The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) has contracted Boeing subsidiary Insitu Inc. to deliver an RQ-21A Blackjack small tactical unmanned aircraft system (STUAS) to Poland.
According to the statement by the DoD, Insitu Inc. is awarded a $53,9 million firm-fixed-price contract to procure four full-rate production, Lot II RQ-21A Blackjack unmanned aircraft systems and eight attrition air vehicles; seven for the Marine Corps and one for the government of Poland.
The contract also includes the procurement of ground control stations, launch and recovery equipment, shipboard equipment kits, engineering and program management.
Work will be performed in Bingen, Washington; and Hood River, Oregon, and is expected to be completed in June 2019.
RQ-21A Blackjack is a military derivative of the Boeing Insitu Integrator platform, designed for use in maritime conditions.
According to the Insitu, the RQ-21A Blackjack system is modular, versatile and multi-mission capable, providing rapid transitions between land and maritime environments.
The aircraft can safeguard military bases and activities through a pattern of life identification and explosive device detection.
The electro-optic/infrared (EO/IR) payloads support real-time monitoring to provide indications and threat warnings and its plug-and-play payloads enable multi-intelligence capability to support a broad range of operations. Extended operations via maritime hub-and-spoke capabilities offer real-time over watch for Visit, Board, Search and Seizure (VBSS) teams, as well as over-the-horizon information and communication relay for ship sensor range extension.