AeroVironment announced on 4 December 2025 the integration of its Visual Navigation System (VNS) kit with the company’s Puma Long Endurance (LE) small unmanned aircraft system (SUAS), allowing the Puma LE to operate in global navigation satellite system (GNSS)-denied environments.
First introduced in 2022 for the Puma 2 AE and Puma 3 AE SUAASs, the VNS kit uses advanced computer vision and onboard processing to deliver precise, GNSS-independent navigation. Its integration into the Puma LE now extends this capability across the full Puma family for greater flexibility and resilience in degraded or denied environments.
Using a suite of downward-facing sensors, cameras and onboard computing, the VNS kit performs visual inertial odometry (VIO) to capture and analyse terrain imagery, estimating true aircraft position in real time. The system fuses continuous visual data from the cameras with motion inputs from onboard inertial navigation system sensors to calculate precise position, velocity and orientation, allowing the aircraft to know where it is and where it is going even when a GNSS signal is not available. It automatically transitions between GNSS-enabled and GNSS-denied modes with zero pilot input, ensuring uninterrupted mission continuity in contested environments.
The VNS kit is designed as an add-on option for new Puma 3 AE or Puma LE system orders and as a retrofit kit allowing existing Puma 2 AE, Puma 3 AE, and Puma LE customers to upgrade fielded systems. The compact two-piece add-on installs easily into existing Pumas with minimal impact on performance and fits within the standard Puma cases for efficient mission packout. The standard Puma LE system weighs just 10.8 kg and offers 6.5 hours of endurance, a 60 km range, is inaudible at 500 ft and features tool-free payload swaps for seamless transitions between intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR), targeting and other mission sets.
“Assured navigation is critical to the mission, especially as GNSS becomes an increasingly vulnerable resource,” Jason Hendrix, vice president for SUASs at AeroVironment, was quoted as saying in a company press release. “By fusing visual and inertial data in real time, the system enables uninterrupted flight paths, accurate geolocation and mission continuity in unreliable GNSS regions.”
In September 2025 AeroVironment announced several to the Puma LE platform that include the integration of a laser target designator and the release of the Universal Gimbal Kit. These enhancements evolve the Puma LE beyond being an ISR platform into a “cutting-edge precision-engagement system”, AeroVironment asserted.
“Every upgrade to Puma LE, including the addition of the VNS kit and our new laser designator and gimbal capabilities, is driven by one goal: giving the warfighter greater confidence, flexibility, and capability,” said Trace Stevenson, president of autonomous systems at AeroVironment. “These recent releases are a great example of AV constantly evolving our platforms to ensure they are at the forefront of technology and providing best in class capability to the warfighter.”
