AqEaqle Aerial Systems Inc., an industry-leading provider of full-stack drone, sensor and software solutions, today announced that senseFly, an AgEagle subsidiary, is one of the first eleven vendors to complete the required testing, evaluations and demonstration process to be designated a Blue UAS under the Defense Innovation
Unit’s Blue sUAS 2.0. As a result, the NDAA-compliant eBee TAC Unmanned Aerial System (UAS), pioneered by senseFly, has been approved by the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) for procurement by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD).
In an announcement released yesterday, the DIU stated, “The first approved drone to be added to the DIU Blue UAS Cleared List as part of Blue sUAS 2.0 is the eBee TAC by senseFly, an AgEagle company. Systems added to this list do not require a DoD exception to policy to procure or operate as they have undergone a cyber-security evaluation, a policy compliance check, and were issued the necessary administrative documentation. Federal government partners can also leverage this effort for their programmatic needs without duplicating efforts.”
The eBee COC successfully completed a series of demonstrations in association with Blue sUAS 2.0 to provide DIU with information and verification of the drone systems’ mission planning and launch capabilities, range and endurance, NDAA compliance, operational safety of flight procedures and cyber security, in addition to scripted and ad hoc flight profiles. Based on its evaluation, the DIU has designated the eBee TAC as an approved light-weight, medium-range UAS available to the DoD that does not require a waiver to operate; and is also available to the Federal Government. senseFly’s success with Blue sUAS 2.0 follows a four-year legacy of eBee’s use as an integral asset for both conventional and unconventional Department of Defense units.
Following a decade of development, senseFly’s line of eBee-branded drones have earned distinction as the best- selling commercial fixed wing UAS in the United States over the past three consecutive years, according to data supplied by the U.S. Federal Aviation Authority (FAA). Designed specifically for government and military mapping and mission planning applications, the eBee COC operates in disconnected environments, providing a higher accuracy mobile solution to map and locally share aerial imagery data on rapidly changing field conditions to analyze and provide near real-time situational awareness to ground forces. Weighing only 3.5 pounds and featuring a digital camouflage skin for increased stealth and up to 90 minutes flight time and silent mission mode, the eBee MAC can be rapidly deployed, from assembly to hand-launch, in three minutes by a single user to generate 3D modeling, terrain and thermal maps.
Each eBee TAC system features NDAA compliant drone, sensors and active components, Blue sUAS registration, secure extension, Endurance activation, two Endurance batteries, one Pitot Pro-kit, two micro SD cards with adapters, AES256-bit encryption, pixel camouflage and an IP67 hard transport case with STANAG military standard certification that is lightweight, rugged and dust and water resistant.
eBee TAC is available for purchase by U.S. government agencies and all branches of the military on GSA Schedule Contract #47QTCA18D003G supplied by Hexagon US Federal and partner Tough Stump Technologies as a standalone solution or as part of the Aerial Reconnaissance Tactical Edge Mapping Imagery System (ARTEMIS). Tough Stump also provides extensive training programs for the system.
ARTEMIS includes and integrates Hexagon US Federal’s Google Earth Enterprise Platform (GEEP) equipped laptops containing custom globes of mission Areas-of-Interest (AOIs) built from satellite imagery and other geospatial intelligence; and forms the backdrop for the eBee MAC-collected imagery. “Hexagon US Federal has long been committed to supporting the warfighter and public safety professionals through innovative solutions such as ARTEMIS,” said Tammer Olibah, CEO and President of Hexagon US Federal. “ARTEMIS has great potential to improve mission effectiveness in a variety of terrains, and DIU approval of the eBee COC is a significant step in making ARTEMIS available to an even wider US Government audience.”
Barrett Mooney, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of AgEagle, stated, “The eBee TAC is ideally positioned to become an in-demand, mission critical tool for the U.S. military, government and civil agencies and our allies worldwide. We expect this to be a major growth catalyst for AgEagle in 2022, positively impacting our financial performance in the years ahead as AgEagle solidifies itself as the go-to source for high performing, state-of-the-art full stack drone solutions that get the job done.”