Billionaire Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen has launched a new company Stratolaunch Systems, that will launch payloads into space from a monster aircraft. He has revived his relationship with aerospace pioneer Burt Rutan to further his plans. Allen and Rutan first teamed up on SpaceShipOne, a suborbital air-launched spaceplane that
Military
Major Jeff Brown, a spokesman for the 174th Fighter Wing of the Air National Guard, said that in response to the new stress of around-the-clock Reaper missions, the unit has added a full-time chaplain and flight surgeon, as well as a civilian director of psychological health. Reaper
Testing
Reuters ran this new report on the flocking abilities of the Swinglet MAV built by Swiss start-up Sensefly. The aircraft are programmed to "flock" like birds, according to Dario Floreano of the Swiss Federal Polytechnic of Lausanne, the leader of the team ."So what we have
Commercial
Federal law enforcement authorities are rapidly expanding a military-style unmanned aerial reconnaissance operation along the US-Mexico border. Fans of the Predators say the $20 million aircraft are a perfect platform to keep a watchful eye on America’s rugged borders, but critics say the drones are expensive, invasive
Military
The US Army is using a hybrid-type acquisition approach to develop a helicopter-like, Vertical-Take-Off-and-Landing Unmanned Aircraft System with a so-called ARGUS wide-area surveillance sensor suite designed to beam back information and images of the surrounding terrain, service officials said. Beginning in May
Testing
Raven Industries Aerostar aided the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) Vehicle Research Section on achieving successful unmanned aircraft flight tests for the Autonomous Deployment Demonstration (ADD) programme. "The ADD balloon support operation is very simple and well developed," said Mike Smith, Senior Aerospace Engineer at Aerostar International. "The
Military
After nearly 16 years of development and more than $5 billion spent, culminating in a series of ballistic missile target engagements, the Pentagon has finally decided to mothball the Boeing-led 747-400F project known as the Airborne Laser. The U.S. Missile Defense Agency is now looking toward a
Military
Northrop Grumman's X-47B unmanned combat air system has been delivered to the US Navy following a year of testing. The US Naval Air Systems Command said the aircraft -- the first fixed-wing unmanned aircraft system designed for use from an aircraft carrier -- was tested at Edwards Air
Testing
The U.S. Navy plans to launch AeroVironment's Switchblade small, expendable unmanned aircraft from a submerged submarine during the RIMPAC 2012 naval exercise in the Pacific. A contract has been awarded to Raytheon, which has developed the submerged launch vehicle (SLV) that allows the UAS to be deployed
Accidents
Doubts that Iran managed to bring down an advanced American UAS last month using an advanced GPS spoofing attack have been raised by experts, who say that attacks of this type would be extremely tough to pull off. RQ-170 Sentinel stealth capabilities should have prevented the Iranians from spotting
Business
URS Corporation has acquired the assets of Daleville, Alabama based CATI Training Systems, which specialises in delivering advanced visual image generation systems and high fidelity visual simulation terrain databases for simulators, which are used to train civil, commercial and military pilots. The training systems from CATI are used by the
Training
Air Vice Marshal RKS Bhadauria VM, Assistant Chief of Air Staff (Projects), IAF, visited the Aircraft and Systems Testing Establishment (ASTE) in Bangalore to attend Valedictory Function of the first Remotely Piloted Aircraft Flight Test and Evaluation Course on December 21st The Air Force Test Pilots School (AFTPS) established in