The next decade could see a huge shift in the way armed unmanned aircraft and their human controllers interact, with potentially profound effects on future battlefields. At the heart of this change: two-way voice controls for autonomous systems, just like your iPhone’s Siri app. Also, vibrating controls like
Japan's atomic energy authority and the country's space agency has announced a joint project to develop an unmanned aircraft to measure radioactivity in the environment after last year's nuclear disaster.Japan has been forced to invent or improve systems for measuring radioactive contamination since
Military
During a defence budget meeting last Thursday after visiting a base in southern Russia, newly-re-elected President Vladimir Putin said “We need a programme for unmanned aircraft.” Experts say this is a most important area of development in aviation,” he added. “We need a range of all types, including
Testing
Northrop Grumman just posted this video which is a visual summary of activities associated with the recent flight testing of X-47B Air Vehicle Two (AV-2) at Edwards Air Force Base, California.The testing marked the completion of the airworthiness test phase of the Unmanned Combat Air System Carrier
Lighter Than Air
The $211 million Blue Devil 2 airship, built for the Air Force by the tiny, Virginia-based company Mav6, is slated for dismantling and storage, bringing to an ignominious end a two-year saga of technological ambition, bureaucratic waffling and vicious politicking. The Air Force no longer wants Blue Devil
Events
The Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) is preparing to showcase its Anka and T-129, the national attack helicopter developed in cooperation with Italians, at a ceremony on June 28. The ceremony will take place on the anniversary of the approval of the law on the foundation of the company in
Propulsion
A team of engineers at Electronic Cooling Solutions worked with John Langley and engineers at Ambient Micro to build an exhaust-heat thermoelectric generator (EHTEG) that can be incorporated into a UAS design to harvest and convert waste energy into electrical power in flight. The engineers at Electronic Cooling Solutions
Military
Northrop Grumman Corporation unveiled the first U.S. Navy MQ-4C Triton Broad Area Maritime Surveillance Unmanned Aircraft System (BAMS UAS) in a ceremony on Friday at Northrop Grumman's Palmdale, California, manufacturing facility. "Northrop Grumman is proud to provide our U.S. Navy customer with the MQ-
Testing
The first major phase of flight testing the X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System (UCAS) demonstrator aircraft came to a successful conclusion on May 15 when Northrop Grumman Corporation and the US Navy wrapped up testing at Edwards Air Force Base, California. The airworthiness test phase, which comprised 23 flights
Business
AeroVironment revealed that 19 countries have now bought “thousands” of Puma, Raven and Wasp hand-launched UAS. At the Eurosatory Trade Fair in Paris, the company announced new orders from Sweden for the Puma and Wasp, and from Denmark for the Puma. Denmark acquired the Raven in 2007. “Allied armed
Business
The IT180 vertical take-off and landing mini-UAS made by INFOTRON has been chosen by Groupe INTRA (French economic interest group: EDF–CEA–AREVA) to extend its range of robotic devices to be used in crisis situations in the nuclear sector. In case of a nuclear accident, this UAS
A saucer-shaped aircraft on a wide flatbed truck driving around the Capitol Beltway had some people wondering if the government was moving an alien UFO in or near Washington, D.C., last Wednesday night. Motorists snapped photos of the strange object and posted them on Twitter, some people became