Airbus Helicopters (Marignane, France) and Aerovel (Bingen, Wash., U.S.) have signed an agreement regarding the acquisition of Aerovel and its unmanned aerial system (UAS), Flexrotor, as part of a strategy to strengthen its portfolio of tactical unmanned solutions. Flexrotor is a small, tactical UAS designed for intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance (ISTAR) missions at sea and over land. 

“We are looking forward to welcoming Aerovel into the Airbus family. This strategic acquisition aligns with our vision to expand our UAS offering and respond to a growing customer demand worldwide for additional mission capabilities such as manned-unmanned teaming,” Bruno Even, CEO of Airbus Helicopters, notes. “Aerovel’s expertise in autonomous flight technology will undoubtedly complement our UAS development with the VSR700, as well as the work that we have been doing to develop interoperability.”

Joining forces with Airbus will enable Aerovel to scale innovation, accelerate its mission to advance unmanned aviation and maintain support for the U.S. military and its allies. 

The Flexrotor, a modern vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) UAS aircraft, with a maximum launch weight of 25 kilograms, has been designed for ISTAR missions for more than 12-14 hours in a typical operational configuration. It can integrate different types of payloads including an electro-optical system and advanced sensors to suit customers’ mission needs. With the ability to autonomously launch and recover from either land or sea requiring only a 12 × 12-foot area for launch and recovery, the Flexrotor is ideal for expeditionary missions requiring a minimal footprint.

Through the support of the U.S, Department of Defense (DoD), and contracted deployment in a variety of maritime security exercises, the Flexrotor has become mission-proven force multiplier for operations in harsh, high-threat, GPS-denied environments. It can also be used for parapublic missions such as forest fire surveillance (providing firefighters with critical images day or night) and ice navigation (helping guide naval vessels through ice in the Arctic ocean).

Aerovel will remain a U.S,-owned company and continue collaboration with the U.S. DOD under Airbus’ Special Security Agreement (SSA).