Commercial
[youtube z8YeE9fUT7w nolink] Whilst MIT and Boeing are developing their remote iPhone controlled aircraft, Parrot is now offering a free application on the Android Market that can pilot the AR.Drone with an Android phone or tablet. For more information about the free Android application, known as AR.FreeFlight, click
Propulsion
Researchers have been working on designing and fabricating micro-air-vehicles (MAVs), flying robots the size of small insects, but always come up against the difficulty of creating a tiny, lightweight aircraft capable of carrying a payload and being powered by a long-life onboard power source. Researchers at the
Training
The Navy Unmanned Vehicles Directorate has selected Simlat-UAS Training to provide a high-end Unmanned Vehicles Simulation Laboratory (UVSL). Simlat will provide its widely-used UAS simulator and a USV variant, both customised for maritime training and supporting comprehensive sensors and scenarios "The Simlat-Navy collaboration will provide
Military
The Museum of Aviation at Robins Air Force Base, Warner Robins, Georgia is about to receive an RQ-4 Global Hawk unmanned aircraft that has flown more than 7,000 combat hours - more than any other Global Hawk.The aircraft, #2011, recently retired from active Air Force operational use and
Accidents
News is just leaking out that on August 22, a Chinese secret unmanned aircraft crashed in Hebei Province, North China. The local police force blockaded the crash zone, but some local villagers took this photo before the arrival of law-enforcement personnel. The accurate crash position is in the hill
Research
Boeing just released this video of engineer George Windsor in a small room at a Boeing building in Seattle using an iPhone to control a small UAS that was hovering over a baseball field on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts – some 3,000 miles away. Students
Events
The Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) activities are constantly growing in Latin America. There are ongoing developments (civil & military) in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru. UAS operations (civil and/or military) are currently taking place in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela.Amongst others,
Accidents
Local fighters say that they have shot down a suspected United States operated unmanned aircraft in the south of Somalia near the capital, Mogadishu. Al-Shabaab fighters say that the aircraft crashed into the sea after it was hit near the lower Shabelle region in Merka town, located south of
Military
The Israel Air Force is seeking to augment its UAS capability with the procurement of new MALE aircraft, some of which may be armed. The decision was made to buy Elbit Systems’ Hermes 900 and additional units of Israel Aerospace Industries Heron 1, which is the IAF’s reconnaissance and
Military
Turkey’s decision to sever military ties with Israel risks creating liabilities on the status of already delivered weapons systems and other equipment that is still being delivered. Last year Turkey completed receipt of 10 Heron UAS worth $183 million from Israel Aerospace Industries. Turkish military electronics company Aselsan was
Research
Lockheed Martin released this video showing the latest, smaller version of its Samarai monocopter unmanned aircraft, now in flight test. It has a 30cm wing span (about 12in), has the propeller mounted at the tip of the wing and can take off and land vertically from any surface. This version
Propulsion
EnergyOr Technologies Inc., a developer of advanced proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell systems, recently demonstrated a long endurance flight of more than 10 hours with its fuel cell powered, operational unmanned aircraft. The aircraft, FAUCON H2, complete with integrated avionics, executed a predetermined flight plan for 10 hours and