US Army Buys Penguin Drone, Bayraktar TB2's Latvian Lookalike

Edge Autonomy announced a deal with the US Department of Defense (DoD) to produce an unspecified amount of long-endurance Penguin drones for the US Army. From a report: The company manufactures a range of light drones capable of carrying a range of payloads for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR), as well as targeting. Edge Autonomy's press release indicates that the company has previously supplied its products to the DoD. However, it did not disclose the extent of either the new or existing orders. Penguin C, one of the models the company manufactures, has a payload capacity of 25 kilograms (55 pounds), a range of 180 kilometers (112 miles) and a payload-dependent endurance of up to 25 hours. While outwardly similar to the famous Bayraktar TB2, the Penguin is significantly smaller and occupies a different niche while retaining similar endurance.

Such A Let Down

[WankerWeasel]

They look nothing like I'd hoped...

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[timeOday]

I'm going to pass on the guns vs butter topic, but what's the FCC part about?

Re:Proud American.

[tomhath]

I doubt people in Ukraine would consider this useless. There might be a reason we don't have to worry much about it here.

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[Opportunist]

You mean, like, essentially being a continent of your own, wedged between a peacenik, complacent older brother in the north and a li'l brother that looks adoringly at you in the south?

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[JaredOfEuropa]

As a European I'm going to have to say Thank You for your spending. A lot of the stuff developed by your defense industry for your army benefits our armed forces as well. The F35 being a notable exception, where you've managed to pass the lack of savings on to us...

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[speedlaw]

The F35 is a boondoggle, and the money allocated to it really fuels black projects. Those triangular planes that go all directions are very expensive.

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[arglebargle_xiv]

It's actually quite clever, note that the US military, which always buys from local pork... uh, I mean, US military vendors, is suddenly buying a bunch of drones that Ukraine could really do with from a country very close to Ukraine. How convenient...

Penguins can't fly...

[Geoffrey.landis]

Not sure why you'd want a Penguin, since they are flightless birds....

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[Opportunist]

Code names are supposed to be misleading.

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[OolimPhon]

Perhaps it runs Linux?

Re: Penguins can't fly...

[flyingfsck]

There is a BBC video of penguins flying.

Monty Python imitates real life...again!

[farrellj]

Oh no! Monty Python's Mechanical Penguin has come to life! There is only one defence...quick, fetch the Holy Handgrenade of Antioch! Only then can Scott of the Sahara save the day!

Ukraine for testing purposes?

[gnasher719]

Should deliver the first few thousand straight to Ukraine, for testing purposes.