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Honeywell Wins First Production Contract for Its T-Hawk(TM) Micro Air Vehicle

Written by thomas · Filed Under Aeronautics News 

November 4, 2008

thomas

Honeywell T-Hawk Micro Air Vehicle. (PRNewsFoto/Honeywell)

PHOENIX, AZ UNITED STATES
   

Production Contract Valued at $65 Million
Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Provides ‘Eye in the Sky’ and Real-Time Data

PHOENIX, Nov. 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Honeywell (NYSE: HON)
announced today that it has received a $65 million production contract for
its Micro Air Vehicle, known as the T-Hawk(TM).

The $65 million agreement is for 90 T-Hawk(TM) systems. Each system
consists of two T-Hawk(TM) vehicles and one ground control unit, spares,
training for operators and maintainers, and field support. Hardware
deliveries of the 90 systems will begin in the second quarter of 2009 and
conclude in December 2009.

Each T-Hawk(TM) is small enough to carry in a backpack and is equipped
with video cameras that relay information back to foot soldiers using a
portable handheld terminal. The circular vehicle, weighing 17 pounds and 14
inches in diameter, can easily fly down to inspect hazardous areas for
threats without exposing warfighters to enemy fire. Honeywell’s T-Hawk(TM)
also has the unique ability to take off and land vertically from complex
desert and urban terrains without using runways or helipads.

“Honeywell’s versatile and highly capable T-Hawk(TM) will help our
warfighters conduct more effective missions while keeping them out of
harm’s way,” said Ed Wheeler, President, Honeywell Defense and Space. “Our
T-Hawk(TM) delivers more than 40 minutes of flight endurance, more than 40
knots of airspeed and will operate to altitudes of more than 7,000 feet.”

The system has been deployed in Iraq to keep American troops safer by
identifying enemy threats from the sky. The deployment is the first time a
ducted-fan unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) has been used during combat
missions.

“Honeywell has unsurpassed experience in developing ducted-fan vertical
takeoff and landing unmanned air vehicles,” Wheeler said. “Our highly
precise controls allow the T-Hawk(TM) to operate at very high altitudes or
just inches from the ground, providing unprecedented hover and stare
capabilities for enemy detection or other missions in war zones.”

The system requires minimal operator training and includes two airborne
vehicles and a portable ground station used to guide the aircraft and
receive images from the cameras. The ground station can be used to program
a flight path for the T-Hawk(TM) or control it manually. The aircraft also
can be optionally equipped with electro-optical cameras for daylight
operations or infrared cameras for night missions.

A civilian version of this technology is being evaluated by the Miami
Dade Police Department for law enforcement applications.

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