Product profile
Puma 3 AE
Puma 3 AE is AeroVironment's hand-launched small UAS for land and maritime ISR. It pairs an all-environment airframe with a gimballed EO/IR payload for tac...
Facts
- Company
- AeroVironment
- Product type
- uav
- Status
- commercial
- Website
- https://www.avinc.com/solution/puma-3-ae/
About Puma 3 AE
Puma 3 AE is a 7.1-kilogram hand-launched aircraft designed to land on the ground or water. It flies for approximately three hours and operates over standard ranges of 20 kilometres, with extended-range antenna options increasing the communications envelope for tactical missions.
The Mantis i45 payload combines high-resolution electro-optical and infrared imaging in a stabilised gimbal, while heavier payload configurations support additional sensors. The sealed all-environment airframe can be recovered from water and relaunched, making it suitable for maritime patrol as well as land-based surveillance. A small team carries, assembles and operates the system without launch equipment.
Summary
Type: UAV
Core: Hand launch
Function: ISR
Audience: Defense
Specifications
- endurance_hours
- 3 hours h
- length
- 1.4 m / 4.6 ft
- operational_environment
- Land and maritime all-environment operations
- payload_capacity_kg_range
- 1.8 kg standard; 2.9 kg with Heavy Lift Software kg
- payload_options
- Mantis i45 and enhanced Mantis i45 N payloads for day, night, and low-light operations
- range
- 20 km standard; 40 km with ERA; 60 km with LRTA
- task_scope
- Tactical ISR, land operations, and maritime operations
- weight_kg
- 7 kg
- wingspan
- 2.8 m / 9.2 ft
Research, Articles and recent verified events
- AeroVironment and Applied Intuition validate Mayhem 10 swarm autonomy — 2026-07-29
- Teledyne FLIR receives Argus XL order for AV Titan MS deployments — 2026-07-29
- AeroVironment receives 82-aircraft P550 full-rate production order — 2026-07-20
- AeroVironment wins $30.9M NSPA purchase order for Germany LARUS Puma systems — 2026-07-07
- U.S. Army awards AeroVironment $500M counter-UAS contract — 2026-07-01
- AeroVironment reports FY26 revenue growth and $2.7B bookings — 2026-06-29
- AV introduces TOM 50 RE backpackable UGV for reconnaissance and EOD — 2026-06-14
- AeroVironment plans $15 million Dayton-area advanced production expansion — 2026-06-02