CenTauri Solutions, LLC (CenTauri) has been awarded a contract by the Department of Defense (DoD) to conduct a demonstration of the operational feasibility and military effectiveness of integrating an advanced, lightweight, high-definition electro-optical sensor with an unintentional electromagnetic emissions sensor system on an autonomous, vertical take-off and landing unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The project, which is known as "Yellow Jacket," is sponsored by the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) Rome, New York, and has a total contract value of $11.7M.

Yellow Jacket will support DoD's Joint Improvised Explosive Device (IED) Defeat Organization (JIEDDO) by providing military patrols and convoys with the ability to identify potential IED threats. CenTauri's Yellow Jacket solution consists of a helicopter based UAV that can take off from small patches of ground anywhere in the world and both fly and land fully autonomously. There is no need for a launcher or runway for expeditionary field operations. Integrated into the UAV are two sensor systems designed to identify potential IED threats. They consist of a high-definition electro-optical sensor and an unintentional electromagnetic emissions sensor.