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] with several offices in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. They design, develop and manufacture, and support customized unmanned aerial systems (UAS) and information processing software solutions. Their unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) platforms - ScanEagle, Integrator and RQ-21A Blackjack - have logged nearly 1,000,000 operational flight hours.

History

Insitu was founded in the early 1990s to develop the Aerosonde concept for long-range weather reconnaissance. The company derives it name from the process of measuring the atmosphere in situ (in place), as opposed to remotely, by satellite. At the end of the 1990s the company transitioned 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 focused their efforts on military applications. Insitu was acquired by long-time partner Boeing in 2008. In addition to its Defense business, the company announced the establishment of its commercial business unit, Insitu Commercial, in 2016.

Products

Hardware

A ScanEagle unmanned aircraft is captured by Insitu’s patented SkyHook recovery system.

An Integrator UAV takes flight.

ScanEagle prepares for launch.

ScanEagle is pictured aboard the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter STRATTON, which was the first U.S. Coast Guard Cutter to deploy with a small unmanned aerial system (UAS) for an entire patrol.

Insitu’s Common Open-mission Management Command and Control (ICOMC2) ground control station (GCS) is the core system used for controlling Integrator and providing access for total payload control.

• ScanEagle: The Insitu ScanEagle has a wingspan of approximately 10 ft., and the length of the aircraft is approximately 5 ft. ScanEagle weighs anywhere between 30 – 48.5 pounds, and can carry up to 7.5 pounds of payload. The aircraft can fly for up to 24 hours (depending on aircraft configuration), and the engine uses heavy fuel (JP-5 or JP-8) or gasoline.
• Integrator: The Insitu Integrator is a commercial variant of RQ-21A Blackjack. Integrator is designed to be a modular, flexible and multi-mission capable solution for both land and maritime operations. The aircraft’s six payload spaces can be customized with cameras, communication capabilities and other advanced mission-specific technologies. The wingspan of this aircraft is 16 ft. and the length is approximately 8 ft. Integrator weighs anywhere between 80 – 135 pounds, and can carry up to 40 pounds of payload. The aircraft can fly for up to 24 hours (depending on aircraft configuration).
• RQ-21A Blackjack: In partnership with the United States Department of the Navy, Insitu developed the RQ-21A Blackjack program to fill the requirement for a small tactical unmanned aircraft system capable of operating from land and sea. The system is modular, versatile and multi-mission capable, providing rapid transitions between land and maritime environments. RQ-21A Blackjack’s open payload architecture is customized with imagers, communication systems, electronic warfare, signals intelligence capabilities and other tools to give the warfighter a look ahead in all operational environments.
• Launch and Recovery: Insitu’s unmanned aircraft are launched autonomously via a pneumatic catapult launcher and are recovered using the SkyHook recovery system.

Services

Insitu’s customizable training program incorporates a simulator that emulates real flight procedures. UAS courses are offered at schoolhouses in White Salmon, Washington, and in Brisbane, Australia.

References

External links

• Insitu, Inc.