AeroVironment to provide Uzbeks with Puma 3 AE
RQ-20B Puma 3 AE small UAS. (Photo: USMC/Lance Cpl Frank Cordoba)
Unit price figures from Shephard indicate that Uzbekistan will receive about 40 RQ-20B Puma 3 AE small UASs under the FMS programme.
AeroVironment is providing its RQ-20B Puma 3 AE small UAS to Uzbekistan under the FMS programme, the DoD revealed on 27 January.
Work on the $8.54 million deal from US Army Contracting Command will be completed by 30 November 2022.
While the DoD did not disclose how many Puma 3 AE systems will be provided under the contract, Shephard Defence Insight gives a unit price of $225,000 for the UAS.
This translates into 38 or so aircraft for Uzbekistan.
The Puma 3 AE provides intelligence and targeting data from the land or sea through real-time imagery. The UAS is equipped with the Mantis i45 AE Gimbal by AeroVironment that contains two 15mp EO cameras with 50x zoom, IR capabilities and high-power illumination.
In August 2021, AeroVironment announced the introduction of standardised modular payload interface kits. These allowed third-party payload manufacturers and the US DoD and international partners to develop and integrate payloads onto the Puma quickly and easily.
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