US Government makes Aerovel’s Flexrotor ITAR-Free

Patrick Egan

As 2015 deliveries approach for Flexrotor, Aerovel’s exceptional long-endurance VTOL UAV, the US Government has ruled that it can be exported free of restrictions under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR, which in recent years have been applied to unmanned aircraft regardless of application).

This means that Flexrotor, with its unprecedented combination of 40+ hr endurance, small size, and light footprint, can now be exported from the United States under a much simpler licensing
regime administered by the Department of Commerce. This will facilitate service with civil operators around the globe, ashore and afloat in vessels ranging from seiners to yachts to freighters.

Flexrotor represents a marked advance in the state of the art in miniature robotic aircraft, and in the ability to deploy high-quality video and other kilogram-scale instruments with unprecedented flexibility and autonomy. It offers economy sufficient to enable long-promised civil applications including
geological survey, weather reconnaissance, fishery surveillance, environmental monitoring, and offshore patrol.

Aerovel is a privately-held company based in the northwest United States. It was founded in 2006 to develop autonomous aircraft, primarily for civil applications. More information on Aerovel and Flexrotor can be found at www.aerovelco.com.