Testing
Google has scrapped its initial drone design because it was difficult to control and is now working on a new version, according to Astro Teller, head of the Internet company’s Google X research lab. Teller told the South by Southwest conference in Austin, Tex., that Google founders Larry Page
Commercial
A drone has been used in a daring night-time attempt to smuggle drugs and weapons into a high security jail. The plan was only thwarted when the machine became entangled in razor wire on a security wall and was then spotted by staff at Bedford Prison. It is the
Business
Boeing will conduct Denmark’s first-ever beyond visual line of sight unmanned airborne system (UAS) flights under civilian authority in May, another aspect of a partnership with Hans Christian Andersen Airport designed to help Denmark become an unmanned aerial systems leader.Boeing subsidiary Insitu Inc., in cooperation with the
Kansas State University is leading an international, multimillion-dollar project that is looking at unmanned aerial systems as a quick and efficient method to detect pest insects and diseases in food crops before outbreaks happen. Brian McCornack, associate professor of entomology, is the U.S. principal investigator on the $1.
Military
US warplanes have bombed a small drone used by Islamic State extremists in Iraq, marking the first time American-led forces had targeted an unmanned aircraft flown by the jihadists, officials said Wednesday. The strike took place on Tuesday near the western city of Fallujah, destroying "a remotely piloted
Charred wreckage emerges of the American UAS shot down by Syrian military near Assad's stronghold. The burned metal and mangled electronics in these images could belong to the first American aircraft to go down in Syria since the U.S. began airstrikes on ISIS inside the country. U.
Testing
Amazon.com Inc. has been awarded an experimental airworthiness certificate to use drones, according to the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration. Under the contract, Amazon's logistics unit will be allowed to use drones for research, development and crew training. All flight operations of unmanned aircraft must be conducted
Regulations
An intelligence agency employee whose drone crashed on the White House lawn earlier this year won't face criminal charges, the U.S. attorney's office in Washington announced. Shawn Usman, who works for the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, was piloting the borrowed drone in downtown Washington early
Regulations
A man has been charged with 17 offences related to allegedly flying a drone over landmarks including the Houses of Parliament, the Queen Victoria memorial outside Buckingham Palace and several football stadiums. Nigel Wilson, 42, is due to appear at Westminster magistrates court on 16 April over alleged offences under
In the late 1960s and early ’70s, the CIA embarked on a programme to build an unmanned version of America’s most iconic spy plane—one that could reach deep into the heart of Chinese territory to pry out the nuclear secrets at supersonic speeds and at little risk to
Accidents
George Morse’s company, Failure Analysis Service Technology, based in Prescott, Ariz., specializes in the analysis of aviation mishaps, foreign-object damage in particular. Morse himself has done more than 4000 engine investigations, most the result of ingestion of nuts or bolts or other runway detritus rather than birds.So
A new drone-building series called Airheads is due to air on Sunday nights on BBC2 in the key Top Gear slot at 8pm. The corporation may be hoping to recapture some of the success of the popular technology show Robot Wars with the launch of the new drone-based