Testing
This is a more recent picture of the X-56A - the latest ‘X’ plane unveiled by the United States Air Force and NASA. Developed with Lockheed Martin’s famed Skunk Works, it is a modular aircraft designed to test an unusual method of alleviating flutter in lightweight aircraft. Rather than
Business
The US Air Force has awarded General Atomics Aeronautical Systems a $38.4 million contract for unmanned aircraft, the Defense Department announced last week. The contract is for two MQ-9 Reapers and two aircraft containers to be used for transport, Air Force officials said. Work is scheduled to be
Events
The ICAO Asia/Pacific Civil/Military Cooperation Seminar & Workshop took place at the regional headquarters of ICAO in Bangkok, Thailand from 28 February to 1 March 2012. This seminar/workshop had been convened by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), and had been organized in partnership with the European
Reports & Publications
The US Government Accountability Office just published its 2012 Annual Report. It found evidence of duplication, overlap, or fragmentation among federal government programmes - one of the defence areas highlighted is unmanned aircraft systems. The Department of Defense (DOD) estimates that the cost of current unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) acquisition programmes
This video shows the full version of Vijay Kumar’s presentation at the recent TED2012 Conference, which terminates with the James Bond sequence. Vijay Kumar headed General Robotics, Automation, Sensing and Perception (GRASP) Lab at the University of Pennsylvania from 1998-2004. Now he is the Deputy Dean for Education
Testing
Cassidian has confirmed plans to launch a new flight-test campaign with its Barracuda unmanned combat aircraft technology demonstrator later this year. To be staged at Goose Bay, Canada “this summer”, the flights will build on work performed at the same site in July 2010, when Cassidian’s lone Barracuda
Military
The Mohajer family of reconnaissance and surveillance UAS emerged during the later stages of the Iran-Iraq war as improvised UAS but have since evolved. Mohajer means "Migrant". Early model Mohajers were some of the first ever use of UCAVs in combat. 253 Mohajers have been produced by
Electronic Sub-Systems
Advanced Defense Technologies, Inc. has announced that it has undertaken the development of the key "Seek and Avoid System" technology for ADTI's next generation UAS. The new technology development will make the short and long range UAS more efficient and effective for military/homeland security applications
Deputy Dean for Education at Penn University’s School of Engineering and Applied Science and General Robotics, Automation, Sensing and Perception (GRASP) Lab member Vijay Kumar presented some groundbreaking work at the TED2012 Conference, an international gathering of people and ideas from technology, entertainment and design, including this remarkable video
Business
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc., Poway, California, is being awarded a $16,870,978 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for contractor logistics support for the Italian Air Force MQ-9 Reaper. The locations of the performances are Poway, Calif., and Amendola, Italy. Work is expected to be completed by May
Testing
Swiss company RUAG has developed OPATS (Object Position and Tracking Sensor) - a laser-based automatic landing system for UAS that represents a cost-efficient alternative to radar-based landing systems. The landing procedure for UAS is still a very delicate operation and the most critical phase during the entire UAS
Chinese navy researchers have published a paper explaining how they plan to hunt submarines using ship-launched unmanned aircraft. The plan, developed by the naval academy in Dalian, China, is to choose the best hunting pattern for a UAS using the power of the genetic algorithm - a search engine that