Canada became the first foreign customer for the Insitu RQ-21A Blackjack Unmanned Air System, following signing of agreement with U.S. D...
Canada became the first foreign customer for the Insitu RQ-21A Blackjack Unmanned Air System, following signing of agreement with U.S. Defense Dept.
The small tactical UAS was developed for U.S. Navy to fulfill its intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance requirement.
According to the agreement, one Blackjack system will be delivered to Canadian Army in 2017.
The Blackjack system comprise five air vehicles, two ground control stations and launch-recovery equipment.
The runway independent system is launched using a puematic launcher and recovered using the patented "skyhook' system in which a vertical wire is hooked onto its wing. The capability makes it ideal for expeditionary missions.
Powered by a single 6 kW piston engine, the twin boom monoplane design weighs 135 lb (61 kg) and can be integrated with various ISR sensors.
The Blackjack is 8 ft long and with a 16 ft wingspan it has an endurance of 10-12 hours. It sucessfully completed its maiden operational flight in July 2016.
