An almost-$200 million U.S. Navy unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), otherwise known as a drone, crashed during a test flight yesterday in a sparsely populated marshy area along Maryland’s Eastern Shore. No one was injured in the crash, nor was there any property damage.
Known as a Broad Area Maritime Surveillance Demonstrator (BAMS-D), the 44-foot-long drone crashed near Bloodsworth Island in Dorchester, Maryland, which is located approximately 22 miles east of the Patuxent Naval Air Station from which it had taken off.
An official statement from the Navy said the crash occurred at 12:11 p.m.
The BAMS-D is a test version of a jet-powered high altitude aircraft, the Navy’s version of the Air Force’s RQ-4 Global Hawk. In a recent report, the Government Accountability Office estimated that the Navy’s fleet of 70 BAMS drones cost $13 billion, over $186 million each.
The U. S. Coast Guard had established a safety perimeter around the scene just after the crash. In its statement, the Navy said “cleanup of the site is underway [and] Navy officials are investigating the cause of the crash.”
More in the video below.
Related articles
- Navy drone crashes in Maryland (cnn.com)
- You: Navy Drone Crashes in Maryland (thedailybeast.com)
- Navy drone crashes off Maryland; no injuries (usnews.msnbc.msn.com)
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