Aerosonde Ltd, now part of Textron Systems Unmanned Systems,[1] is an Australian-based developer and manufacturer of unmanned aerial vehicles, including the AAI Corporation Aerosonde series.[2] The company has customers in Australia, Asia and North America who use its vehicles for reconnaissance and meteorological applications.[3]
History
The Aerosonde platform, then the sole product of Insitu inc. gained prominence on 21 August 1998 when an Aerosonde "Laima"[4] became the first unmanned aerial vehicle to cross the North Atlantic, covering a 3270 km route in a time of 26 hrs 45 min.[5]
On 22 June 2006, Aerosonde Ltd was acquired by the AAI Corporation. AAI was acquired in 2007 by Textron.[6]
