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Textron Systems Awarded Contract for Second U.S. Navy Expeditionary Sea Base (ESB) Shipboard Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Operation
October 20, 2022
Aerosonde® UAS Supporting Fourth U.S. Navy Ship with Extended Range ISR Services HUNT VALLEY, MD/October 20, 2022 – Textron Systems Corporation, a Textron Inc. (NYSE:TXT) company, announced today that it has been awarded a contract valued at up to $22 million by the U.S. Navy’s Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) to provide UAS operational support to the USS Miguel Keith, designated ESB-5. The contract begins in FY23 and has a total potential performance period of five years. This award builds on the four-year extension of USS Hershel “Woody” Williams (ESB-4) earlier this year and joins two DDG-class ships, bringing the total number of U.S. Navy ships supported by the Aerosonde® UAS system to four. Under this contract, Textron Systems will deploy its Aerosonde UAS to provide extended range intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) services with enhanced mission payloads aboard the ESB-5. The company’s Field Service Representatives (FSR) will work alongside the sailors onboard