April 19, 2016
Falcon Unmanned announced today that it delivered the first round of Falcon (fixed wing) and Falcon Hover (quad-copter) aircraft to the US Dept of Interior (DOI). As part of a four year IDIQ vendor contract (#D15PC00259), Falcon Unmanned is tasked to provide a complete array of aircraft, payloads, ground control stations, training, and support services. In accordance with the contract award process Falcon Unmanned successfully completed DOI/NASA airworthiness testing for Falcon and Hover becoming one of only a handful of UAVs with a US federal agency airworthiness evaluation.
Falcon and Hover meet or exceed a number of key DOI target requirements including:
- Communications/Video Range of 5 miles
- Fixed Wing/Multi-copter Interoperability (Interoperable batteries, GCS and payloads)
- Easily swappable modular EO/IR gimbal and Mapping Payloads
- Open Source GCS
- Secure 256 Bit Encrypted Communications Link(s)
Chris Miser, Owner of Falcon Unmanned, stated “We are proud to be the medium fixed wing and multi-copter vendor to the US Department of Interior. We look forward to providing aircraft, logistics, and training to support the wide range of DOI missions.”
Falcon Unmanned is a veteran owned small business based out of Denver, Colorado and will be exhibiting at AUVSI XPONENTIAL May 2 - 5, 2016 at the Ernest N Morial Convention Center in New Orleans (Booth #1248).
Comments
Very very cool.
Nicely done Chris. It was interesting to see that it was required that an open source GCS be used.
Excellent work Chris. The power and passion you'e contributed for the ArduPilot project is a beacon for others to follow.
Now, to the next win :)
Luis
I watched the setup videos. Nice modular design. +1 for just putting your prices on your website as well.
Would love to see inside your electronics pods or see close up how those arms plug in on the Hover. I do not suppose we will be seeing any youtube unboxing videos or teardown videos!
Best of luck.
A huge milestone! Congrats.
Congrats Chris!
Congrats ChrisM! This is HUUUUUUGE! Great work.
N.1 Chris, congrats!
Congratulations Chris and thank you for your contributions! I will suggest to also make the announcement in the new Ardupilot forums: discuss.ardupilot.org
+ 1000 for Chris and his generosity toward Ardupilot and Mission Planner