The unmanned aircraft, launched by Iran-backed Hezbollah militants in Lebanon on Oct. 6, is now believed to have transmitted pictures of preparations for a joint Israel-US military exercise, ballistic missile sites, and possibly Israel’s top-secret nuclear reactor near Dimona. The three-hour flight was initially downplayed
Business
The U.S. has total dominance of the skies above planet Earth, a defence budget five times as large as its nearest competitor, and a fleet of robotic aircraft and advanced manned planes. The newest leader of the Pentagon’s blue-sky researchers says the U.S. is more vulnerable
Video
[youtube Y6FGw_IQ1sY nolink] This Boeing video shows its Unmanned Little Bird demonstrator making autonomous landings and take-offs on an oil-rig tender off Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.There are pilots on board, but there are not touching the controls as the helicopter lands and takes off under the command
Business
The US Air Force last week issued a broad agency announcement soliciting white papers for a program designed to draw quick, innovative solutions to various service needs -- mostly from small businesses. Among the service's needs are technologies that could assist in the aerial refueling of unmanned aircraft. The
Austrian Felix Baumgartner has broken the record for the highest ever skydive by jumping out of a balloon 128,000ft (24 miles, 39km) above New Mexico.Unofficially, the Austrian jumped from 128,097ft (24.2 miles; 39km). He fell for four minutes and 19 seconds, reaching a speed of 706mph
Military
David Rothkopf, a former Clinton administration official has written an article on the Foreign Policy website stating that U.S. and Israel have decided on a limited surgical strike on the alleged Iranian enrichment facilities. He quotes a close inside source as saying that the most likely action to be
Testing
A small green aircraft flew in the blue sky over the Halim Perdanakusuma airbase in East Jakarta on Thursday morning. “The plane is designed to carry out surveillance. Given its noise levels, however, its targets would easily become aware of its position,” Research and Technology Minister Gusti M. Hatta said
Military
The leader of the Shia militant movement Hezbollah in Lebanon said his group is responsible for launching a UAS into Israel last week, and Iranians made it.Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah said on the movement's television channel that the aircraft flew over "sensitive sites" in Israel. "
Business
Oculus Systems Ltd is pleased to announce that it has become the UK re-seller for the NANO UAS, Huginn X-1 (manufactured by Sky-Watch in Denmark). A lightweight and agile platform with intuitive controls the X-1 can be used for a wide variety of tasks in both
Testing
A shipboard-capable system designed to support both the launch and recovery of the Scan Eagle successfully completed final demonstration flight testing Sept. 27 at a testing range in eastern Oregon. Sponsored by the Office of Naval Research (ONR), the Compact Launch and Recovery System (CLRE) will provide a small-
The US Navy is confident that laser cannons will move out of science fiction and onto the decks of its surface ships by the end of the decade. Its futurists at the Office of Naval Research still have visions of scalable laser blasts that can fry an incoming missile at
Business
Boeing and Korean Air Aerospace Division (KAL-ASD) will broaden their cooperative relationship to include rotorcraft, fixed-wing aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles, and military aircraft maintenance and support through a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed on Oct. 4. The two companies have a longstanding relationship. KAL-ASD is a supplier