Insitu

Insitu, Inc.

Decision Making Superiority
Type	Wholly Owned Subsidiary of Boeing Integrated Defense Systems
Industry	UAV Systems
Founded	Bingen, Washington (1994)
Headquarters	Bingen, Washington
Key people	Ryan M Hartman: President/CEO
Products	UAV aircraft and Control Systems
Number of employees	>1052 (as of 07/2016)
Parent	Boeing Defense Systems
Website	Insitu.com

Insitu, Inc. is an American company headquartered in Bingen, Washington^[1] that builds unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). On July 22, 2008, it was announced that Insitu would be acquired by long-time partner Boeing.

History

Insitu was founded in the early 1990s to develop the Aerosonde concept for long-range weather reconnaissance. The company name derives from the objective of measuring the atmosphere in situ, as opposed to remotely by satellite. At the end of the 1990s the company moved on to the Seascan concept for imaging reconnaissance from tuna seiners. With the onset of the Iraq war in 2003, Seascan turned into Scaneagle, and Insitu became focused on military applications. On August 12, 2013, Insitu announced a new partnership with Airware, to enable interoperability between Airware’s autopilots and Insitu’s ground control software, ICOMC2.^[2]

Technical information

Unlike most other UAVs, those produced by Insitu do not require a runway because Insitus are launched by a pneumatic catapult launcher, and are recovered by flying the UAVs into a vertically suspended cable which captures the aircraft by hooks located at the end of the wings. This recovery system is referred to as the SkyHook.^[3] This allows the aircraft to be launched and recovered from a truck, small ship, or other area where a traditional runway is unavailable or impractical.

In 2016, Insitu began testing the Flying Launch and Recovery System (FLARES), which consists of a large octocopter for launch and recovery of a ScanEagle aircraft.^[4] The octocopter lifts the aircraft up to a launch altitude then drops it for launch. The FLARES octocopter then returns to the ground to have a cable system connected for recovery. The octocopter holds the top of the cable in position mid-air, while the lower end is tethered to the ground. This system enables launch and recovery operations clear of ground obstacles, increasing operational flexibility in site selection.

The aircraft can be configured to operate autonomously, or operated using telepresence. Aircraft recovery is performed autonomously, with human oversight combined with automated safety parameter monitoring in the event a waveoff is necessary.

Products

Current products

A ScanEagle held by a US Marine in Iraq

A ScanEagle in its catapult launcher

A ScanEagle is recovered at sea aboard the destroyer USS Oscar Austin

• Boeing ScanEagle^[5] - In Partnership with Boeing
• Insitu NightEagle^[6]
• Insitu Integrator^[7] On July 30, 2010 it was reported that Insitu won the STUAS Tier II contract with its Integrator product.^[8] The contract was estimated to offer the potential for over $500 million in orders beginning in 2013.^[9] It was designated RQ-21A,^[10] and can carry a camera, an infrared camera and a radar at the same time. Marines have eight aircraft as of 2012, and plans to acquire 100 by 2017.^[11] In September 2013 the RQ-21 'Integrator' was renamed RQ-21 'Blackjack'.

Former products

• Aerosonde - A weather tracking system, spun off as Aerosonde Ltd
• SeaScan - A system to track fish (typically tuna) to reduce the time required at sea, and to prevent the catching of Dolphins. SeaScan is the basis for ScanEagle, Insight, and GeoRanger.
• Insight - Insitu owned version of ScanEagle

References

External links

• Insitu, Inc.