[4] The Wasp III is the result of a multi-year joint development effort between AeroVironment and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to create a small, portable, reliable, and rugged unmanned aerial platform designed for front-line day or night reconnaissance and surveillance.

The aircraft can fly for 45 minutes out to 5 km (3.1 mi) at an altitude of 1,000 ft (300 m) with a top speed of 40–65 km/h (25–40 mph).

In November 2007, the U.S. Marine Corps also awarded AeroVironment a $19.3 million contract to deliver Wasp III systems under the Air Force BATMAV contract to equip Marines at platoon level, complementing Raven UAVs deployed at company and battalion levels.

Although it is heavier at 2.8 lb (1.3 kg), it has 20 percent greater endurance and incorporates a miniature gimbal that gives operators both color and infrared video imagery from a single sensor package.

[7] In January 2023, the U.S. Marine Corps revealed they had retired the RQ-12A Wasp IV SUAS in favor of the Skydio X2D, a vertical take-off and landing UAV that is easier to launch and recover and can provide a hover-and-stare surveillance capability.