Testing
Boeing has ended the scheduled flight test programme for the self-funded Phantom Ray unmanned combat air systems (UCAS) demonstrator after two sorties, although it had originally planned 10. Boeing is not retiring the stealthy, tailless aircraft, but intends to resume flying at an undetermined date, said Craig Brown, Phantom Ray
Testing
The U.S. military is heavily reliant on unmanned aircraft systems to serve as its eyes and weapons on the battlefield. But other nations have also been active in acquiring their own platforms, which raises the possibility that future warfighters may have to face a UAS-equipped opponent. To test out
Testing
America’s only combat casualty in Libya had no way of defending itself, when it was taken out by a heavy anti-aircraft weapon. But that’s about to change. The U.S. Navy’s Fire Scout unmanned helicopter is poised to start test-firing rockets. By the end of next year,
Testing
Aerovel has released this video of the Aug 11, 2011, transition between vertical and horizontal flight by its Flexrotor vertical take-off and landing small unmanned aircraft. The flight included a hover and vertical recovery. Flexrotor has been designed by the same people who developed the Insitu ScanEagle long-endurance small UAS
Testing
The second Northrop Grumman X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System demonstrator (UCAS) is scheduled to hold its first engine-on tests on August 21, followed shortly by taxi tests and a first flight. Once flying, both aircraft will be moved from Edwards Air Force Base, California, to the US Navy's
Testing
Boeing has announced the successful autonomous communications and operation of dissimilar unmanned aircraft in flight tests over the rugged terrain of eastern Oregon. The July 7-10 mission used two ScanEagles manufactured by Boeing subsidiary Insitu and one Procerus Unicorn from The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHU/APL). The
Testing
Raytheon Company completed laboratory integration and testing of its Small Tactical Munition Phase II configuration, setting the stage for flight tests later this year. The new configuration is smaller, more affordable and fits in common launch tube. STM Phase II is a new 12-pound, 21.5-inch long, precision-guided, gravity-dropped bomb
Testing
At the U.S. Joint Forces Command's Empire Challenge 2011, Northrop Grumman Corporation successfully demonstrated the ability of its STARLite radar to provide Ground Moving Target Indicator (GMTI) data and Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imagery to ground commanders in real time. Flying on the company's Firebird
Propulsion
Erik Lindbergh, founder of LEAP, announced the winner of the Lindbergh Prize for Electric Aircraft at the World Electric Aircraft Symposium at EAA’s AirVenture in Oshkosh. PC-Aero is the winner for its integration of Solar World’s solar technology into its ELEKTRA ONE aircraft and the supporting hangar. PC-Aero’
Testing
Northrop Grumman Corp. Aerospace Systems sector in San Diego is joining the U.S. Air Force Sand Dragon UAV programme to defeat improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and other roadside bombs. Northrop Grumman won a $26.2 million contract Friday for the Air Force Sand Dragon B programme to develop and
Accidents
Engineers and scientists monitoring the Falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 2, which was designed to fly at 20 times the speed of sound, lost contact with the vehicle midway through a scheduled 30-minute flight from Vandenberg Air Force Base. Source: LA Times
Testing
DARPA’s second flight test of the Falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 2 is scheduled to launch today. The flight window is between 7:00am – 1:00 pm PDT from Vandenberg Air Forc Base, California, aboard an Air Force Minotaur IV rocket. “Assumptions about Mach 20 hypersonic flight were made from