Boeing Insitu ScanEagle The Boeing Insitu ScanEagle is a small , low - cost , long - endurance unmanned aerial vehicle ( UAV ) built by Insitu , a subsidiary of Boeing . The ScanEagle was designed by Insitu based on the Insitu SeaScan , a commercial UAV that helped fishermen look for fish . The ScanEagle continues to be upgraded with improved technology and reliability . Design and development . ScanEagle is a descendant of another Insitu UAV , SeaScan , which was conceived of as a remote sensor for collecting weather data as well as helping commercial fishermen locate and track schools of tuna . ScanEagle emerged as the result of a strategic alliance between Boeing and Insitu . The resulting technology has been successful as a portable Unmanned Aerial System ( UAS ) for autonomous surveillance in the battlefield , and has been deployed since August 2004 in the Iraq War . ScanEagle carries a stabilized electro - optical and / or infrared camera on a lightweight inertial stabilized turret system , and an integrated communications system having a range of over ; it has a flight endurance of over 20 hours . ScanEagle has a wingspan a length of and a mass of and can operate up to , with an average cruising speed of . Block D aircraft featured a higher - resolution camera , a custom - designed Mode C transponder and a new video system . A Block D aircraft , flying at Boeing ' s test range in Boardman , Oregon set a type endurance record of 22 hours , 8 minutes . ScanEagle needs no airfield for deployment . Instead , it is launched using a pneumatic launcher , patented by Insitu , known as the " SuperWedge " launcher . It is recovered using the " Skyhook " retrieval system , which uses a hook on the end of the wingtip to catch a rope hanging from a pole . This is made possible by high - quality differential GPS units mounted on the top of the pole and UAV . The rope is attached to a shock cord to reduce stress on the airframe imposed by the abrupt stop . Each ScanEagle system costs US $ 3 . 2 million ( 2006 ) . A complete system comprises four air vehicles or AVs , a ground control station , remote video terminal , and the Skyhook launch and recovery system . Improvements . On 18 March 2008 , Boeing , with ImSAR and Insitu successfully flight - tested a ScanEagle with ImSAR ' s NanoSAR A radar mounted aboard . The ImSAR NanoSAR is the world ' s smallest Synthetic Aperture Radar , weighs and is in volume . It is designed to provide high quality real - time ground imaging through adverse weather conditions or other battlefield obscurants . In 2009 , Boeing and Insitu announced the " NightEagle " , a modified ScanEagle Block E with an infrared camera for night operations . In August 2010 , Boeing announced plans to control ScanEagles from control stations on E - 3A AWACS aircraft and on the V - 22 . In July 2011 , a team of two ScanEagles and another UAV cooperated to search and navigate a mountain area autonomously . Operational history . The ScanEagle entered service with the U . S . Navy in 2005 . In addition to the United States military , the Australian Army also operates the ScanEagle UAV and the Canadian Government also leased the ScanEagle . In April 2009 , a ScanEagle launched by the U . S . Navy was used during the stand - off between the U . S . Navy and a lifeboat controlled by pirates holding Capt . Richard Phillips of the MV Maersk Alabama in the Indian Ocean after a failed hijack attempt . Insitu announced that the ScanEagle had totaled 500 , 000 combat flight hours and over 56 , 000 sorties by July 2011 . In late May 2013 , the U . S . Coast Guard used a ScanEagle to seize over 1 , 000 lb of cocaine from a fast boat in the eastern Pacific . The ScanEagle was being deployed off the USCGC Bertholf ( WMSL - 750 ) during demonstrations to assess UAV use in the Coast Guard . The aircraft was able to maintain visual surveillance of the boat until a cutter was able to interdict the vessel , marking the first time a UAV deployed from a Coast Guard cutter participated in drug interdiction . The trials in May lasted two weeks with 90 flight hours completed . The Coast Guard hopes to begin purchases of unmanned aerial systems by FY 2016 , with small UAVs deployed from its National Security Cutter fleet by the following year . Long - term goals are to use unmanned systems to augment their manned fleet , while UAVs on offshore patrol cutters would replace medium endurance cutters . On 26 July 2013 , the ScanEagle became one of the first unmanned aerial vehicles to be granted certification by the Federal Aviation Administration to fly in U . S . airspace for commercial purposes . ScanEagles will be deployed to Alaska off a ship for ConocoPhillips to scout for icebergs and count whales , protecting drilling platforms and fulfilling environmental requirements . The ScanEagle can safely accomplish observation missions in hazardous Arctic locations , which is safer , cheaper , and more environmentally friendly than using manned aircraft . Commercial certification was the result of previous military certification and the Congressionally - mandated opening of airspace over much of Alaska to small UAVs . Only four ScanEagles were certified with strict requirements : only one aircraft of the type is allowed airborne at any one time , they cannot fly through clouds or icing conditions , and they cannot take off or land during certain gust and wind conditions . The certifications did not mention line - of - sight control . On 12 September 2013 , a ScanEagle with ConocoPhillips conducted its first flight from a research vessel and flew for 36 minutes . On its second flight , the aircraft experienced engine failure . It aborted the flight and landed in the water , as it was programmed to . A boat recovered the downed ScanEagle . Iranian capture and reverse engineering claims . In December 2012 , Iran stated it had captured an American ScanEagle that allegedly violated its airspace over the Persian Gulf . Iran later stated it had also captured two other ScanEagles . The U . S . Navy stated that none of its ScanEagles were missing . Photo evidence of an ScanEagle in Iran showed no U . S . military markings . In August , 2013 , CBC News reported that the Canadian Navy had lost a ScanEagle drone in June 2012 . The Navy denied it was obtained by Iran . On 17 December 2012 , Iran announced it was starting mass production for a copy of the ScanEagle and has put that UAV into service . Iran later released images of this production line . On September 2013 a new UAV named Yasir was delivered to Iran ' s Army ground force ; according to Jane ' s Information Group , the Yasir UAV appears to share the ScanEagle ' s 1 . 37 m length and 3 . 11 m wingspan , although it does have a slightly different twin tail boom and inverted - V tail plane configuration . In unveiling the Yasir , the Commander of the Iranian Army ' s Ground Forces , Brigadier General Ahmad - Reza Pourdastan , is quoted by the Iranian Fars News Agency as saying it is capable of flying at an altitude of 15 , 000 ft , has an endurance of 8 hours , and an operational radius of 200 km . In October 2013 , during a five day visit to Iran by Russian Air Force Commander Lieutenant General Viktor Bondarev , Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps presented him with a copy of the US ScanEagle drone as a gift .