Commercial
AR.Drone posted this video of the Grand Finale of its first Annual Competition to find the best pilot in the world. After being selected through an online competition, the 15 finalists representing 9 nationalities finally arrived to Las Vegas on January 9th. The finalists received an AR.Drone bag
Testing
Fire Scout Over Frigate McInerney - Photo:MC2 Alan Gragg, US NavyReservists are at the controls of the MQ-8B Fire Scout unmanned helicopter for the aircraft’s deployment to Western Africa. As part of an effort to determine manning for the unmanned aircraft, reserve officers will fly Fire Scout and
Air Force Secretary Michael Donley and Chief of Staff General Norton Schwartz answer questions about the Air Force's Force Structure overview during a February 3rd news briefing at the Pentagon. The Air Force’s Guard and Reserve components will take a big hit in terms of personnel if
After five years, and 23 extensions, Congress is finally poised to put an FAA bill on the President’s desk for his signature. The US House of Representatives passed a compromise FAA bill including UAS provisions, in which it tasked the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) with coming up with a
Accidents
Witnesses say that an unmanned surveillance aircraft crashed into a refugee camp in the Somali capital of Mogadishu last week. Refugees and soldiers in Mogadishu’s Badbado camp say they watched the aircraft crash on Friday into a hut made of sticks, corrugated cans and plastic bags. Sacdiyo Sheikh Madar,
National Associations
At the association’s General Assembly, which took place in Paris, France on 18 January 2012, a new Board of Directors was unanimously voted into office. The mandate of a member of the Board of Directors has a duration of 2 years. The Board of Directors Executive Committee consists of:
Military
RQ-4B Global Hawk Block 40 Photo: Northrop Grumman The North Atlantic Treaty Organization agreed on Friday to acquire its first fleet of unarmed unmanned aircraft under a long-sought deal that defence officials said would help fill a gap in alliance surveillance capabilities exposed by last year's
Military
MQM-107D Streaker The North Korean military is developing unmanned "suicide" attack aircraft to target South Korean troops on the northwestern islands, a South Korean Army source claimed Sunday. The South Korean military in turn plans to procure all-weather unmanned tactical dirigibles capable of carrying out reconnaissance
Military
Elbit Systems has expanded its portfolio of payloads with the recent launch of a Hermes 450 and Hermes 900 UAS hyper-spectral payload with new intelligence capabilities. Based on Elbit Systems Electro-Optics Elop’s proprietary research, the unique, innovative hyper-spectral imaging technology enables simultaneous imaging of the region
Military
Air Force Secretary Michael Donley, at an Air Force Association event in Washington on February 2, previewed more details of the USAF portion of the fiscal 2013 budget request that comes out February 13. “We will retire the RQ-4 Global Hawk block 30 fleet, which is about 18 aircraft”
A House-Senate conference report last week called on the Administration to accelerate the use of civilian unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) in US airspace. The pending authorisation bill for the Federal Aviation Administration directs the Secretary of Transporation to develop within nine months “a comprehensive plan to safely accelerate the
Commercial
What appeared to be human forms recently seen flying over New York City made passes along the Brooklyn Bridge, flew past the Statue of Liberty, and some even performed loops -- they were also part of a viral marketing campaign. To promote a movie, three remote-controlled aircraft designed to look