Business
The German army plans to rent five unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) systems from Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd. (IAI) at a cost of €580 million. The systems are IAI's most advanced UAVs the Heron TP, also adopted in recent years by the Israeli air force, which calls it Eitan.
Military
BlueBird has unveiled a new version of its SpyLite mini unmanned air vehicle, which the company says can perform covert surveillance missions in GPS-denied and jamming conditions. Ronen Nadir, chief executive of BlueBird, says the new version of the SpyLite has enhanced navigation and communication capabilities for mission continuity in
Military
Enlisted airmen will begin training to fly the RQ-4 Global Hawk this September, Air Combat Command chief Gen. Hawk Carlisle said Tuesday. Speaking during an enlisted all-call that was broadcast on Facebook Live, Carlisle said career enlisted aviators will make up the first two enlisted pilot initial classes (EPIC) during
Business
Insitu has announced that it has been awarded the Low Rate Initial Production (LRIP) Lot V contract for RQ-21A Blackjack. The $71 million follow-on contract award includes six LRIP systems with options for two additional LRIP systems. This contract also includes an option year for nine Full Rate Production (FRP)
Military
There’s real progress in the US Air Force’s battle against what has been a chronic and widening shortage of remotely piloted aircraft operators, outgoing Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh reported on Wednesday. “The RPA get-well plan has been going as well as we hoped it would go,
Accidents
A nose-wheel frozen off-center caused an MQ-9A Reaper to crash after landing at a US Africa Command base in May 2015, Air Combat Command investigators found. The remotely piloted aircraft was assigned to the 432nd Wing at Creech AFB, Nev., but operated by the 33rd Expeditionary Special Operations Squadron and
Military
The South Korean military is testing Israeli unmanned aerial vehicles to patrol the Yellow Sea, a high-ranking military official said last week. They will be deployed in early August. The military will deploy drones on the Northern Limit Line (NLL) and is planning to eventually form a UAV squad. The
Military
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA‑ASI) has announced the successful flight tests of Predator C Avenger, equipped with a MS-177 Electro-optical/Infrared (EO/IR) sensor manufactured by UTC Aerospace Systems. MS-177, an advanced sensor in UTC’s SYERS family of sensors, is a key component that supports GA-ASI’s
Testing
UK defence and security company BAE Systems has unveiled plans to build the world’s first autonomous military drone, proposing a scenario where unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAVs) would work alongside conventional manned aircraft. The multinational described a war-plane drone which would advance its existing Taranis model to penetrate through
Military
Reliable sources told India Strategic that the Predator C requirement has been mentioned at a very high level during the current visit of the Indian Prime Minister. Now that India is getting into the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), President Barack Obama will ask the State and Defense Departments to
Propulsion
The US Army plans to release a solicitation for a Block III engine for its Textron Systems RQ-7B Shadow tactical unmanned aircraft system (UAS) later this year, according to the army's product manager for the platform. "We are absolutely doing a full and open competition" for
Military
Amid continuing clashes with ethnic rebels, Myanmar's military is confirmed as having deployed unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAVs) for counter-insurgency operations in the north of the Southeast Asian country. First inducted into the inventory of the Myanmar Air Force (Tatmadaw Lay) in 2013 or 2014, one or more