Regulations
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
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
Military
An Iranian drone downed by Ukrainian forces contained a Chinese part that was manufactured and sent to Russian forces within three months, WSJ reports. The presence of this part reveals a continued supply from China to Iran, indicating an ongoing flow of essential components for Iran’s drone program, despite
Business
Israel Aerospace Industries and Elcom Systems Pvt signed an MoU to work collaboratively on MRO and upgrades of unmanned aerial vehicles. The MoU is a further commitment of IAI’s support for the Indian government’s ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’—Make in India vision. The MoU was signed in the presence of
Testing
The Offshore Drone Campus Cuxhaven is a location for the joint application-oriented development and testing of offshore UAS (Unmanned Aircraft Systems) and their operational concepts. The focus of Fraunhofer IFAM is on questions of maintenance and inspection, as well as monitoring of important maritime structures including regulatory framework conditions.
Weapons Systems / Lasers
UVision USA, the US subsidiary of UVision Air, in collaboration with Axxeum, a full-service aviation integration facility, has announced the successful launch of its Hero 120 loitering munition system from an airborne helicopter. The capability was demonstrated during the EDGE 23 event in May 2023 at Yuma Proving Ground
BVLOS
Valmont Industries Inc. and T-Mobile announced the completion of an industry-first long-distance BVLOS drone inspection flight enabled by 5G. Traditional methods for infrastructure monitoring typically require extensive manpower, manned aircraft operations or ground-based inspections, which involve significant safety risks, more time and more money. But not
Military
A US Air Force plan to acquire a new type of semi-autonomous drones follows an emerging pattern of buying items that are already at least partially available commercially and modifying them for Defense Department needs. The collaborative combat aircraft (CCA) will fly alongside fighter jets as a robot wingman