Military
AAI Corporation has won a $12.6 million contract from the US Army Contracting command at Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, to install Tactical Common Data Link equipment on two Shadow UAS. The TCDL is a secure data link designed to send encrypted data and streaming video to ground stations at high
Military
Lebanese officials have complained that two Israeli UAS have penetrated Lebanese airspace and flown over the southern part of the country in violation of a UN Security Council resolution. An Israeli unmanned aircraft crossed into Lebanese airspace over the village of al-Naqoura, located 91 kilometres (57 miles) south of
Training
Interest in Kansas State University Salina's Introduction to Unmanned Aircraft Systems course is soaring, with enrolment up 200 per cent since autumn 2010. The 22 students currently enrolled in the class agree on why they're taking it. They view unmanned aircraft systems as the future of
Business
BAE Systems and Dassault Aviation announced that they have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to collaborate on the design, development, production and support of a medium altitude long endurance (MALE) unmanned aircraft system for the UK and French defence ministries. The two companies will prepare and submit a joint
Military
The US Navy has outlined a new timeline for buying services provided by a fleet of unmanned aircraft systems worth up to $874 million. The close-range intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) contract would replace the Boeing/Insitu ScanEagle with a ship-based, small UAS that would keep track of
Commercial
A Global Hawk based in Guam, is currently flying above Japan gathering imagery to help the Japanese Government direct its aid programme. The UAS has been deployed exclusively in relief efforts at the request of the Japanese government, according to a U.S. Forces spokesman. A similar mission was flown
Military
The US 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit deployed in late February with the ScanEagle unmanned aircraft, marking the first time any MEU has taken the combat-proven UAS out to sea for an operational assignment. The lightweight ScanEagle is based aboard the dock landing ship Comstock, part of the Boxer Amphibious
Commercial
Aeryon Labs in Canada has announced it has been awarded a contract to supply its Aeryon Scout UAS to Halton Regional Police. The Aeryon Scout is a small, lightweight mini-helicopter that is remotely-controlled from the ground using a patent-pending map-based touch-screen computer interface. It will
Military
South Korea's military will bring forward its planned deployment of high-altitude UAS and stealth fighter jets to increase its surveillance capability and bolster its deterrence toward North Korea. The original plans were to deploy UAS by 2015 but a decision was taken recently to speed up the
Testing
Northrop Grumman's Broad Area Maritime Surveillance Unmanned Aircraft System has completed a critical design review with the U.S. Navy. "It is gratifying to see the design mature from the Preliminary Design Review to the Critical Design Review over the past 12 months," said Steve Enewold,
Control Stations
A recent breakthrough in precise aircraft control with implications for both manned and unmanned flight is highlighted in a brief video which can be viewed below. The full paper describing this Apprenticeship Learning control method and its integration into a comprehensive design and analysis suite is available here. Abstract of
ICAO Circular 328, Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) – ISBN 978-92-9231-751-5 – has now been published by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). The purpose of this circular is to: 1. Apprise States of the emerging ICAO perspective on the integration of UAS into non-segregated airspace and at