Military
Effective October 1st, the U.S. Navy has officially established the first squadron that will operate its future MQ-25 Stingray carrier-based unmanned tankers from Boeing. The service does not expect to begin test flying more refined MQ-25 prototypes from actual carriers until the end of next year, at the earliest.
C-UAS
General Dynamics Land Systems (GDLS) was awarded a $1.219 billion contract to produce, test and deliver Interim Manoeuvre Short-Range Air Defense (IM-SHORAD) systems to the U.S. Army. The Army's initial order on the contract calls for 28 Stryker IM-SHORAD vehicles for $230 million. Don KotchmanStryker The
Business
The Ministry of Defense of Georgia reported on September 28 that it purchased Spanish-made unmanned aerial vehicles, as well as renewed existing aircraft, and retrained the personnel. “Acquisition and renovation of the unmanned aerial vehicles will reinforce Georgia’s defense capabilities substantially,” the Ministry underscored. According to the same report,
Training
ASTM International and the DRONERESPONDERS Public Safety Alliance – an official program of AIRT, a 501(c) non-profit organization supporting Drones For Good, have announced a new strategic initiative designed to standardize the training and use of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and related technology across the public safety and emergency services
Military
China has shown off a new military drone that carries two grenade launchers. The weapon appeared during a recent combat exercise in southern China, according to state broadcaster CCTV. The rotary-wing aircraft is also capable of firing guided munitions and conducting various missions, including tactical reconnaissance and midair interceptions, it
Accidents
Details are emerging regarding the shot down of several Azerbaijani An-2 aircraft during the ethnic and territorial conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh. Fighting between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces has erupted again over the disputed separatist region of Nagorno-Karabakh. During the new phase of conflict were shot down several Soviet-era An-2 biplane agricultural
Commercial
Mercedes-Benz Stadium (MBS) has implemented drone technology as part of the stadium’s holistic cleaning protocol. As a continued leader in innovation, MBS has partnered with Lucid Drone Technologies, a cutting-edge company based out of Charlotte, NC, that offers D1 disinfecting drones in order to sanitize key areas in a
Business
Aerovironment Inc, Simi Valley, California, was awarded an $8,371,332 firm-fixed-price contract for a Puma unmanned aircraft systems, initial spares, contractor logistics support, reconnaissance, surveillance and target acquisition, vampire and kestral software, launchers and new equipment training. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work will be
Testing
Operational missions started on 23 September for an initial period of three months.
Propulsion
Porterbrook and the University of Birmingham welcomed Rt. Hon Grant Shapps MP, Secretary of State for Transport, aboard HydroFLEX, Britain’s first hydrogen powered train, as it started operational trials on the mainline railway on September 30.The start of mainline testing is the culmination of almost two years development
Electronic Sub-Systems
UK technology company RelmaTech offers a new method for tracking drones and manned light aircraft to be identified in the airspace. “While ADS-B is a well-established technology for the identification and tracking of manned aircraft, it has several severe limitations,” says Philip Hall, RelmaTech’s Co-Founder and CEO. “Not only
Military
AeroVironment, Inc. has announced the introduction of its family of loitering missile systems, featuring the new Switchblade 600. Switchblade 600 builds on the battle-proven track record of Switchblade 300 to define a new category of extended range loitering missiles. The U.S. Army recently awarded AeroVironment a $76 million contract