News
* Schiebel once again showcased the unrivalled versatility of its CAMCOPTER S-100 at NATO’s annual REPMUS (Robotic Experimentation and Prototyping using Maritime Uncrewed Systems) exercise, hosted by the Portuguese Navy. Over the course of the large-scale multinational trials, the S-100 flew multiple missions with advanced payloads, underscoring its role as
VTOL
From concept to reality in 10 months, Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin company, has transformed a UH-60L Black Hawk helicopter into the S-70UAS U-Hawk, a versatile autonomous unmanned aircraft system (UAS) that has 25% more cargo space than a typical Black Hawk. Sikorsky replaced the cockpit section with actuated clamshell doors
News
* Boeing has announced plans for a family of new, tiltrotor drones that are intended to support existing crewed military helicopters, especially those of the U.S. Army, providing something like an equivalent to the U.S. Air Force’s Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA). Indeed, the company describes the drones as
VTOL
* AeroVironment, Inc., a global leader in all-domain defense systems, has announced the release of its newest all-electric vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) platform–the VAPOR Compact Long Endurance (CLE) unmanned aircraft system (UAS). Building on the proven performance of previous VAPOR models, the VAPOR CLE helicopter sets a new standard
News
Russia’s Azimut company, part of the state-owned Rostec defense conglomerate, has begun field testing a new domestically developed reconnaissance drone produced with additive manufacturing technology. The prototype features a fuselage that is entirely 3D-printed, a design the company says reduces both production time and cost while expanding mission flexibility.
Loitering Munitions - One Way Effector (OWE)
* AeroVironment, Inc., a leading global provider of loitering munition systems, announced the expansion of its combat-proven Switchblade family of precision loitering munitions with three new systems: the Switchblade 600 Block 2, the Switchblade 400, and the Switchblade 300 Block 20 equipped with a modular explosively formed penetrator (EFP) payload. Together,
BVLOS
While pilots have sought to maintain maneuverability-based right-of-way rules, along with shared responsibility for see-and-avoid, as drones are integrated into the national airspace system, the nascent drone industry has struggled to develop cost-effective ways to enable unmanned aircraft to detect other objects around them. The FAA’s FAR Part 108
News
The UK's Ministry of Defence has published a preliminary market engagement notice under Project VANQUISH, seeking industry views on a new “Fixed Wing Short Take Off and Landing Autonomous Collaborative Platform” (FW STOL ACP) for Royal Navy carriers. The Find a Tender listing describes the effort as a
C-UAS
The Ukrainian military has begun deploying special engineering barriers to prevent fiber-optic drones from flying behind the front line. The idea behind the simple engineering design, which consists of a stretched barbed wire, is to break the fiber-optic cable that gets on it by rotating the barb around its axis.
Business
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a meeting with the Minister of Defence of the Netherlands, Ruben Brekelmans. Following the meeting, the Defence Ministers of both countries signed the Memorandum of Understanding concerning the Co-Production of drones. The Head of State thanked the Government, the Prime Minister, and the people
Loitering Munitions - One Way Effector (OWE)
* Northrop Grumman has been doing detailed design work that lays a path to air-launching its Lumberjack loitering one-way attack drone from Kratos’ stealthy XQ-58 Valkyrie uncrewed aircraft. Multiple manned and unmanned aircraft are being eyed as potential platforms for employing Lumberjack, which is already being tested in surface-launched modes and
Business
* Rheinmetall is supplying Ukraine with further Skyranger 35 air defence systems based on the Leopard 1. The order is worth a three-digit million Euro figure. The systems are being financed by an EU country through the proceeds from frozen Russian assets. The production and integration of the systems will be