Military
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. has introduced a new sonobuoy capability for its MQ-9 Guardian maritime unmanned air vehicle which, alongside a number of other developing technologies, could make it a contender to help fill the UK’s maritime patrol gap. A concept was presented at the Royal Navy’s
Testing
Under the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory’s (DSTL) three-year Autonomous Systems Underpinning Research (ASUR) programme, which aims to develop key technologies for unmanned systems, Plextek is developing sense-and-avoid, communications and camouflage systems that are compact and power-efficient enough to be used on small UAVs. The nature of urban environments
Testing
A team at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, has succeeded in launching 50 drones that were all controlled by a single person. “To our knowledge, this is a world record for the number of UAVs under single operator control, by quite a long way,” says project lead Kevin
Regulations
Evolving technologies necessary for Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) to safely avoid other aircraft while moving through the nation's skies recently were put to the test using NASA's remotely piloted Ikhana aircraft. Equipped with a prototype system of Detect-and-Avoid (DAA) sensors working in concert with airborne and
Testing
The MQ-8C Fire Scout unmanned helicopter has made an 11-hour, long-range flight. During an endurance demonstration from Naval Base Ventura County, Point Mugu, the Fire Scout flew 150 miles and 11 hours on a planned 10-hour flight, and still had an hour's fuel in reserve, according to a
Testing
Helicopters are incredibly manoeuvrable in the air, but during landing and takeoff their traditional skid- and wheel-based landing gear requires stable, flat surfaces—surfaces that are often unavailable in helicopter-needy environs such as forward operating areas, ships at sea and natural-disaster zones. Having the ability to land on and take
Testing
Big IT companies have largely been mum on plans to use drones, but emerging technology from Bay-area startup PreNav appears to have at least intrigued wireless service providers and cell phone tower operators.
Military
Finmeccanica-AgustaWestland has announced that it has completed the U.K. Ministry of Defence’s (MoD) Rotary Wing Unmanned Aerial System (RWUAS) Capability Concept Demonstration (CCD) contract it was awarded in 2013, including 27 hours of demonstration flying and 22 automatic simulated deck landings using its SW-4 RUAS Solo technology demonstrator.
Commercial
Starting from September 2, the Finnish post office, Posti will carry out a four-day experiment to test the technology of the future in e-commerce logistics and mail delivery. In the experiment, Posti will be testing a robotic helicopter (drone, unmanned aerial vehicle) in delivery and transport tasks for the first
Commercial
Aerosense, Sony Corp.’s joint-venture drone company, has unveiled a prototype of the flying machines it will use to serve business customers. The airplane-shaped drones will take off and land vertically, and are expected to carry objects weighing up to 22 pounds, and fly for more than two hours at
Testing
Boeing’s Compact Laser Weapons System harnesses directed energy on its targets. The system recently reached a milestone at an exercise at Point Mugu, California, by tracking and disabling a moving, untethered unmanned aerial vehicle. The Compact Laser Weapons System is portable sets up quickly. Source: YouTube
Testing
The flight test campaign in Italy of the Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle nEUROn has been successfully concluded with the achievement of all established goals, thus allowing an important step forward for the programme. The nEUROn is the European full-scale technological demonstrator for an Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle (UCAV) developed by