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August 28, 2014 -
The Coast Guard and National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration researchers
successfully landed an unmanned aircraft system
(UAS) on the flight deck of Coast Guard Cutter
Healy Monday, marking the first time a UAS has
completed a take-off and landing aboard a Coast
Guard icebreaker.
UAS operators from AeroVironment, designers of
the Puma All Environment UAS, working alongside
researchers from the Coast Guard Research and
Development Center and NOAA made necessary
adjustments following several unsuccessful
attempts to land the Puma AE on the icebreaker’s
flight deck.
High winds, heavy fog, and icing conditions
delayed further attempts until Monday night when
skies cleared enough for another attempt. UAS
operators came close to landing the system on
the initial attempt before managing three
successful landings. The last was a perfect
landing onto the center of the flight deck.
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