A national research team led by the University of Colorado Boulder is embarking on a two-year, multi-pronged effort to better understand the impacts of environmental factors associated with the continuing decline of sea ice in the Arctic Ocean. The team will use tools ranging from unmanned aircraft and
Commercial
The German Parliament is about to approve a new law to include unmanned aircraft in air traffic laws. The police already have unmanned aircraft, which they use to monitor demonstrations, for example. They were used for the first time about a year ago during protests against a nuclear waste transport
Testing
Discovery Channel attended a first test by Microflown AVISA, and the MicroAerialVehicle Lab from TU Delft, conducted at Vredepeel airbase. A Skywalker unmanned aircraft was equipped with both a fish eye camera and an Acoustic Vector Sensor. The AVS detected blasts on the ground, providing the acoustic directional information to
Business
The Pentagon’s proposed fiscal 2013 budget includes about $1.2 billion to buy three additional advanced versions of Northrop Grumman Corp.’s Global Hawk, according to a U.S. government official. The Pentagon also proposes to continue an $11 billion Navy programme to buy 68 of the Block 30s
VTOL
Concept: AAI, via Mike Hirschberg AAI Corp. is proposing a new vertical-takeoff-and-landing (VTOL) design for the U.S. Navy’s medium-range maritime unmanned aerial system (MRMUAS) requirement. The Shadow Knight is based on the slowed-rotor/compound (SR/C) concept licensed from Carter Aviation Technologies, but
Commercial
The NYPD could be exploring plans to use unmanned aircraft as a law enforcement tool in New York City to keep an eye on city parks and streets. In a recent email obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, an NYPD Detective in the Counterterrorism Unit asks the Federal Aviation
Military
Officials at the Hancock Field Air National Guard Base in DeWitt are reacting to a recent Air Force study that showed that about one third of active duty RPA pilots reported symptoms of burnout, and are taking the necessary steps to address the issue, including the creation of a health
Data Links & Communications
Pentek, Inc., introduced the first member of its high-performance Onyx family – the Model 71760. The 4-channel, 200 MHz A/D XMC module is based on the Xilinx Virtex-7 FPGA family. Pentek’s Onyx modules use the same modular I/O interfaces as the popular Virtex-6 FPGA
Military
Elbit Systemsannounced that its Skylark I-LE Unmanned Aircraft System has been granted a Military Aircraft Type Certificate from the French Ministry of Defence (DGA – Direction Générale de l'Armement). The Type Certificate permits the French Army to operate the Skylark I-LE in the French national airspace. Granting
Training
Two members of Beale Air Force Base were recognized as the first RQ-4 Global Hawk pilots in the new 18X career field during a winging ceremony January 13th. Second Lts. Jacob and Scott began training Oct. 3, 2011, after a decision by Air Staff officials in June 2011 established
Business
AAI Unmanned Aircraft Systems and ViaSat Inc. announced that the organisations have entered into a strategic alliance to align AAI's advanced unmanned aircraft and command and control technologies with ViaSat integrated airborne and terrestrial satellite communications, as well as its Internet Protocol-based networking and security technology. Under
Business
NATO's long-running process to order an Alliance Ground Surveillance (AGS) capability could at last achieve a contract signature within the next few months, although the scale of its programme appears to have again been revised. "We have the contract, and it's under negotiation,"