Vertical Take-Off and Landing UAV

The Air Force has announced that the MLB V-Bat Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) UAV from the MLB Company (Sunnyvale, CA) has been selected for a Phase II SBIR award. The military branch seeks a vehicle that has an 8-ft wingspan, 10-hour endurance, 55-lb gross take-off weight, and 70-mph cruise speed. The V-Bat’s combination of VTOL operational convenience with the safety of a shrouded fan and fixed-wing duration in a small UAV system will enable local situational awareness for UAV operations in confined areas. Last year, under a DARPA contract, MLB demonstrated precise emplacement of small payloads from the V-Bat, operating in hover mode under a vision-based control system.