AeroVironment, Monrovia, Calif., was awarded a $4.6 million contract from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to develop a small Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) capable of performing “hover/perch and stare” missions. The Stealthy, Persistent, Perch and Stare (SP2S) UAS will be based on the company’s Wasp UAS, a one-pound, 29-inch wingspan battery-powered air vehicle. The goal of the new system is to develop the technology to enable a new generation of perch-and-stare micro air vehicles capable of flying to difficult targets, landing on and securing to a “perch” position, conducting sustained, perch-and-stare surveillance missions and then re-launching from its perch and returning to its home base, the company said.