Photo: Information systems technicians conduct pre-flight checks on a Puma unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) aboard the coastal patrol ship USS Monsoon (PC 4). Photo: US Navy

NavalToday reports, the Navy has been testing a UAV, RQ-20A Puma AE (all environment), on the USS Monsoon, a patrol craft of the same size as the Coast Guard’s Webber class WPCs.

“Weighing approximately 14 pounds, the small unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) can provide more than three hours of flight time with a range of 15 kilometers and operating altitude of 500 feet. Equipped with an electro-optical and an infrared camera, the Puma can be manually operated or by GPS.”

“… Puma is most commonly employed as a precursor search and overwatch platform to support her VBSS team…”