Role & capabilities
- Reconnaissance aircraft
- Primary domain
- Air
- System type
- Reconnaissance aircraft
- Developer / manufacturer
- AeroVironment
- Origin / production countries
- United States
- Other names
- No additional names recorded
- Variants / configurations
- Puma 3 AE; VTOL option; Puma LE is separately specified
- Operators / programme customers
- Not confirmed in the reviewed public sources
Evidence & current status
The sources below establish the stated programme milestone or supplier claim. They do not independently verify every configuration, delivery total or advertised performance figure.
Role and programme
The third-generation Puma AE combines a small fixed-wing airframe with interchangeable day/night camera payloads. The current table describes three-hour endurance with the appropriate battery and distinguishes standard communications reach from extended-antenna configurations. Those distances are not interchangeable with total flight distance.
The product offers a VTOL kit and additional payload integration; these are options rather than evidence that every military Puma has the same installation. The profile centres on Puma 3 AE. Puma LE and earlier AE generations need separate baselines, and the current figures should not be assigned retroactively to them.
Sourced specifications
Figures apply to the named configuration. Maximum values are not guaranteed operating performance.
| Specification | Reported value | Context & source |
|---|---|---|
| Airframe | Portable fixed-wing reconnaissance aircraft | Published specification for the named configuration. Maxima are not necessarily achievable together. Source |
| Launch / recovery | Hand launch; optional VTOL kit | Published specification for the named configuration. Maxima are not necessarily achievable together. Source |
| Propulsion | Not established from the reviewed public sources. | Public data gap; no estimate or neighbouring variant value substituted. Source |
| Dimensions | 2.8 m span; 1.4 m length | Published specification for the named configuration. Maxima are not necessarily achievable together. Source |
| Mass | 7 kg published aircraft weight | Published specification for the named configuration. Maxima are not necessarily achievable together. Source |
| Endurance | Up to 3 h with optional battery | Published specification for the named configuration. Maxima are not necessarily achievable together. Source |
| Range | 20 km standard; 40 km ERA; 60 km LRTA configuration | Published specification for the named configuration. Maxima are not necessarily achievable together. Source |
| Speed | Not established from the reviewed public sources. | Public data gap; no estimate or neighbouring variant value substituted. Source |
| Altitude | Not established from the reviewed public sources. | Public data gap; no estimate or neighbouring variant value substituted. Source |
| Payload | 1.8 kg standard; 2.9 kg with specified heavy-lift configuration | Published specification for the named configuration. Maxima are not necessarily achievable together. Source |
| Sensors | Mantis i45 / i45 N day/night options | Published specification for the named configuration. Maxima are not necessarily achievable together. Source |
| Communications / navigation | Not established from the reviewed public sources. | Public data gap; no estimate or neighbouring variant value substituted. Source |
Publication history
- — Added a sourced global catalogue profile with configuration-specific data and explicit evidence limits.
Suggest a correction to this entry
Follow the evidence
Source types identify who makes the claim. Programme milestones and supplier statements should be read in context.
- AeroVironment Puma 3 AE current product table (opens in a new tab)Manufacturer / programme source