PrecisionHawk and Insitu to Bring Best-in-Class Drone Services to Commercial Market

RALEIGH, NC–  PrecisionHawk, a leading provider of aerial data and safety platforms for drones, and Insitu, a subsidiary of Boeing, announced today a strategic alliance to offer expansive aerial technology services across commercial and enterprise markets. The power of the two industry leaders will offer small- and large-scale services by integrating platforms, hardware and software, to deliver more comprehensive data insights to customers.

“Our customers are always pushing us to bring more advanced and comprehensive solutions, and we go above and beyond to make sure we are developing tools that serve their specific needs,” said PrecisionHawk president Christopher Dean. “We feel that collaborating with Insitu will only assist us with further delivering against that promise.”

Since 2010, PrecisionHawk has been an early leader in the commercial drone space with product and service offerings across civilian industries. PrecisionHawk’s product contributions to the alliance include: the Lancaster 5, a fully autonomous, fixed-wing drone that is compatible with multiple sensors for high-quality data collection, and DataMapper, a terrestrial data software platform that stiches aerial images into 2D/3D orthomosaic maps and offers a host of algorithms for automated analysis. Both the Lancaster and DataMapper are leveraged for PrecisionHawk servicing teams, one of the largest networks of drone services in the U.S.

“While our businesses are diverse, the areas where we intersect have tremendous potential for creating new opportunities in the commercial industries we both serve,” said Ryan M. Hartman, Insitu President and CEO. “This alliance ensures that more businesses will explore what unmanned technology can offer.”

Insitu first deployed with the United States Marine Corps in 2004. Since that time, its unmanned platforms — ScanEagle, RQ-21A Blackjack, a program of record with the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, and Integrator — have served commercial and defense customers across the globe in some of the world’s most challenging environments. In 2015, Insitu acquired 2d3 Sensing, which specializes in the design and development of full motion video products and Cloud infrastructure to yield improved data processing and dissemination to its customers.

In addition, the collaboration will leverage each company’s participation in the FAA’s Pathfinder Program to collaborate, research and test new technologies to enable safe drone flight for extended and beyond-visual-line-of-sight operations.