The U.S. Coast Guard began installation of a small unmanned aircraft system on Coast Guard cutter Stratton, a national security cutter based in Alameda, California, on October 3, 2016.
The Coast Guard plans to deploy the Insitu ScanEagle sUAS on Stratton beginning in early 2017 and will use the data gathered to refine the service’s strategy to acquire sUAS capability for the NSC fleet.
ScanEagle was chosen by the Coast Guard in June this year when a $4.5 million order was awarded to Insitu.
According to the Coast Guard, the order has a total potential value of $12.3 million that includes options to deploy and receive data from the system for up to three additional years beyond the base year.
Depending on the performance of the ScanEagle during the deployment, the Coast Guard said it would review its strategy for the procurement of small UAS systems for its entire national security cutter fleet.