An October 2022 contract was previously awarded to the Aerosonde development program by the US Navy’s Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) to provide unmanned aviation support aboard the ship for up to five years.

The Aerosonde UAS provides extended range intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance services with enhanced mission payloads aboard the USS Hershel Williams and USS Miguel Keith.

The USS Miguel Keith generates a range of military and aviation operations as part of the Forward Deployed Naval Force.

Textron air systems senior vice-president Wayne Prender said the UAS system is designed for expeditionary land and sea-based operations in austere environments and is equipped for multiple payload configurations.

“Having an unmanned aircraft system operational aboard the ship acting as a remote sensor contributes to overall maritime domain awareness and mission success,” Prender said.

“The Aerosonde system is providing added reach beyond the horizon and an ability to operate multi-INT ISR consistently, both great examples of the benefits of teaming unmanned aircraft with manned ships.”

Robert Dougherty

Robert is a senior journalist who has previously worked for Seven West Media in Western Australia, as well as Fairfax Media and Australian Community Media in New South Wales. He has produced national headlines, photography and videography of emergency services, business, community, defence and government news across Australia. Robert graduated with a Bachelor of Arts, Majoring in Public Relations and Journalism at Curtin University, attended student exchange program with Fudan University and holds Tier 1 General Advice certification for Kaplan Professional. Reach out via email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or via LinkedIn.