Italy has agreed to a $46.6 million deal with AeroVironment for the delivery of Jump 20 fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), which are intended to take the place of its old fleet of AAI RQ-7 Shadow drones.
To guarantee that the unmanned aerial vehicles are fully operational from the first day, the five-year deal includes maintenance, technical help, and engineering services provided by AeroVironment.
The agreement satisfies the Italian Ministry of Defense’s operational and technical needs, which prioritize purchasing contemporary, versatile drones capable of carrying out dynamic and mobile missions. The Jump 20 is made for sophisticated multi-sensor intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance operations. It has the ability to take off and land without the use of recovery gear or a runway.
With a payload capability of 30 pounds (13.6 kilograms), the drone has a flight endurance of more than 13 hours and an operating range of 115 miles (185 kilometers).
It has a long-range EO/MWIR thermal camera system with onboard tracking, stabilization, and video processing capabilities, as well as an ARCAM 45D imaging sensor.
