June 12, 2012 - A Broad Area Maritime
Surveillance Demonstrator (BAMS-D) unmanned
aircraft being tested by the U.S. Navy crashed
on Monday at approximately 12:11 PM EST near
Bloodsworth Island in Dorchester County,
Maryland approximately 22 miles east of NAS
Patuxent River.
Broad Area Maritime Surveillance (BAMS) is a
unmanned aerial vehicle UAV system intended to
provide continuous maritime surveillance for the
US Navy and complement the Boeing P-8 Poseidon,
the Boeing 737-based Multimission Maritime
Aircraft (MMA). The system is expected to enter
service around 2015.
Around 40 UAVs will be based at six sites
Hawaii; Diego Garcia; NAS Jacksonville, Florida;
Kadena Air Base, Japan; NAS Point Mugu,
California and Sigonella, Italy. The BAMS is as
large as a Boeing 737 with a service ceiling of
60,000 ft, a maximum cruise speed of 357 mph and
endurance up to 30 hours.
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