Propulsion
Engine manufacturer Rotax will this year begin delivering ASTM and certificated versions of a new four-stroke, four-cylinder piston 912iS engine, with monitoring capabilities typically found only in more advanced turbofan engines. The advanced technology offerings, developed for Rotax by Rockwell Collins, include an engine control unit (ECU), the
Lighter Than Air
[gallery orderby="rand"] Logos Technologies successfully showcased its Kestrel day/night wide-area persistent surveillance system at a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) demonstration in Nogales, Arizona. Funded by DHS’s Science and Technology Directorate, the week-long test allowed Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents to evaluate
Business
Advanced Defense Technologies, Inc. and Halberd Corporation announced the delivery of the first of several unmanned aircraft. The ADTI engineers are working collaboratively with Halberd to complete the critical design parameters for the payload systems that will provide the technical specifications needed for law enforcement and homeland defense applications. R.
Business
ReconRobotics announced that it acquired St. Paul systems engineering firm Xollai, a move that will expand its portfolio of technologies. ReconRobotics provides micro-robot systems for the defense and law enforcement industries. Xollai has developed identification software and technology that helps unmanned aircraft land safely. “This strategic acquisition will give
Business
The Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base awarded a six-year $24.1 million contract to Defense Engineering Corp. to develop advanced sensing equipment to prevent mid-air collision between aircraft. The research is one of numerous efforts to develop so-called “sense and avoid” sensor
The US Navy plans to fit Multi-Mode Sensor Seeker (MMSS) to the Fire Scout for use in anti-piracy operations. The Multi-Mode Sensor Seeker (MMSS) is a mix of high-definition cameras, mid-wave infrared sensors and laser-radar (LADAR) technology that will be able to pick out
Accidents
A US MQ-9 Reaper crash-landed at the Seychelles main airport and careered into the ocean on Wednesday. It was the second remotely piloted aircraft to crash on the Indian Ocean archipelago in four months. The accident happened at approximately 14.40 hours on April 4 Seychelles time. The
Business
"What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?" asks Regina Dugan, then director of DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. In this breathtaking talk she describes some of the extraordinary projects -- a robotic hummingbird, a prosthetic arm controlled by thought, and, well,
Kyrgyz officials have asked a U.S. military delegation for unmanned aircraft. Kyrgyzstan's Defence Council Secretary Busurmankul Tabaldiev told RFE/RL the request was for American UAS to be left for Kyrgyzstan during the withdrawal of NATO troops from Afghanistan due by the end of 2014. U.S.
Military
The US State Department wants to acquire its own fleet of unmanned aircraft to help protect diplomats posted to Iraq and other dangerous countries and in March, issued a request for proposals for contractors to provide the aircraft, crew and support on a turnkey basis. The State already operates UAS
Scientists at the Mind Research Network (MRN) in Albuquerque, NM have demonstrated that Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (TDCS) enhances learning when applied to the inferior frontal and temporal cortices. TDCS is a non-invasive form of brain stimulation applied via a weak electrical current passed between electrodes on the scalp.
Propulsion
Insitu Inc. announced that its ScanEagle unmanned aircraft system (UAS) successfully completed its first hydrogen-powered fuel cell flight during a two-and-a-half-hour flight test. The hydrogen-powered fuel cell solution was implemented as a modular upgrade to the runway-independent, expeditionary Group 2 ScanEagle UAS. The