Four years ago, DARPA gave AeroVironment a contract to develop a portable, stealthy, persistent perch and stare (SP2S) unmanned aircraft system. The company announced on Aug. 30 that it has completed the project.
The Shrike VTOL will be able to hover for more than 40 minutes with a high resolution video camera and transmit several hours of live video in the perch and stare mode.