Tekever expects to begin the first flight test campaign under the European Space Agency and European Maritime Safety Agency’s Rapsody programme in Malta this summer, which will detect the movements of small vessels and monitor ship lanes for pollution. The company’s AR5 Life Ray Evolution is being used
Payloads
Insitu, through its collaboration with Hood Technologies and Sentient, has announced that it will incorporate the ViDAR (Visual Detection and Ranging) payload into its fleet of unmanned systems, beginning with its ScanEagle unmanned aircraft. ViDAR is a wide area autonomous detection system for electro-optic imagery in the maritime domain.
Military
A risk-reduction request for proposals (RfP) for the US Navy’s MQ-25 unmanned air vehicle acquisition is expected to be released “this summer”, which will help set out the timeline in which the service can realistically expect the tanker system to be deployed on-board its carrier fleet.
VTOL
Martin UAV has completed development of the autonomous flight control system for its V-Bat vertical take-off and landing unmanned air vehicle, which will lead to a series of customer flight demonstrations in summer and further testing for the US Navy. The MLB Company design has been in development
Testing
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. has announced that it has successfully completed fuselage structural integrity testing of its Certifiable Predator B (CPB) RPA. “Completion of this testing signifies that the design of the new fuselage will be able to meet the strict requirements for type-certification and routine operations in
Regulations
The US Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) unmanned aircraft systems integration office has cautioned state and local government legislators in America against creating a patchwork of rules and regulations relating to the operation of drones. Because UAVs are defined by law as aircraft, the FAA’s rules for operating in
Commercial
For the first time in aviation history, a fixed-wing unmanned aircraft has successfully tested a cloud-seeding payload during an experimental flight in Nevada. Flown at Hawthorne Industrial Airport under the state's FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Test Site designation, the Drone America Savant™
Business
Kratos Defense is gaining ground in the unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV) market traditionally dominated by the world’s largest defence firms and privately-held General Atomics Aeronautical Systems in the USA, having captured at least one significant classified contract and most recently winning a place on the US Defense
Testing
AeroVironment, Inc. has announced that the company – in partnership with SmartC2, a provider of flight business management systems – will team with NASA on its Unmanned Traffic Management (UTM) Technology Capability Levels (TCL) 2 flight demonstration slated for October 2016. The demonstration will build on results from UTM TCL1 field testing
Commercial
Lisa Ellman and Gretchen West, two drone industry veterans with a combined 20 years in government policymaking and unmanned aircraft systems advocacy, today announce the formation and official launch of the Commercial Drone Alliance (The Alliance). This industry-led, independent and non-profit association is dedicated to supporting enterprise end-
Events
Following the announcement about the formation of the Commercial Drone Alliance, Drone World Expo is pleased to announce the event has been selected by this new industry group as its official trade show. The 2nd annual Drone World Expo, the defining event for the commercial applications of UAS technology, will
Regulations
Speaking today at the AUVSI annual conference in New Orleans, FAA Administrator Michael Huerta announced the agency is establishing a broad-based advisory committee that will provide advice on key unmanned aircraft integration issues. He also announced plans to make it easier for students to fly unmanned aircraft as part