Testing
The US Air National Guard just announced that on May 7, 2012 the 163d Reconnaissance Wing took part in the Ardent Sentry Exercise which focused on Defense support of civil entities during a crisis situation. The object of the exercise was to launch an MQ-1 Predator from Fort Polk
Testing
QinetiQ is working with the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) to establish a new Unmanned Air Systems Capability Development Centre (UASCDC) to support the rapid development of UAS programmes from concept to deployment. The new Centre, the first of its kind in the UK will have a hub at MOD
Commercial
The River Systems Institute at Texas State is conducting unmanned aviation research under a $260,000 two-year grant from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. Thom Hardy, research professor at the River Systems Institute, said the university is using the grant to evaluate the use of unmanned aircraft as
Business
AAI Corp., Hunt Valley, Md., was awarded an $84,199,781 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for services in support of the Shadow 200 unmanned aircraft system. Work will be performed in Hunt Valley, Md., with an estimated completion date of June 15, 2013. One bid was solicited, with one
Testing
Alenia Aermacchi was again displaying its Sky-Y at Farnborough - a Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) Technologies Demonstrator - which first flew in June 2007. Sky-Y has an all-composite structure, all-electric systems and a 160 HP diesel engine of automotive derivation giving it up to 14 hours'
Researchers at MIT explain how dye-based nanotubes can help harvest light’s energy - tiny cylinders help reveal how natural-light-harvesting antennae collect light with exceptional efficiency. Companies that make commercial solar cells are happy if they can achieve 20 percent efficiency when converting sunlight to electricity; an improvement
Propulsion
L2 Aerospace and Cella Energy have teamed up to develop hydrogen storage technology for small, fuel-cell-powered unmanned aircraft systems and potentially other, larger manned and unmanned aircraft. The companies displayed a mockup of a concept design at the Farnborough International Airshow In March, Cape Canaveral, Florida-based L2
Business
SELEX Galileo has been awarded a contract worth €140 million by prime contractor Northrop Grumman Corporation as part of NATO’s Alliance Ground Surveillance (AGS) programme. The AGS programme is the flagship of NATO’s new defence strategy for security allies. Thirteen NATO countries are participating in the programme via
Events
DARPA’s research and development in stealth technology during the 1970s and 1980s led to the world’s most advanced radar-evading aircraft, providing strategic national security advantage to the United States. Today, that strategic advantage is threatened as other nations’ abilities in stealth and counter-stealth improve. Restoring that
Raytheon announced at the Farnborough Air Show that it has won a US Air Force contract to provide four radar pods equipped with ground moving target indication and Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) technology for the MQ-9 ReaperThe dismount detection radar will provide accurate data in night, day, and adverse
Business
About 20 miles east of Pittsburgh, the former heart of the nation's steel industry, a small company called ExOne is churning out a new generation of stainless steel boat propellers, oil pump parts and door knobs. But there are no clanging hammers, wheezing presses or even computer-controlled
Electronic Sub-Systems
Ecrin Systems has released a new rugged computer specifically targeted to space-constrained environments such as UAS, ground vehicles and manned aircraft subject to extremes of temperature, shock and vibration. Named ‘ONYX’, the computer is based on a rugged COM Express module design and offered with a range of powerful