UTC unveils lightweight, laser compliant optical payload for UAS

At the Special Operations Forces Industry Conference (SOFIC) today on booth #1704, UTC Aerospace Systems (a unit of United Technologies Corp.) announced the release of its new TASE400 LD optical and laser designation payload system for small to midsize UAS (unmanned aerial system) applications.

At 7in in diameter and 10.6lbs, with a laser designator that is fully compliant with NATO STANAG 3733, the TASE400 LD is one of the industry‘s lightest laser-compliant optical payload systems for UAS applications. As a result, UAS users in the US Department of Defense (DoD) Group 2 (21-55lbs) unmanned segment, “will now be able to reap the benefits of a laser designator capability for the first time, while users on the lower end of Group 3 (less than 1,320 lbs.) will also be able to utilise the system,” according to the company.

The TASE400 LD is the latest addition to the company’s TASE family of systems that are operationally proven, having flown hundreds of thousands of hours in the harshest of unmanned military environments, including missions for US Special Operations Forces.

“In the past, if troops in the field needed laser designator capability, they would typically have to call in additional assets to meet the need,” said Matt Lendway, site lead for UTC Aerospace Systems’ TASE imaging and Piccolo autopilot business. “Now, thanks to the lighter TASE400 LD, they can carry that capability with them, enhancing their own efficiency while freeing up assets to focus on other missions.”