Military
A scale model of the Frigate, Russia’s up and coming multi-purpose tilt-rotor drone, is undergoing preliminary testing. Frigate is designed as a multi-purpose unmanned aerial vehicle capable of performing both surveillance and search-and-rescue missions, as well as cargo transportation duties. Frigate is expected to
Military
France's DGA defence procurement agency has begun new testing of the Neuron unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV) demonstrator in a maritime environment. The testing will be extended to include involvement of the French navy’s aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle. The multi-national European UCAV developed by Dassault
Military
US Air Force leaders outlined what the next 20 years will look like for remotely piloted aircraft in the Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems Flight Plan. “The Small UAS Flight Plan outlines a vision and strategy for the continued development, operation and sustainment of SUAS over the next 20 years,” said
Military
Airbus Defence and Space and its UAV subsidiary Survey Copter are proposing a true Extended Range new mini UAS, the SkyGhost ER, a Mini-Drones Reconnaissance System (SMDR), with unique optimized operational features. Skyghost ER is the next step of the successful family of MINI UAVs manufactured by Airbus DS
Military
AeroVironment, Inc. announced the United States Navy plans to deploy its “Blackwing,” a small, tube-launched unmanned aircraft system that deploys from under the surface of the sea, on manned submarines and unmanned underwater vehicles. Blackwing builds on AeroVironment’s extensive operational experience with small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and
Military
The US Air Force is pressing forward with a General Atomics Aeronautical Systems MQ-9 Reaper upgrade that would allow the widely fielded armed aircraft to takeoff and land automatically. This is a capability already inherent in the US Army’s MQ-1C Gray Eagle system, but the air branch
Military
The US Air Force, which is planning on developing unmanned aerial systems that can work autonomously and in teams, is looking for the next generation of machine-to-machine teaming software, which could enable UAS to operate in “swarms.” The service has issued a request for information looking for possible
Military
U.S. Special Operations Command bought dozens of hand-launched drones that failed military tests and may not be able to meet mission requirements in the harsh environments they were designed for, according to a newly released report from the Defense Department’s inspector general. The waterproof drones conduct intelligence,
Business
Airbus Group SE wants to become a major player in the fast-growing global drone industry, said its chief executive, Tom Enders, after years of missteps by the European plane maker that have left rivals with the upper hand. Airbus is no longer content to sit on the sidelines while
Control Stations
QinetiQ is to demonstrate the integration of unmanned systems into Royal Navy operations, under a £1m contract with the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD). Under the contract with the Mine countermeasures and Hydrographic Capability (MHC) team in the MOD’s Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S), QinetiQ will provide
VTOL
The quadcopter-based contraption Insitu and Hood Technology have developed for launching the ScanEagle – the flying launch and recovery system (FLARES) – should be ready for production by late 2017. Insitu’s director of advanced development, Andrew Hayes, told Flightglobal at the AUVSI Xponential exhibition in New Orleans, Louisiana on 3
Military
A risk-reduction request for proposals (RfP) for the US Navy’s MQ-25 unmanned air vehicle acquisition is expected to be released “this summer”, which will help set out the timeline in which the service can realistically expect the tanker system to be deployed on-board its carrier fleet.