Marine Corps orders 28 unmanned quadcopter aircraft for battlefield resupply in $11 million contract award
PATUXENT RIVER NAS, Md. – U.S. Marine Corps logistics experts needed small unmanned aircraft to resupply warfighters on the battlefield. They found their solution from The Survice Engineering Co. LLC in Belcamp, Md.
Officials of the U.S. Naval Air Systems Command at Patuxent River Naval Air Station, Md., announced an $11 million order to Survice Engineering on Friday for 28 TRV-150C Tactical Resupply Unmanned Aircraft Systems.
Survice Engineering is a partner to Malloy Aeronautics Ltd. in Berkshire, England, which manufactures the TRV-150 -- a medium-size unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) able to lift a 150-pound cargo payload as far as 44 miles at speeds close to 70 miles per hour. The order includes one year of support.
The TRV-150 can deliver ammunition, weapons, food and water, medical supplies, and other crucial equipment to Marines on the battlefield. The quadcopter UAV is 6.7 feet wide, 8.7 feet long, and 3.5 feet wide. One person can carry the UAV in a special carrying case.
The TRV-150, designed for battlefield resupply, is a U.S. Marines for a program of record under NAVAIR PMA-263. The unmanned aircraft is for intra-installation logistics; base security and defense; search and rescue; disaster relief and humanitarian aid; aerial survey and detection; and island clean-up and invasive species control.
The UAV can lift 150-pound cargo payloads in all weather, and has a removable battery. The Marines first commissioned the UAV for battlefield use in 2022.
On this order Survice Engineering will do the work in Churchville, Md., and should be finished by March 2025. For more information contact Survice Engineering online at www.survice.com; Malloy Aeronautics at www.malloyaeronautics.com/index.html, or Naval Air Systems Command at www.navair.navy.mil.
John Keller | Editor
John Keller is editor-in-chief of Military & Aerospace Electronics magazine, which provides extensive coverage and analysis of enabling electronic and optoelectronic technologies in military, space, and commercial aviation applications. A member of the Military & Aerospace Electronics staff since the magazine's founding in 1989, Mr. Keller took over as chief editor in 1995.
