Business
France’s imminent decisions on UAS procurement will have a disproportionate influence on future European unmanned aircraft programmes, and will likely determine whether Europe can catch up with Israel and the United States, whose industries currently dominate the sector. France’s leading role is coincidental, and is not justified by
Propulsion
Lockheed Martin and LaserMotive, Inc., recently demonstrated the capabilities of an innovative laser power system to extend the Stalker UAS flight time to more than 48 hours, representing an improvement of 2,400 percent. Stalker is a small, silent UAS used by Special Operations Forces since 2006 to perform intelligence,
Testing
Lockheed Martin has developed a small homing beacon the size of a hockey puck to help increase the accuracy of cargo drops by UAS. The beacon is small enough to easily fit in a Marine’s pack and could soon provide a novel way to call in quick, accurate resupply
Testing
Taranis, BAE’s unmanned combat air system technology demonstrator, has successfully completed a series of key tests on the way to commencing flight trials in 2013. The low observable (LO) platform recently completed radar cross section tests at BAE Systems’ Warton site and the initial analysis has indicated that the
On 27 June 2012, the kick-off meeting of the ULTRA (Unmanned Aerial Systems in European Airspace) Consortium took place at the premises of Indra in San Fernando, Madrid, Spain. Subsequent to a public tender, the ULTRA Consortium was awarded an 18 month contract by the European Commission under its
Business
Insitu Pacific, the Australia-based subsidiary of Insitu Inc., announced that it has signed a contract to deliver ScanEagle UAS to Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) for comprehensive operational evaluation by the Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF). The UAS will be operated by the JGSDF to assist in disaster
Events
Tekever’s AR4 Light Ray is the first fully autonomous UAS to be exhibited in an international Air Show, performing daily flights between July 9th and 13th at Farnborough. The AR4 Light Ray is a state-of-the-art mini UAS providing advanced capabilities for intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and
Business
SELEX Galileo, a Finmeccanica company, has announced a further export customer for its Falco Tactical Unmanned Aircraft System.This new sale brings the total number of nations who have purchased the Falco to four, while the worldwide operating fleet exceeds fifty aircraft. In another UAS development, SELEX Galileo has released
Testing
Insitu Inc. announced that the Insitu Common Open-mission Management Command and Control (ICOMC2) system flew its Integrator Unmanned Aircraft System during a one-hour, 20-minute flight in eastern Oregon earlier this year. ICOMC2 is a core UAS control system that can be augmented with software plug-ins to
Business
The Boeing Company and Elbit Systems signed a Memorandum of Understanding at the Farnborough Airshow to collaborate on the marketing and sales of Elbit Systems' Hermes 450 and 900 product lines in the United States and select international countries. "This partnership further expands and enhances Boeing's
Business
AAI Unmanned Aircraft Systems announced that it has received a $358 million award from the U.S. Army’s Program Manager – Unmanned Aircraft Systems for engineering support and system upgrades that will create a fleet of 45 upgraded RQ-7B Shadow Tactical Unmanned Aircraft Systems (TUAS).Deliveries of 43 systems
Military
The Pentagon is considering awarding a Distinguished Warfare Medal to UAS pilots who work on military bases often far removed from the battlefield. Pentagon officials have been briefed on the medal’s “unique concept,” Charles V. Mugno, head of the Army Institute of Heraldry, told a recent meeting of the