In-Field Portable Drones

Bloomberg Businessweek (h/t nc links):

Even as the U.S. military budget declines in the face of ballooning deficits and the wind-down of two wars, spending on unmanned systems has grown from near nothing two decades ago to a projected $6.2 billion in 2012. Not surprisingly, defense contractors have refocused their efforts. They’re preparing for warfare waged by unmanned vehicles—robots controlled by a combination of artificial intelligence and remote human input.
An unlikely industry leader of this explosion of flying robots, and maker of the Raven-B, is a small Los Angeles-area company called (AVAV)AeroVironment. It produces 85 percent of the unmanned aerial systems used by U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to the Defense Dept. Measured by number of units deployed, AeroVironment is America’s top maker of surveillance drones. The Army is also funding production of AeroVironment’s newest UAV, called Switchblade. Like the Raven-B and AeroVironment’s other systems, Switchblade, which is still in development, will fit in a soldier’s backpack. But rather than merely spy, this toy-size drone can kill: When its operator spots an enemy, Switchblade locks on, turns into a missile, and blows up the target. “I think Switchblade, like our other small UAVs, is going to plug a hole in [the military’s] arsenal,” says Tim Conver, chief executive of AeroVironment.
In the 12 months ended in April, AeroVironment had revenue of $292 million, and 85 percent of it came from UAV sales and services. Despite being dwarfed by (BA)Boeing or (LMT)Lockheed Martin, the company has become an important military supplier—although its executives prefer not to put it in those terms. “We think of ourselves as a technology solutions provider, not a defense contractor,” says Steve Gitlin, AeroVironment’s chief spokesman. Considering where the company came from, that reticence is understandable. AeroVironment got its start in the 1970s developing, of all things, earth-friendly pedal- and solar-powered aircraft. Its 40-year journey from free-spirited eco startup to maker of weaponized UAVs is one of the more radical transformations in corporate history.

AeroVironment was founded in 1971 by Paul MacCready, a legend in aerospace engineering and meteorology. MacCready, who died four years ago, was obsessed with unconventional planes that flew without conventional fuel. In 1977 he created the Gossamer Condor, a pedal-powered craft made of piano wire, Mylar, and old bike parts. An amateur cyclist piloted the contraption through a mile-long figure-8 course and won the $100,000 Kremer prize, awarded by the Royal Aeronautical Society for achievements in human-powered flight. (A 1978 documentary about the project, Flight of the Gossamer Condor, snagged an Oscar.) MacCready’s 1979 follow-up, the Gossamer Albatross, made it across the English Channel. Both planes hang in the Smithsonian.
While building MacCready’s human-powered aircraft on the side, AeroVironment’s engineers conducted wind-profile investigations that helped cities and states build the most efficient freeway systems and wind farms. In the ’80s, MacCready devoted himself to creating unmanned, sun-powered airplanes such as Solar Challenger, which weighed only 205 lb. and repeatedly set altitude and distance records. In 1986 he teamed up with Imax to build the first successful wing-flapping airplane—a contraption made to resemble a pterodactyl. “He certainly was a save-the-world type,” says his son, Tyler MacCready, who worked at AeroVironment and is now a consultant to the company, helping it identify new technologies to pursue. “His real concern was not wasting resources, especially with something like aerodynamic drag on a vehicle. All you needed to do was change the design of a car, and it could run on less power.”

Very interesting.