Lighter Than Air
Global Near Space Services (GNSS) of Colorado Springs, Colo., and Bye Aerospace of Denver, Colo., jointly announced continued progress in the development of a unique solar-electric-powered airship named StarLight. Engineers project this cost-effective, unmanned high altitude airship will remain on-station in the stratosphere for a minimum of four months at
Lighter Than Air
The 370-foot-long (123 m), 1.4 million-cubic-foot (37,000 m3) Mav6 M1400 Blue Devil 2 is in final assembly at airship maker TCOM's hangar in Elizabeth City, North Carolina. Despite rumours to the contrary, work is still very much underway, with sub-contractor Almaga Composites providing carbon fibre components
Military
During the Association of the United States Army Aviation Symposium and Exposition, just outside Washington, D.C. on January 12th., Lieutenant General Robert P. Lennox, Deputy Chief of Staff, Army G-8, touched on the future of vertical take-off and landing unmanned aircraft systems. The General said Army aviation has a
Lighter Than Air
Raven Industries Aerostar aided the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) Vehicle Research Section on achieving successful unmanned aircraft flight tests for the Autonomous Deployment Demonstration (ADD) programme. "The ADD balloon support operation is very simple and well developed," said Mike Smith, Senior Aerospace Engineer at Aerostar International. "The
Military
The Rapid Equipping Force (REF) has a requirement to purchase Unmanned Aircraft System to support Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) Shortfalls in the environmentally inhospitable operating environment of Afghanistan. This requirement includes a requirement for operators and Field Service Representatives (FSRs) to provide FSR support and new equipment training. The
Lighter Than Air
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. announced its successful participation in a U.S. Air Force exercise designed to demonstrate the capability of an aerostat equipped with maritime radar and an Electro-optical/Infrared (EO/IR) sensor to provide situational awareness for littoral environments. “Successful integration and operation of the Lynx Multi-mode
Testing
World Surveillance Group Inc. has announced that that free flight testing and customer demonstrations of the Argus One will take place at the US Department of Energy Nevada Test Site ("N2S2") in early December 2011. These flight tests and demonstrations at N2S2 are being sponsored by the US
Lighter Than Air
The UAS Team of the Battlespace Modeling and Simulation Division from NAVAIR at Patuxent River Naval Air Station brought their remotely piloted “flying fish” last Thursday to a local Kindergarten in Leonardtown. With their shark and clown fish “Air Swimmers” in tow, Gary Swain, along with civil servant Tim Hurley
Lighter Than Air
The US Army has awarded Lockheed Martin a $383 million contract to maintain, operate and sustain the Persistent Threat Detection Systems (PTDS). The tethered aerostat provides real-time, around-the-clock reconnaissance and surveillance of broad geographic areas for warfighters in Iraq and Afghanistan. "The availability of timely intelligence is vital to
Lighter Than Air
India's Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has criticised the nation's Air Force for failing to keep two Israeli-supplied aerostat-based radars in operational condition. The equipment was acquired for a combined total of 676 million Indian Rupees ($14 million). One of the systems was damaged in 2009,
Electronic Systems
Avionics maker Rockwell Collins reveals that it has won a broad system-level contract on the US Air Force's $86 million Blue Devil Block 2 airship programme, the company's first "nose to tail" command and control win in the unmanned aircraft systems sector. Under contract
Lighter Than Air
In recent years, airships have once again become a major force in aviation. The Pentagon has gone especially blimp-crazy, pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into advanced -- and massive -- surveillance airships that can stay in the sky way longer than any unmanned aircraft. Here is a review of