<img height="1" width="1" style="display:none" src="https://www.facebook.com/tr?id=192888919167017&amp;ev=PageView&amp;noscript=1">
Thursday, March 28, 2024
March 28, 2024

Linkedin Pinterest

Insitu wins $43.7M contract for unmanned plane

56 aircraft will be built in Insitu's Stevenson plant

By Cami Joner
Published: July 31, 2010, 12:00am

Bingen-based Insitu Inc. has landed a $43.7 million contract to supply up to 56 unmanned Integrator planes to the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps.

o What: An independent subsidiary of Boeing Co. that designs and manufactures unmanned aircraft for military reconnaissance missions and other uses.

o Employees: 700.

o 2009 revenue: $148 million.

o Headquarters: Bingen.

o Other locations: Stevenson; White Salmon; Vancouver; The Dalles, Ore.; and Hood River, Ore.

o What’s new: The company has been awarded a $43.7 million military contract.

o What: An independent subsidiary of Boeing Co. that designs and manufactures unmanned aircraft for military reconnaissance missions and other uses.

o Employees: 700.

o 2009 revenue: $148 million.

o Headquarters: Bingen.

o Other locations: Stevenson; White Salmon; Vancouver; The Dalles, Ore.; and Hood River, Ore.

o What's new: The company has been awarded a $43.7 million military contract.

o On the Web:http://www.insitu.com.

o On the Web: http://www.insitu.com.

Gov. Chris Gregoire applauded the announcement Friday, as well as news that aircraft will be built at the company’s Stevenson production plant.

“The work that Insitu will be doing for the military will position us to continue as leaders in the emerging field of unmanned aircraft systems,” she said. “This helps create technology-based jobs in the 21st century economy.”

Under the contract, Insitu would provide up to five of the remote-controlled aircraft next year to Naval Air Systems Command, a part of the Navy that supports aircraft and airborne systems. By the end of 2013, Insitu is expected to supply two more aircraft systems — one each for the Navy and for the Marines — and then the company would move into full-rate production, said Jill Vacek, a company spokeswoman.

“All of that production will be in our Stevenson facility,” Vacek said.

A wholly owned, independent subsidiary of the Boeing Co., Insitu employs 700 people at its Bingen headquarters and in Stevenson; White Salmon; Vancouver; The Dalles, Ore.; and Hood River, Ore.

Insitu’s latest unmanned aircraft, the Integrator, is designed to fly intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions, providing “real-time” — almost instantaneous — intelligence to battle commanders in the field.

The Integrator is designed to carry a heavier payload than Insitu’s’s earlier generation ScanEagle aircraft, although both can fly missions that are up to 24 hours long. The Integrator also is designed to carry camera equipment that can film in both day and night and transmit high-resolution imagery, Vacek said.

U.S. and Canadian forces have been using the ScanEagle for troop surveillance in Afghanistan and Iraq since 2004.

In addition to their military uses, Insitu’s unmanned aircraft are used to collect weather data, monitor Alaskan sea lions and survey national forests for wildfires.

Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly listed the number of hours the ScanEagle can fly on a mission.

Loading...