| Type | Wholly Owned Subsidiary of Boeing Integrated Defense Systems |
|---|---|
| Industry | UAV Systems |
| Founded | Bingen, Washington (1994) |
| Headquarters | Bingen, Washington |
| Key people | Steve Morrow: President/CEO |
| Products | UAV aircraft and Control Systems |
| Employees | >750 (as of 12/2010) |
| 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.
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Insitu originally designed its UAVs for use by commercial fishermen to track schools of fish, and reduce the time required to make a sufficient catch.[2] The name Insitu come from the Latin phrase In Situ, which means "in place", referring to the ability of the aircraft to make tight orbits in specific locations, but also to be able to do certain reconnaissance in place of actual people.
Unlike most other UAVs, those produced by Insitu do not require a runway because Insitu's 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 allows the aircraft to be launched and recovered from a truck, zodiac, small ship, or other area where a traditional runway is unavailable or impractical.
The aircraft can be configured to operate autonomously, or operated using telepresence. However, landings are always performed autonomously, as the aircraft require specific angles and speeds to make a successful landing.