Propulsion
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) conducted the first flight of its new 200-horsepower heavy fuel engine on a Gray Eagle aircraft at its El Mirage flight facility on May 9, 2023. The Heavy Fuel Engine (HFE) 2.0 is being considered by the U.S. Army to become the
Patents
Hypersonix has been awarded a US patent for technology used in its SPARTAN scramjet design. US Patent Number US11639700B2 protects for close to 20 years some key features of an “Airframe integrated scramjet with fixed geometry and shape transition for hypersonic operation over a large Mach number range”. The air
Training
During the month of June, several Belgian soldiers from the new Integrator platoon, belonging to the ISTAR Battalion, are taking part in the Unified Torch exercise in Deelen, the Netherlands. Together with their Dutch colleagues from the Joint ISTAR Command (JISTARC), they train for four weeks in intelligence gathering with
Military
Bertan Kurt, Head of Corporate Marketing and Communications at Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI), recently answered questions about the company’s export operations during the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition (LIMA 2023) in Malaysia. Bertan Kurt stated that the company, which has had a consistent growth plan since 2018, received
Training
Aerospace manufacturer Airbus has introduced a specialised training program for drone pilots in India, aimed at operators of micro and small category drones.The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has approved the five-day program, which will begin on June 26, 2023, at the Airbus Training Centre in Bengaluru. This
Video
The Arado E.555 was a long range strategic bomber proposed by the German Arado company during World War II in response to the RLM's Amerikabomber project. The E.555 designation was applied to a series of long range jet bomber designs of various sizes, powerplant, crew and
BVLOS
Skydio has announced that the Japan Civil Aviation Bureau (JCAB) has granted Skydio an unprecedented, nationwide approval to remotely fly drones beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS). Representing one of the most advanced regulatory approvals in the world, the approval enables streamlined BVLOS operations using Skydio Dock and Remote Ops.
Business
Kuwait has concluded a contract worth $367 million with Turkish defence firm Baykar to buy its TB2 drones through direct negotiations between the two governments, the Kuwaiti army said in a statement on Tuesday. The statement did not reveal how many drones would be delivered to Kuwait or when. According
Military
Aeronautics Ltd. is launching the Orbiter 5 UAS - a new platform that enables MALE mission capabilities in a tactical UAS, delivering a high-performance, multi-mission/multi-payload capabilities, and all in a cost-effective solution. The Orbiter 5 provides an extended endurance time of more than 25 hours with multi-mission capabilities, enabled
Propulsion
Orbital Corporation Ltd advised that it has delivered the first new engine prototypes for the second engine program with Textron Systems, one of the world’s largest suppliers of tactical unmanned aerial vehicles (‘TUAVs’). Orbital UAV was contracted by Textron Systems for the development of upgrades to existing engines for
Research
New research shows the potential of electromagnetic fault injection (EMFI) attacks against unmanned aerial vehicles, with experts showing how drones that don’t have any known vulnerabilities could be hacked. The research was conducted by IOActive, a company specializing in cybersecurity research and assessments. The security firm previously found vulnerabilities
Regulations
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has announced the release of its guidelines to establish the noise levels of drones below 600 kg, which aim at providing harmonized procedures to measure the noise of drones used in the low and medium-risk operations of the ‘specific’ category. This release expands