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’
Military
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
Commercial
Canada is deploying unmanned surveillance aircraft to the High Arctic for the first time, as part of the largest military exercise ever in the Far North. Catapult-launched Boeing ScanEagle similar to those used by the Canadian army for surveillance in Afghanistan are to assist in a major air disaster scenario
Testing
EOS, the world-leading manufacturer of laser-sintering systems, is developing UAV parts and promoting the use of laser-sintering as a competitive business strategy. Laser-sintering involves no tooling, and very little machining or fixturing, making it highly cost-effective and speedy for the low production runs of most UAVs. Re-designs of parts for
Testing
A U.S. Navy F/A-18D surrogate aircraft emulated an autonomous, unmanned aircraft as it performed several approaches to arrested landings on the deck of the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) on 2 July. The carrier landing test included the use of new Precision GPS and Tactical Targeting Network Technology