AVAV) announced today that it has received a contract delivery order valued at $35,265,662 for digital Puma All Environment (AE) unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), spares and training services. The equipment and services were procured under the existing USSOCOM All Environment Capable Variant (AECV) indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract. Work is scheduled to be performed within a period of several months.

Capable of performing multiple surveillance and reconnaissance missions over water or land, Puma systems will be used by soldiers to protect troops and vehicles in combat areas.

"The battle-proven Puma system will now play an important new role helping troops operate more effectively and safely as they travel through dangerous territory,” said Tom Herring, senior vice president and general manager of AV’s UAS segment. “The Puma system is a portable, hand-launched UAS that will enhance soldier capabilities by producing aerial high quality color and infrared video of the surrounding area.”

USSOCOM selected the Puma UAS in 2008 for its AECV program after a full and open competition, the fourth U.S. Department of Defense competition for programs of record involving small UAS and the fourth such competition won by AV. Other U.S. customers also use the Puma system.

Each Puma system consists of three air vehicles and two ground control systems. The air vehicle carries an integrated electro-optical and infrared gimbaled video camera, is designed for enhanced survivability in land and maritime environments, and can operate effectively in foul weather and over rugged terrain. Its quiet operation, stabilized imagery and precision landing capability make Puma systems easy to operate and recover. The Puma air vehicle weighs 13 pounds, is battery powered and has a flight endurance of two hours.


AV’s Small UAS

Raven, Wasp and Puma comprise AV’s Family of Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems. Operating with a common ground control system (GCS), this Family of Systems provides an increased capability to the warfighter that will give ground commanders the option of selecting the appropriate aircraft based on the type of mission that is going to be performed. This increased capability has the potential to significantly improve force protection and force multiplication for small military units. AV’s UAS logistics operation supports systems deployed worldwide to ensure a consistently high level of operational readiness. AV has delivered more than 15,000 new and replacement small unmanned air vehicles to date. International purchasers of AV’s small UAS include the armed forces of Italy, Denmark, the Netherlands, Spain, France, Norway, the Czech Republic, Thailand and Australia.