Military
Air Chief Marshal Sir Stephen Dalton said that the new squadron of Reapers would be based at RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire – the first time that unmanned aircraft operating in Afghanistan will be controlled from a base in the UK. The Reapers are currently controlled by RAF crews in the US.
Military
Turkish Aerospace Industries used the IDEF show in Istanbul to exhibit its Sivrisinek/Mosquito unmanned helicopter for the first time in public. It is currently in flight test. First flown earlier this year and developed using company funds, the vertical take-off and landing Mosquito is being pitched initially to a
Military
Congress will freeze development dollars for the Navy's new unmanned, carrier-based aircraft until the sea service and DoD provide Capitol Hill with information on the requirements development, acquisition strategies and possible alternatives tied to those programmes, according to a House version of the Fiscal Year 2012 Defence Bill.
Military
TAI has just released a video of the Anka UAS, first unveiled in July 2010, and which made its first test flight at the end of the year. The Anka is designed for night and day missions including adverse weather conditions, performs real time image intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, moving/stationery
Military
Azerbaijan Defence Industry Minister, Yavar Jamalov, announced at IDEF-2011 in Istanbul that the Defence Industry Ministry of Azerbaijan plans to produce 60 unmanned aircraft by the end of the year. “A UAS producing plant has been launched. The plant produces two types of unmanned aircraft. The Ministry has placed an
Military
Dynamics Research Corporation announced that it has been awarded two delivery orders with a combined value of $24.5 million for a base year with an additional option year period of performance. These contracts allow DRC to continue its efforts supporting mission-critical services in conjunction with the Predator/Reaper programme.
Military
Alenia Aeronautica is looking for a partner to develop a medium-altitude, long-endurance unmanned air system to rival the Franco-British venture announced earlier this year by BAE Systems and Dassault Aviation. Giuseppe Giordo, chief executive of the Finmeccanica subsidiary, said the Italian airframe manufacturer is happy to "go it alone&
Electronic Sub-Systems
Four contractors will compete for a $200 million US Air Force programme to develop and produce an electronic attack (EA) pod that will be installed on unmanned aircraft systems and manned aircraft. The EA pod would be installed first on any of 24 Block 5 versions of the General Atomics
Electronic Sub-Systems
Military users will be able to get real-time high-definition video, view infrared imagery, use radar and even listen in on communications signals – all at the same time – using a new intelligence-gathering aircraft system unveiled by Northrop Grumman Corporation. Firebird offers a large internal payload bay and an ability to operate
Military
Northrop Grumman is planning to publicly unveil its secret Firebird aircraft later this month at the Pentagon’s Empire Challenge - an exercise designed to demonstrate intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance technologies that can be fielded quickly. Despite mature work in the unmanned rotorcraft, airship and high-altitude UAS markets, company officials
Military
The U.S. Air Force is planning to move much of its UAS force from Iraq and Afghanistan to East Asia over the next four years. Currently, the Air Force has 53 MQ-1As Predator and MQ-9 Reaper UAVs operating in Iraq and Afghanistan. But at least a dozen will be
Military
The US Navy awarded two fixed-price contracts to Boeing/Frontier Systems and Lockheed Martin for their unmanned A160T Hummingbird ($29.9 million) and KMAX ($45.8 million), for Cargo Unmanned Aircraft System services in December last year. A decision is now expected some time this summer on which system to