Small UAS

The **Small UAS** (Small Unmanned Aircraft System) is not a single drone model from one manufacturer but a **family of portable, reusable systems** developed under NAVAIR for the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, categorized by range and endurance (e.g., Short Range/Short Endurance under 2 kg, deployable in 60 seconds for >30 minutes runtime). Their primary **role** is providing organic, real-time **Reconnaissance, Surveillance, and Target Acquisition (RSTA)** and battle damage assessment at small unit levels (battalion and below), enabling battlespace visibility beyond line-of-sight in GPS-denied environments. **Key capabilities** include man-packable designs (<25 kg max), rapid deployment (under 30 minutes), endurance from >30 minutes to over 4 hours, and ranges up to >60 km, with support for third-party payloads via the Reusable Architecture (SRA).