Behind the Mission: Setting the standard for the future of uncrewed aircraft
Over the past decade, the aerospace industry has witnessed immense advancements in uncrewed aircraft technology. With a growing demand for safer and more efficient aerial systems, companies have been harnessing their expertise to push the boundaries of innovation. We have been pioneering the way forward with our groundbreaking technologies, commitment to safety and vision for the future.
Our UAS portfolio consists of game-changers in the military sector, providing intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities for both ground and maritime operations. With our dedicated research and development team, Textron Systems engineers are constantly pushing the boundaries of what is possible.
“Being a part of the Future Tactical Uncrewed Aircraft System (FTUAS) from the early stages and understanding how those requirements are transitioning and changing from the systems we have today, to the systems of tomorrow, and being able to be part of the group that is setting the next generation of those products is important to me,” said Chris, Vice President of Engineering.
Our team comes from a wide variety of backgrounds, from firefighting to aerospace engineering and everything in between, providing them many different skillsets and knowledge to bring to the FTUAS. Many team members are also former military and have hands-on experience using our technology in the field.
“I’m a retired Sgt. 1st Class in the Army, 21 years,” said George, Senior Aviation Safety Tech. “A majority of my career was manned aviation. I was the avionics mechanic, working on all the Army helicopters. I reclassed in 2006 to Shadow, I was a Shadow Operator, and I retired in 2011.”
Phil, Engineering Manager, served in the U.S. Marine Corps for five years where he was a UAV Maintainer working on Textron Systems’ Pioneer and Shadow® UAS platforms. In his current role, Phil is customer-focused, working closely with soldiers to ensure their voices are heard and that we’re executing to the wishes of our customers.
George’s and Phil’s hands-on experience, along with the experience of many others, is crucial in ensuring that we’re providing our customers with technologies needed to support their mission and ensure their safety.
“FTUAS will put the capability in the soldiers’ hands to be able to vertically take off and land.” Phil said. “It will get the brigade combat team to do what the brigade combat team is supposed to be doing and go in, survey in the area, look for the bad guy and get back out very quickly.”
Essentially, our team combines the work they’ve achieved on Aerosonde® UAS and lessons they’ve learned from Shadow to innovate a system that will support the Army warfighter and their mission sets.
“We’re touching the entirety of the system and the modular characteristics of it,” said Will, Systems Engineer. “What we’re able to do is take the backbone of the Aerosonde, which I love as a baseline, and then add on all these unique features and grow in ways that we haven’t been able to before.”
We are continuing to push past possible, innovate and lead the way in unmanned aircraft systems. Through our continuous investment in research and development, we aim to revolutionize the way our customers utilize aerial platforms.