Leonardo DRS‘ land systems business and Israel-based unmanned air system builder SpearUAV have partnered to develop and market an aerial munition product to the U.S. defense sector.
The partnership intends to adapt SpearUAV’s Viper quadrotor in an effort to help military customers observe and reach targets, Leonardo DRS said Thursday.
Viper is equipped with the Ninox ground control system and designed to autonomously function as an aerial loitering munition to support observation of beyond line-of-sight targets even in a complex urban setting.
Leonardo DRS plans to apply its experience in payload development and platform integration and payload development experience to the collaborative effort.
Aaron Hankins, senior vice president and general manager of DRS Land Systems, said the business seeks to expand its small UAS projects and bring a lethal munition technology to warfighters.