Testing
Kaman Aerospace Corporation and the U.S. Army Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center (NSRDEC) recently made aviation history with the Unmanned K-MAX helicopter by successfully completing multiple guided airdrops via sling load at 10,000 ft above sea level. In four separate flights conducted January 24-25, 2011, at
Payloads
Abu Dhabi Autonomous Systems Investments Company (ADASI) and L-3 Communications WESCAM have announced the first flight of a CAMCOPTER® S-100 UAS with the WESCAM MX-10 EO/IR payload installed in the United Arab Emirates. After brief installation and integration activities by the ADASI team, the MX-10 completed three proving flights
Testing
AAI Unmanned Aircraft Systems announced that it has completed a fee-for-service operation on behalf of the U.S. Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) Dahlgren Division. NSWC Dahlgren has been chartered to conduct UAS flights in conjunction with tests of various types of ground radars and capture and analyze those results.
Testing
The NATO Consultation, Command and Control Agency (NC3A) is performing a market survey for the purpose of gathering information pertaining to industry’s capability in the field of countering Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs). The purpose of this exercise is to obtain a Rough Order of Magnitude (ROM) price indication of
Testing
AeroVironment has unveiled its 'Nano Hummingbird' - capable of climbing and descending vertically, flying sideways left and right, flying forward and backward, as well as rotating clockwise and counter-clockwise, under remote control and carrying a video camera payload. The milestone was part of the Phase II contract awarded
Testing
General Atomics has announced that it has successfully completed a key wind tunnel test on a model of its Sea Avenger UAS. The test validated the low-speed characteristics of a new wing, resulting in higher endurance and lower approach speeds. The new wing is also designed to increase aircraft dash
Testing
University of Arizona aerospace and mechanical engineers are studying bird and bee flight to develop unmanned aircraft that stay aloft longer and cope with sudden and severe changes in airflow. The College of Engineering's Hybrid Dynamics and Control Laboratory is developing mathematical analysis and design methods that could
Control Stations
Elbit Systems announced that it has successfully performed a series of joint flight missions of its Hermes® 450 and Hermes® 900 Unmanned Aircraft Systems. The two different UAS were controlled and operated from the same universal ground control station (UGCS), transmitting the gathered imagery, ELINT and COMINT to their station
Testing
On Feb. 4, 2011, Northrop Grumman Corporation and the U.S. Navy successfully conducted the first flight of the X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System Demonstration (UCAS-D) aircraft. The flight, which was conducted under hazy skies at Edwards Air Force Base in California, began at 2:09 p.m. PST and
Testing
Aurora Flight Sciences announced that the Centaur Optionally Piloted Aircraft (OPA) has begun its flight test programme. The first fully-configured Centaur made its first flight on Saturday, January 22, 2011 from Aurora's base at Manassas, Virginia. The flight crew for the first flight was Thomas Washington, serving as
Military
A draft report by the US Air Force's 53rd Wing Group at Eglin Air Force Base said that the new system, dubbed Gorgon Stare*, had "significant limitations," and is "not operationally effective" and should therefore not be deployed in the field. The Sierra Nevada
Research
Xiamen Milestone Group has become the first enterprise in Fujian to design and make a successful trial flight of an unmanned aircraft. The trial flight was carried out on Jan 4th, 2011 and the company plans to market the aircraft in May this year. As a national key high-tech enterprise