Boeing graduates first military ScanEagle

More success from Boeing’s ScanEagle UAV program. We recently reported that the the drone succesfully completed long endurance trials managed a long endurance flight of the company’s ScanEagle UAV — not normally a big deal except that the drone used heavy fuel engine — and we also noted that Boeing was now attempting to integrate Santa Clara, California-based ShotSpotter urban gunshot location system into the UAV to help combat forces manage sniper fire. Now we can report another positive story: Boeing has graduated its first class of U.S. military ScanEagle flight crews from its UAV Training Center in Clovis, New Mexico.

The graduating airmen, all of whom are from the Air Force 820th Security Forces Group at Moody Air Force Base, Georgia, include three operators, two maintainers, a mission commander and a sensor operator. “The students are leaving the training with the skills and confidence to implement a viable force protection capability for the Air Force,” said Boeing training director Marshall Formby. “The students have completed an intensive education in systems operation, aerodynamics, crew resource management, maintenance and tactics.” The new Air Force operators represent the first time the system will be directly controlled by military personnel.