Honeywell (NYSE: HON) has received a $65 million production contract for the Company's Micro Air Vehicles, known as the T-Hawk system. Each system consists of two T-Hawk vehicles and one ground control unit, spares, training for operators and maintainers, and field support. Hardware deliveries of the 90 systems will begin during the second quarter of 2009 and conclude in December 2009.

Each T-Hawk is small enough to carry in a backpack and is equipped with video cameras to relay information back to foot soldiers using a portable handheld terminal. The circular vehicle, weighing 17 pounds and 14 inches in diameter, can easily fly down to inspect hazardous areas for threats without exposing warfighters to enemy fire. Honeywell’s T-Hawk also has the ability to take off and land vertically from complex desert and urban terrains without using runways or helipads. The system has been deployed in Iraq to keep American troops safer by identifying enemy threats from the sky. The deployment is the first time a ducted-fan unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) has been used during combat missions. The system requires minimal operator training. The ground station can be used to program a flight path for the T-Hawk or to control the craft manually. The aircraft also can be optionally equipped with electro-optical cameras for daylight operations or infrared cameras for night missions. A civilian version of this technology is being evaluated by the Miami Dade Police Department for law enforcement applications.