The French Navy will make Flottille 36F, based at Hyères, near Toulon, its first shipborne unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) squadron. The move will see Flottille 36F operate the Schiebel S-100 Camcopter UAVs, which will be deployed onboard the navy’s Mistral-class landing helicopter dock ships. The squadron currently
Business
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc., Poway, California, was awarded a $275,000,000 hybrid (cost-plus-fixed-fee and firm-fixed-price) contract for aircraft, satellite communications air data terminals, universal ground data terminals, program management, and equipment maintenance and repair. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received.
Aurora Flight Sciences has indefinitely delayed the first flight of its Odysseus solar-powered high-altitude long-endurance (HALE) autonomous unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technology demonstrator nine months after unveiling the platform to the public. "Odysseus is an active development programme that offers a unique capability, which is why
Commercial
The Interior Department authorized officials to buy drones from a Chinese manufacturer that experts in government and industry view as a national security threat. On July 3, the agency approved the purchase of two specific models of drones built by SZ DJI Technology, a Chinese firm that occupies nearly three-
C-UAS
DroneShield Ltd has released a new product, DroneGun MKIII, following extensive development in response to end-user feedback. The product is available for purchase from today to qualified end-users, where lawful. DroneGun MKIII is a portable pistol-shape drone jammer, weighing under 2kg. The Company believes this product is
Business
RIEGL, a manufacturer of LiDAR scanners for surveying applications headquartered in Horn, Austria, is investing heavily in the expansion of production and office space. The continued, worldwide demand for the high-performance sensors allows the company to grow and expand further. RIEGL, which celebrated its 40th anniversary last year, is
Testing
Researchers at two German universities have tested an experimental automatic landing system on a light aircraft that uses optical information from onboard cameras and satellite positioning data, instead of ground-based navigation aids. The system was tested in May at Wiener Neustadt airfield in Austria on a modified Diamond DA42
C-UAS
Current federal guidance leaving airports to figure out the legality and effectiveness of counter-drone technology is insufficient and the government needs to establish a standard approach to make it easier for airports to adopt these technologies, says an interim report by the Blue Ribbon Task Force charged with making
Commercial
Drone delivery service Project Wing (or just Wing as it’s now called) recently won governmental approval to operate in the suburbs outside the Australian capital, Canberra. There, its service delivers food, coffee, pet supplies and more to area residents. Related to these efforts, Wing this week launched a new
Acorn Growth Companies, a private equity firm investing exclusively in aerospace, defense and intelligence, has announced the acquisition of Black Sage Technologies (Black Sage), a company specialised in in the development, integration and deployment of counter-unmanned aircraft systems (C-UAS) solutions, headquartered in Boise, Idaho. As a developer of
The Russian Navy follows the trend to operate robotic systems and increases the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) in the naval aviation. Naval aviation Commander Major-General Igor Kozhin said drone development for the Navy is a priority guideline for leading design bureaus. The naval aviation has to upgrade
Business
Involi, an air traffic data provider for UAS and AirMap, a global airspace intelligence platform for drones, have announced their collaboration to offer a pre-integrated UTM and Air Traffic Awareness solution for safe, efficient, and scalable drone operations. The safe integration of drones into low-altitude airspace alongside manned