Chartis Federal and its Periscope Aviation venture earned second place and $75,000 at the Department of the Navy’s (DoN) Tactical Resupply Unmanned Aircraft Systems (TRUAS) prize challenge.
The Navy and Marine Corps Small Tactical Unmanned Aircraft Systems (STUAS) Program Office (PMA-263) conducted the competition from January 27-31, 2020 at the Yuma Proving Ground. Six companies were selected from a pool of applicants to demonstrate their UAV’s capabilities for autonomously delivering common Marine Corps supplies such as 5-gallon water cans, ammo cases, and Meals-Ready-to-Eat (MRE) cases. The competition included safety and operational testing, as well as a live fly-off. Each company was evaluated against a pre-defined set of mission criteria. In their release, officials note Corps.”
During the competition, Chartis demonstrated Periscope Aviation’s MK4 heavy lift platform and successfully completed three required flights: a 10-km max-payload flight; a 45-pound max-distance flight; and a freestyle flight to show additional capabilities. “We are extremely pleased with the performance of our MK4 platform,” said Nick Bowers, Chief Engineer for Periscope Aviation. “We are delivering on our promise to push the bounds of what’s possible with UAVs by building one of the lightest heavy-lift drones on the market.”
Nick McCarter, CEO of Chartis Federal also attended the competition. He added, “We appreciate all of the Government’s efforts to organize this event and the opportunity to participate with other leading Defense firms and UAS providers. I’m proud of our team’s work in recent months and was excited to see these efforts delivered a solution worthy of the TRUAS challenge.”
The MK4 and other Periscope UAVs will be on display at the upcoming Border Security Expo in San Antonio from March 11-13 and at the International Wireless Communications Expo (IWCE) in Las Vegas from April 1-2.
NAVAIR Press Release: https://www.navair.navy.mil/index.php/news/DoN-completes-prize-challenge-tactical-resupply-UAS-challenge/Mon-02102020-0936
About Periscope Aviation: Periscope Aviation provides high-performance UAVs that are optimized for specific mission requirements including tactical resupply, remote communications, and C4ISR. Our multi-rotor platforms are more reliable and safer than hobby-grade drones and more affordable than high-altitude, custom fixed-wing aircraft. All Periscope solutions are built in America with components that can be purchased by U.S. federal agencies.