News
The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) has equipped its lead Leeuwin-class hydrographic survey ship with the ScanEagle unmanned aerial system. A launcher for the ScanEagle and its associated Skyhook retrieval system were installed on the ship's flight deck in August, a representative from the RAN's 822X Squadron
Business
Thaicom Public Company Limited (THCOM) has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with China Great Wall Industry Corporation (CGWIC)—a leading player in commercial launch services, satellite systems, and space technology cooperation. The companies will cooperate in the area of application development for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) and BeiDou—
News
Images have emerged online of a what may be a mockup of an unusual-looking circular "armed helicopter" ahead of the opening of a major helicopter exposition in China. This is not the first flying saucer-esque design to have appeared over the years and the Chinese are likely to
Launchers
A group of U.S. Army engineers have invented a mechanical box that can house a quadcopter unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) on top of a normal ground vehicle for instant deployment. The new invention, which can streamline military and commercial drone operations, was first made public through a patent application
Business
The U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) has increased the ceiling on its contract to support modifications and capability enhancements to its Medium-altitude, Long-endurance Tactical (MALET) aircraft. The funding increase from $15 million to $93 million is in response to the significantly expanded payload capacity of the newly fielded MQ-1C
Drone Racing
The Drone Racing League (DRL), the global, professional drone racing circuit, launched the DRL RacerAI, the league's first-ever autonomous racing drone. Designed to be the first autonomous robot to defeat a human in a physical sport, the DRL RacerAI will help close the gap between artificial intelligence (AI)
News
AeroVironment, Inc. has announced the launch of Puma LE (Long Endurance), the next generation in its Puma All Environment small UAS product line. Puma LE builds on the combat-proven Puma AE legacy with new capabilities, increased range, and expanded payload capacity. With the integrated Mantis i45 gimballed EO/IR sensor
Transport
Workhorse Group Inc., an American technology company focused on providing sustainable and cost-effective electric-mobility solutions to the transportation sector has partnered with Unmanned Systems Operations Group, Inc. , a provider of end-to-end, unmanned mobile medical delivery logistics, to launch an initial pilot drone delivery program in the San Diego area. The
Accidents
The Kratos XQ-58A Valkyrie unmanned air vehicle (UAV) was damaged during landing after completing its third flight on 9 October in Yuma, Arizona. The issue was caused by a malfunction of the aircraft’s provisional flight test recovery system and high surface winds, says the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL)
Agriculture
Drones designed to spray broad- acre agricultural crops usually use fine droplets with a low water-to-chemical ratio to try and make up for their limited fluid carrying capacity. This greatly limits their use, because extremely low water volumes are off-label and fine droplets are prone to drift, where they might
Commercial
Donecle has announced that AAR, a leading independent MRO provider in North America, has selected its automated drone solution to improve the efficiency and reliability of visual inspections during base maintenance. - Donecle provides its drone to AAR to assist general visual inspections on both Airbus A320 and Boeing 737
News
A committee of the UK’s House of Commons issued a report Oct. 8 calling for greater drone regulations, including registration, drone ID transmission, and geofencing around sensitive locations. In the 73-page report “Commercial and Recreational Drone Use in the UK,” the Science and Technology Committee made numerous recommendations to