Ever-shrinking, Flying, ‘Nano Birds’ Recast the Battlefield May 20, 2011
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) might be imperceptible dots in the sky, but their growing utility and presence in the U.S. arsenal is increasingly apparent. Drones such as the Predator, built by General Atomics, and the Global Hawk by Nothrop Grumman have the most recognizable names. But AeroVironment, a California-based company, is making big inroads with smaller packages. They have sold small drones with names like Wasp and Raven. Soldiers can carry these drones in backpacks and launch them simply by tossing them into the air. The Pentagon has noticed. To learn more about these new technologies, Knowledge@Wharton spoke with Steven Gitlin, AeroVironment’s vice president for marketing strategy about new developments in the UAV market and how the company hopes to remain innovative as it grows bigger. An edited version of the transcript can be found here. |
|
