AeroVironment RQ-20 Puma
The AeroVironment RQ-20 Puma is a small, battery powered, American, hand-launched unmanned aircraft system produced by AeroVironment based in California. Its primary mission is surveillance and intelligence gathering using an electro-optical and infrared camera. The Puma can safely accomplish observation missions in hazardous Arctic locations. Configuration. Each military RQ-20A system has three air vehicles and two ground stations. The Puma AE can operate under extreme weather conditions including temperatures ranging from , wind speeds up to , and an inch of rain per hour. History. In 2008 it was selected for the United States Special Operations Command . In March 2012 the United States Army ordered the Puma All Environment (AE) and designated it the RQ-20A. In April, the United States Marine Corps and United States Air Force placed a similar order for the RQ-20A. On 26 July 2013, the Puma 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. On 8 June 2014, the Puma AE made its first flight for BP in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, which was the first authorized unmanned commercial flight over land. The UK tested ISR packages  compatible with the Puma AE on board the M80 Stiletto trials ship in November 2014. On 20 January 2016, RQ-20 units were captured by the Turkish army from the PKK. It is suspected that the Kurdish militants were able to acquire these drones from their Syrian affiliates. In August 2016, AeroVironment announced the U.S. Navy had tested and deployed the RQ-20B Puma aboard a Flight I Guided Missile Destroyer. The test included the company's Precision Recovery System to autonomously recover the aircraft aboard a ship. The Puma is utilized on Navy patrol craft in the Persian Gulf. In 2018  commercial certification followed military certification and the Congressionally-mandated opening of airspace over much of Alaska to small UAVs. Three individual Pumas were certified, with strict requirements: only one aircraft of the type was allowed to be airborne at any one time; they were not certified for clouds or icing conditions; takeoff and landing was not allowed during certain gust and wind conditions. The certification did not mention line-of-sight control.In December 2021, the United States allocated $5 million for a Puma drone for the Kurdish Peshmerga in Iraq. On April 1, 2022, the United States announced  a $300 million military aid package to Ukraine that included Puma drones.