Military
The Indian armed forces have suffered from time and technology challenges over the last 30 years, but apparently to make up for the lost time, the government has now approved the Indian Air Force's (IAF) requirements for unmanned combat aircraft, technically called Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicles (UCAVs). India
Military
Industry and the US Air Force are still working to fix the MQ-9 Reaper's overheating problems, encountered during operations in hot climates, according to the Director of Operational Test and Evaluation's annual report, released Feb. 1. Enhanced Block 5 Reapers incorporate design changes, including a
Accidents
An American MQ-1 Predator has crashed in wasteland 15 kilometers away from the city centre of Doğankent in Turkey. The aircraft which took off at night from the Incirlik Air Base in the district of Sarıçam, crashed in a field in the Doğankent neighbourhood in the central Seyhan district.
Military
Formed in central Israel in 2013, the privately-owned Meteor Aerospace has operated so far with minimal public exposure, avoiding trade shows and limiting its announcements. “We’re still flying under the radar,” says one Meteor Aerospace executive. Meteor Aerospace is the initiative of co-founder and chief executive Itzhak
Business
AAI Corp has been awarded the US Army contract worth $97 million for the full-rate production of tactical data link retrofit for the Shadow tactical unmanned aircraft systems. “AAI Corp was awarded a $97,109,000 modification to contract W58RGZ-15-C-0047 for the Shadow tactical unmanned aircraft
Military
The French Army and the procurement office have selected the Sagem Patroller for the tactical unmanned aerial vehicle over the Thales Watchkeeper, with the pick due to be formally approved at a ministerial investment committee meeting next month, French media reported. “As part of the program for the tactical drone
Military
The US Navy and Marine Corps’ RQ-21A Blackjack unmanned aircraft system received the official green light for operation Jan. 13, marking a major milestone for the program. Marine Corps Deputy Commandant for Aviation Lt. Gen. Jon Davis, announced the program has achieved Initial Operational Capability, which confirms that the
Military
The US Army aviation chief, Maj. Gen. Michael Lundy, wants to spend the service’s shrunken aircraft acquisition budget — down about 40 percent over the past three years — on manned rather than unmanned aircraft. After all, this is the Army. “We’ve got a lot of unmanned stuff out there,
Testing
On 30 December 2015, Urban Aeronautics’ AirMule completed its first autonomous, untethered flight at Megiddo airfield in northern Israel. Rafi Yoeli – chief executive of UrbanAero, the parent company of Tactical Robotics, which developed the vertical take-off and landing aircraft – says the test schedule in Megiddo includes plans to demonstrate
Business
The Bundeswehr has begun negotiations with the Israelis on leasing armed Heron TP medium-range long-endurance unmanned aerial systems (UAS) to bridge the gap until it acquires a European UAS by 2025, along with France, Italy and Spain. Heron TP was chosen in favour of the US Predator/Guardian
Business
Romania's army has a new quadrotor capability following the arrival of four UAV Solutions Phoenix 30 unmanned air vehicles. The aircraft were delivered via the US Foreign Military Sales programme, which also includes the company’s Dragon View combined electro-optical/infrared stabilised camera, a ground control system,
Business
The US Navy, which already operates the catapult-launched ScanEagle and Blackjack, is interesting in procuring more tactical small unmanned aerial systems to provide ISR in day and night operations, as well as in adverse environmental conditions. The Navy’s solicitation calls for an aircraft with a lightweight design akin