Military
The US military’s deployment of MQ-9 Reaper UAS to the Seychelles, a tropical paradise in the Indian Ocean, generated $3.1 million in revenue for local businesses during their first four months of operations, according to an unclassified US diplomatic cable buried in the database of State Department
Propulsion
L2 Aerospace’s Instant Eyes is a 9-inch UAS, can be set up and launched in about 20 seconds, reaching up to 2,500 feet high. When it hits its target altitude, it deploys a sensor platform with a parachute, which takes five-megapixel images of the ground below
Business
A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between Cassidian on behalf of EADS Deutschland GmbH and Alenia Aeronautica S.p.A. to jointly investigate the potential cooperation in the field of Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) and Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicles (UCAV). Alenia and Cassidian are aiming
Business
Denmark's Army is planning to buy tactical unmanned aircraft systems for avariety of different missions. A delegation of military officials visited Israel recently as part of a market assessment. They met the Israeli Air Force and some local manufacturers during the trip. In 2006 the Danish Defence Ministry
Accidents
Iran has rejected a US call for the return of an unmanned surveillance aircraft captured by Iran's military earlier this month. The unmanned aircraft was now "property" of Iran and it was up to Iran to decide what to do with it, Defence Minister Ahmad Vahidi
Testing
The US Air Force is buying a single General Atomics Predator C Avenger jet-powered unmanned combat aircraft. Lt. Gen. Thomas Owen, commander of the service's Aeronautical Systems Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, approved the procurement. The value of the sole-source contract was censored.
Testing
GKN Aerospace (Isle of Wight, UK) reported that it supplied many of the composite parts and structures for the second X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System Carrier Demonstration aircraft. The US Navy and Northrop Grumman completed first flight of the second UCAS-D air vehicle. As part of a multi-
Military
A Google Maps satellite image of an isolated airstrip in Nevada shows a secret but operational unmanned aircraft test facility. The Yucca Lake Airfield, deep inside the heavily restricted Tonopah Test Range, is on land owned by the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), a division of the Department of Energy
Business
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Poway, California, is being awarded a $319,236,484 firm-fixed-price contract for 40 MQ-9 Block 1 aircraft, and 40 aircraft containers. The location of the performance is Poway, Calif. Work is expected to be completed by September 2013. This was a sole-source
Accidents
US officials considered a covert raid to either destroy or recover the wreckage of a stealth RQ-170 unmanned aircraft that crashed in the rugged terrain of Eastern Iran last week, but decided that a military operation of that nature might spark a declaration of war from that country’s
Military
Britain and France plan to work together on developing unmanned military aircraft, the British Minister of Defence said on Wednesday. Referring to an agreement last year to increase military collaboration in a bid to cut costs, Defence Secretary Philip Hammond told a parliamentary committee there would be a joint announcement
Accidents
A US official said that Washington had no indication that an unmanned aircraft that had crashed in Iran had actually been shot down. In Tehran, state television quoted a military source as saying that Iran's military had shot down a US reconnaissance drone aircraft in eastern Iran. "