Russia’s Azimut company, part of the state-owned Rostec defense conglomerate, has begun field testing a new domestically developed reconnaissance drone produced with additive manufacturing technology. The prototype features a fuselage that is entirely 3D-printed, a design the company says reduces both production time and cost while expanding mission flexibility.
Loitering Munitions - One Way Effector (OWE)
* AeroVironment, Inc., a leading global provider of loitering munition systems, announced the expansion of its combat-proven Switchblade family of precision loitering munitions with three new systems: the Switchblade 600 Block 2, the Switchblade 400, and the Switchblade 300 Block 20 equipped with a modular explosively formed penetrator (EFP) payload. Together,
BVLOS
While pilots have sought to maintain maneuverability-based right-of-way rules, along with shared responsibility for see-and-avoid, as drones are integrated into the national airspace system, the nascent drone industry has struggled to develop cost-effective ways to enable unmanned aircraft to detect other objects around them. The FAA’s FAR Part 108
The UK's Ministry of Defence has published a preliminary market engagement notice under Project VANQUISH, seeking industry views on a new “Fixed Wing Short Take Off and Landing Autonomous Collaborative Platform” (FW STOL ACP) for Royal Navy carriers. The Find a Tender listing describes the effort as a
C-UAS
The Ukrainian military has begun deploying special engineering barriers to prevent fiber-optic drones from flying behind the front line. The idea behind the simple engineering design, which consists of a stretched barbed wire, is to break the fiber-optic cable that gets on it by rotating the barb around its axis.
Business
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a meeting with the Minister of Defence of the Netherlands, Ruben Brekelmans. Following the meeting, the Defence Ministers of both countries signed the Memorandum of Understanding concerning the Co-Production of drones. The Head of State thanked the Government, the Prime Minister, and the people
Loitering Munitions - One Way Effector (OWE)
* Northrop Grumman has been doing detailed design work that lays a path to air-launching its Lumberjack loitering one-way attack drone from Kratos’ stealthy XQ-58 Valkyrie uncrewed aircraft. Multiple manned and unmanned aircraft are being eyed as potential platforms for employing Lumberjack, which is already being tested in surface-launched modes and
Business
* Rheinmetall is supplying Ukraine with further Skyranger 35 air defence systems based on the Leopard 1. The order is worth a three-digit million Euro figure. The systems are being financed by an EU country through the proceeds from frozen Russian assets. The production and integration of the systems will be
C-UAS
* Leonardo DRS, Inc. announced that it won first place in a Department of Defense counter drone competition by demonstrating an advanced electronic warfare system that can be integrated into the company’s range of proven and fielded counter-UAS (C-UAS) capabilities. This latest capability highlights the company’s leadership role as
C-UAS
* L3Harris Technologies has expanded its VAMPIRE system, demonstrating the company’s ability to swiftly respond to the U.S. Department of War and allied partners’ urgent need to defeat small unmanned autonomous systems accurately and affordably. The expanded family of systems now includes specialized variants for land, maritime, air and
UK based LED Studio has successfully performed a test flight of a drone-mounted ultra-thin and transparent mesh curtain LED display. Rob Bint, CEO of LED Studio, was quoted as saying “As a company that lives and breathes innovation in LED, we’re always looking at what new mediums, formats or
Data Links & Communications
* Silvus Technologies, a Motorola Solutions company and a global provider of advanced wireless networking solutions, has unveiled the StreamCaster NEXUS, a next-generation, chest-mounted tactical networking system that delivers mission-critical connectivity and data access for real-time situational awareness. Optimized for size, weight and power (SWaP) to reduce the load an operator