Testing
Bell on 16 October performed the first flight of its Autonomous Pod Transport (APT) 70 unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) with a payload. The aircraft flew with a 27.2 kg payload, company spokesperson Felicia Votta said on 20 November. The APT 70 flew vertically, transitioned to aircraft flight where it
The Army’s Future Vertical Lift program is one of the modernization priorities for Army leadership. With the use of advanced X-ray diagnostics, scientists have a better understanding of gas turbine combustor inlet conditions, which is critical for the design and development of engines for the next generation of
Commercial
Draganfly Inc. has announced updates to its product line. Like Draganfly's existing offerings, Draganfly’s updated product, Tango2+ Fixed Wing drone (the “Tango2+”), is purposely built to save time and money for operators while improving the quality of mission-critical data used within the many industries the company
Business
Auterion, an open-source based operating system for enterprise drones, and Avy, a pioneer in innovative unmanned aviation technologies with a focus on life-saving missions and applications, have announced a partnership to enable a vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) drone for medical deliveries, first responder, sustainable logistics, and wildlife
Drone pilot Reuben Burciaga was fined $20,000 by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) after his fly-away DJI Phantom 3 drone landed right next to an active runway at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas. The drone incident took place in June of 2018 when Burciaga wanted to take
Accidents
An unarmed U.S. Africa Command remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) was lost over Tripoli, Libya, November 21st. RPA operations are conducted in Libya to assess the ongoing security situation and monitor violent extremist activity. These operations are critical to counter terror activity in Libya and are fully coordinated with appropriate
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has announced two important expansions of the Low Altitude Authorization and Capability (LAANC), which automates the application and approval process for drone operators to obtain airspace authorizations. Four airports – Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, Dulles International Airport, William P. Hobby Airport in Houston and
Just months after Iran shot down an expensive U.S. surveillance drone over the Strait of Hormuz, the Defense Department is weighing scrapping about two-thirds of the Air Force’s roughly three dozen Global Hawk unmanned aircraft as part of a shift toward building the new capabilities needed to
Commercial
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. is supporting the California Air National Guard as they provide real-time reconnaissance for California’s Department of Forestry and Fire Protection firefighting operations in Southern California. CA ANG’s 163rd Attack Wing routinely performs aerial reconnaissance for firefighting missions using their Predator B/MQ-
Testing
According to sources, and backed up by photos, Disney is currently testing two SUV-sized X-Wing drones to fly over Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. Disney has been somewhat secretly working on a project in the Cast Member parking lot at Disney’s Hollywood Studios over the past few
NATO’s first unmanned aircraft has arrived at an alliance base in southern Italy, where reconnaissance missions are expected to begin next year. The first of five Alliance Ground Surveillance drones arrived at Naval Air Station Sigonella in Sicily on Thursday, after completing a 22-hour test flight from Palmdale,
The US Navy awarded four prize challenges for the Marine Air Ground Task Force (MAGTF) Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Expeditionary (MUX) November 21 to multiple vendors for their mission payload design concepts. A team from the Multi-Mission Tactical UAS program office (PMA-266) coordinated these four mission payload prize