Update: Pentagon expands Blue sUAS programme for larger aircraft, payloads

The Pentagon’s Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) is expanding its Blue small unmanned aerial system (sUAS) effort to include larger aircraft.

The Blue sUAS programme includes aircraft with less than 1.4 kg take-off weight. Pentagon spokesman Commander Joshua Frey said on 16 April that this expanded effort, called Blue sUAS 2.0, targets aircraft with less than 25 kg maximum gross take-off weight (MGTOW).

Vantage Robotics has sold its Vesper sUAS to a variety of US federal agencies as part of the Pentagon’s Blue sUAS effort. DIU is expanding Blue sUAS from aircraft weighing less than 1.4 kg to sUAS with less than 25 kg maximum gross take-off weight. (Vantage Robotics)

Blue sUAS developed US-sourced small unmanned aircraft for the Pentagon and federal government partners. The effort built off the US Army’s Short Range Reconnaissance (SRR) sUAS programme of record for an inexpensive, rucksack-portable, vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) small unmanned aircraft.

Blue sUAS systems share the SRR air vehicles’ capabilities but integrate a vendor-provided ground control system (GCS), according to a Pentagon statement. The five current Blue sUAS platforms are the Altavian Ion M440 C, Parrot Anafi USA Gov/Mil, Skydio X2D, Teal Drones Golden Eagle, and the Vantage Robotics Vesper.

Basic capabilities for all five Blue sUAS aircraft include an operational range of three or more kilometre, 30 or more minutes of flight endurance, two minutes or less assembly time, high-resolution day-or-night stabilised optical payloads, and architectures built around an open-source protocol.