Boeing/InSitu's ScanEagle Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Reportedly May Perform Maritime Monitoring of BP Oil Spill in Gulf of Mexico

I am hearing more and more news about drones and unmanned vehicles. I wonder when some company will offer a drone vehicle for sale to the public as a consumer product. The latest drone news comes from the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. No word on whether the U.S. government will accept Boeing/Insitu's offer to monitor activities in the Gulf.

Boeing/InSitu executives let slip at the show that they have submitted an unsolicited proposal to BP offering the ScanEagle unmanned air vehicle for maritime monitoring. They have not yet received a response, said Steve Nordlund, Boeing's director of business development for the wholly owned subsidiary.

You can read about the ScanEagle at Boeing's official page.

From the image source in the picture above, the below quoted information lists some of the specifications of the ScanEagle.

English: Yuma, Ariz. (June 16, 2006) - U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Michael Kropiewnicki, a Combat Videographer assigned to 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing (MAW) Combat Camera, launches a Boeing Scan Eagle Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) during the training exercise Desert Talon 2-06 onboard Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS). The Scan Eagle UAV is a small GPS-guided plane that can fly over a designated battle space for up to fifteen hours and transmit real-time imagery directly to its home link. It weighs 40 lbs and has a ten-foot wingspan. It is invisible to radar and is barely audible once within 50 ft. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt Guadalupe M. Deanda III (RELEASED)

Source: Flight Global