AeroVironment, Inc. has received a $15,909,962 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract order on September 1, 2011, under an existing contract with the U.S. Army. The order comprises Army contractor logistics support for Raven systems.

The logistics support services are scheduled to be delivered within the next several months.

"Raven unmanned aircraft systems continue to provide valuable situational awareness directly to our warfighters, increasing mission effectiveness and safety," said Tom Herring, AeroVironment senior vice president and general manager, Unmanned Aircraft Systems.

"We remain focused on providing our customers with battle-proven Raven systems and support services to enable success."

The Raven unmanned aircraft is a 4.2-pound, backpackable, hand-launched sensor platform that provides day and night, real-time video imagery for "over the hill" and "around the corner" reconnaissance, surveillance and target acquisition in support of tactical units.

U.S. armed forces use Raven systems extensively for missions such as base security, route reconnaissance, mission planning and force protection.

Each Raven system typically consists of three aircraft, two ground control stations and spares.

Raven, Wasp and Puma comprise AeroVironment's Family of Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems. Operating with a common ground control system (GCS), this Family of Systems provides increased capability to the warfighter that can give ground commanders the option of selecting the appropriate aircraft based on the type of mission to be performed.