Google is gearing up to test its solar-powered drone project – dubbed “Project Titan” – sometime this year as part of its continued efforts to bring service to some of the four billion people without Internet access. Sundar Pichai, a Senior VP at Google who oversees Android, Chrome and Google apps,
An Al Jazeera journalist has been fined €1,000 (£725;$1,120) for flying a drone in Paris last week in the midst of a security alert sparked by unexplained drone sightings across the city.Tristan Redman, 34, from the Qatar-based network al-Jazeera, was arrested last month in
Commercial
Tomskneft, a joint venture between Rosneft and Gazprom Neft, has started using unmanned aerial vehicles to monitor its pipeline routes and the oil and gas production assets. Testing of drones built under a domestic technology started at the Sovetskoe and Vakhskoe fields located in the Strezhevskiy District. Given the size
Testing
Throughout the Middle East, falcons have been flown for hunting and sport for thousands of years. But devotees of this ancient tradition have brought falconry into the technological age with falconers using quadcopters to train their birds. The birds’ owners try to maximize the falcon’s hunting area by training
Regulations
The European Commission’s future air traffic management initiative has only one-third of the budget required to carry out the full integration of remotely piloted air systems (RPAS) into European airspace, a senior representative has acknowledged. Speaking at a conference in Brussels on 3 March, Denis Koehl, senior advisor
Military
India’s Directorate of Naval Air Staff has issued Request for Information (RFI) last month seeking 50 ‘Naval Ship-Borne Unmanned Aerial Vehicles’ (NSUAS) that can augment various patrolling and search-related tactics on its vessels. Indian Navy currently operates two squadrons of Israeli-origin Heron and Searcher Mk-II
Testing
Officials with privately-owned Turkish firm Vestel Savunma said its Karayel UAV has passed a critical flight test, flying with an electro-optical camera and a total payload of 51 kilograms, and is ready to enter the Turkish military's inventory. Vestel has been developing the tactical done since
Reports & Publications
Unmanned Systems Canada has just released its report Canadian Civil UAS 2014. The report, developed with funding from the National Research Council of Canada (NRC), provides insight into the growth and potential of the UAS sector in Canada.“It was a pleasure to undertake this work for NRC”, said Stewart
Business
Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., San Diego, California, is being awarded a $63,700,156 advance acquisition contract for the procurement of long-lead components, material, parts and associated efforts required to maintain the MQ-4C Triton Unmanned Aircraft System planned production schedule.Work will be performed in Salt Lake City,
Worldwide Aeros Corp (Aeros) has completed the critical design review of its new 40E Sky Dragon multirole airship, marking the start of production for the lighter-than-air craft. Derived from the company’s Sky Dragon family of airships, the 40E offers a low-cost surveillance and security capability in
Business
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA‑ASI), and SENER, have announced that they have signed a teaming agreement that promotes the use of the multi-mission Predator B RPA to support Spain’s airborne surveillance and reconnaissance requirements. “GA-ASI is proud to be teamed in Spain with SENER. They
Regulations
The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) is hosting its first global RPAS Symposium titled "Remotely piloted or piloted: sharing one aerospace system", which will take place from 23 to 25 March 2015 at ICAO headquarters in Montreal, Canada. The intent of this symposium is to share amongst States