Military
U.S. Naval Research Laboratory engineers recently demonstrated Hybrid Tiger, an electric unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) with multi-day endurance flight capability, at Aberdeen Proving Grounds, Maryland. The team integrated technologies developed in prior NRL power and energy programs into a single UAV to achieve multi-day endurance with a Group 2
Testing
Xwing, a San Francisco startup developing technologies for self-flying aircraft, announced that it has completed what it called the world’s first fully autonomous demonstration flight of a commercial cargo aircraft from gate to gate. The Cessna Grand Caravan 208 pulled away from Xwing’s hangar in Concord, California, taxied,
Testing
A few weeks ago, the Airbus VSR700 demonstrator achieved a test flight that pushed its speed limit to 60 kts (more than 110km/h), entirely opening its flight envelope at low speed. At the end of the test, the demonstrator had accumulated more than 10 flight hours. Thanks to this
Testing
Insitu Pacific and Boeing Australia’s Detect and Avoid (DAA) capability is now ready to field in real-world operations after test flights demonstrated enhanced detection ranges between an unmanned aircraft system (UAS) and other airspace users. The technology is designed to advance the ability to safely integrate UAS into different
Testing
Metro Hop has the green light from the United States Air Force Agility Prime program to test its patent pending Active Landing Gear. This unique landing gear allows Metro Hop’s all-electric, short takeoff and landing (eSTOL) aircraft to fly up to 250 mph with substantial payloads, while operating nearly
Testing
Northrop Grumman Corporation’s Firebird multi-sensor aircraft showcased the versatility of the optionally-manned autonomous system as it flew to various locations across the United States last month. The ability of Firebird to be flown manned through national airspace is a demonstration of its unique operational flexibility for self-deployment and its
Military
A Chinese company recently conducted a test flight for its newly developed airborne swarm carrier, which is an unmanned aerial mother ship that can carry multiple smaller drones and release them in the air for missions like reconnaissance and attack. This approach could revolutionize future warfare, and when the mother
Military
The US Air Force Research Laboratory successfully completed the XQ-58A Valkyrie’s sixth flight test and first release from its internal weapons bay, March 26, 2021 at Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona. This test, conducted in partnership with Kratos UAS and Area-I, demonstrated the ability to launch an ALTIUS-600 small, unmanned
Testing
Wisk, the Urban Air Mobility (UAM) company, is progressing with its Transport Trial, which will advance autonomous passenger transport under the New Zealand Government's broader Airspace Integration Trial Programme (AITP). Wisk is working towards rolling out the implementation phase later this year. In February 2020, Wisk announced that
Commercial
Skyfront, a manufacturer of long endurance gasoline-electric hybrid drones, broke the multirotor drone flight time record by staying airborne for 13 hours and 4 minutes and traveling a distance of 205 miles. The world record-breaking flight was achieved by the lightweight, powerful, and efficient Skyfront Perimeter 8—the company’s
Testing
Aerial inspections of gas and petroleum pipelines were simulated during NASA’s final Systems Integration and Operationalization (SIO) demonstration flight with partner American Aerospace Technologies Inc. (AATI) on Feb. 25, 2021. The SIO demonstration series is in partnership with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and three industry partners to show
Testing
The second prototype of Turkey’s state-of-the-art unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) Akıncı has successfully passed another test, the manufacturer announced. “Each successfully completed test brings #AKINCI one step closer to the mission. Free and independent in our sky,” the company noted. Baykar’s Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Selçuk Bayraktar