please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . learn how and when to remove these template messages this article relies too much on references to primary sources . please improve this by adding secondary or tertiary sources . june 2010 learn how and when to remove this template message this article includes a list of references related reading or external links but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations . please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations . june 2010 learn how and when to remove this template message learn how and when to remove this template message griffon aerospace type s corporation industry aerospace defense global security founded 1993 headquarters madison alabama usa area served us key people larry a. french owner & cto gary w. tuttle business development & program manager products uas uas ground support equipment flight operations advanced composite structures experimental aircraft avionics number of employees 50 2009 website griffon aerospace.com griffon aerospace is an aerospace and defense company based in madison alabama united states . established in 1995 by larry french the company was formed to design develop and manufacture a manned composite kit aircraft . griffon s first aircraft was the single engined six seat lionheart . the design and development began at larry s home in harvest alabama where he worked designing and developing a composite aircraft formed around the pratt & whitney r 985 450 horsepower radial engine . the staggerwing design pays compliment to the classic beechcraft 17 staggerwing . pre sales of the lionheart took place in 1995 and 1996 at the annual experimental aircraft show at oshkosh . lionheart s first flight was 28 july 1997 and 48 hours later it flew into oshkosh . the aircraft was featured on the cover of the october 1997 kit planes magazine . enough orders were placed for larry french to take on griffon aerospace as his full time occupation . the company moved into a 5 000 square foot 460 m2 facility at 901 nick fitchard in huntsville . griffon also gained some investors who provided working capital for the new company . in 2002 griffon began to expand into composite structures for nasa applications through a subcontract with northrop grumman for composite cyrogenic tanks . during that same time period griffon also began designing a prototype 130 pound gross weight unmanned aircraft eventually designated the mqm 170a outlaw . in february 2003 griffon submitted a proposal in response to the us army amcom remotely piloted vehicle target rpvt offering and griffon was awarded the rpvt contract in august 2003 . a few months later lockheed awarded griffon a large contract to build a full scale composite crew capsule . in 2004 the addition of the us army s new five year rpvt production contract allowed griffon aerospace to expand producing between 50 and 80 outlaw aircraft per month at one point . griffon also put together flight crews to fly the unmanned aircraft for the us army and foreign military customers . as of 2012 griffon has produced over 3 000 unmanned aircraft and has flown over 110 000 sorties and maintained a loss rate under 1 % . in 2009 griffon aerospace won the recompete for the outlaw mqm 170a . also in 2009 griffon was awarded a sole source contract for the mqm 171a broadsword a 600 pound gross weight unmanned aircraft . also in 2009 the us navy also awarded griffon aerospace a contract for the manufacture operation and maintenance of a modified version of the outlaw mqm 170a as of 2012 griffon has delivered 500 us navy aircraft . in august 2012 griffon was awarded a large id iq contract for aerial target services with us army target management office . griffon was awarded the northrop supplier of the year for 2009 for its advanced composite work on the nasa mlas program . in october 2012 griffon was awarded a multimillion dollar subcontract from northrop grumman to build a sub scale tank for a nasa risk reduction program . griffon introduced its outlaw g2 aircraft at the 2012 auvsi show in las vegas . the g2 aircraft will replace the current mqm 170a model aircraft . griffon display at oshkosh griffon composite capsule during test broadsword rollout in april 2010 griffon aerospace and us army officials rolled out their second uav system the broadsword reference list edit aviation week article griffon huntsville times article local news articles griffon external links edit wikimedia commons has media related to griffon aerospace . official website press release us army awards griffon aerospace 5 year unmanned aircraft systems uas contract griffon aerospace page on al.com the outlaw page on peostri.army.mil aviationweek.com retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title griffon aerospace & oldid 734392521 categories aircraft manufacturers of the united stateshidden categories articles lacking reliable references from june 2010all articles lacking reliable 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