Egypt is to acquire and field the AeroVironment (AV) RQ-20B Puma II AE tactical unmanned aircraft system (UAS), the US Department of Defense (DoD) disclosed on 16 March.
A Foreign Military Sales (FMS) deal for an undisclosed number of systems valued at USD 9.1 million has been awarded by the US Army, with the contract set to run through to 16 September 2020.The Egyptian Army does not currently operate any aviation assets, though given the tactical nature of the Puma II AE it is likely that it will field the system rather than the air force.
AV recently announced a sale of its Puma II AE UAS to an unnamed Middle East customer, but that was a much larger deal valued USD44.5 million (the largest single award in the company’s history).
Also known as the Block 2, the Puma II AE is a man-portable, hand-launched unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) designed for land-based and maritime operations and is capable of landing in water or on land. Designed to be flown autonomously or via AV’s common ground control station (GCS), the Puma AE provides a persistent intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance (ISTAR); force-protection; and ‘over-the-hill’ reconnaissance capability.
Photo: US Navy
Source: Jane’s 360