Testing
The Alcatel-Lucent engineers, the prototypers of the Bell Labs Acceleration Platform and the engineers from Parrot got together to discuss a proof of concept for piloting an AR.Drone using 4G/LTE. Parrot, the French company famed for its automotive and multimedia products, launched into action with its AR.Drone
Testing
Under a follow-on contractual effort from the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command (SMDC), Boeing will continue developing a truck-mounted directed energy system that improves warfighters' ability to counter rockets, artillery, mortars and unmanned aerial threats. Under the High Energy Laser Mobile Demonstrator (HEL MD) Phase II
Testing
China's Sunward Tech SVU200 unmanned helicopter has successfully completed its first flight tests. The helicopter's first full autonomous flight occurred on 4 September near the Chinese city of Changsha, says Dennis Fetters, owner of Fetters Aerospace. Fetters is an American rotorcraft developer who designed the SVU200
Testing
French Civil Aviation Authority, the DGAC, awarded Delair-Tech the first authorisation ever issued to a UAS company in France, for a civil UAS to fly over 100 km in French airspace. Delair-Tech is based in Toulouse and specialised in the design and manufacturing of long endurance mini-UAS. Bastien Mancini, COO,
Lighter Than Air
A recent U.S. Army and Navy test demonstrated that the Raytheon Co. JLENS radar system can integrate with defensive systems that are currently in the U.S. Navy's inventory to provide overland cruise missile defence from the sea. During the test, a JLENS' fire-control radar acquired
VTOL
It started as trash talk between two contributors to a national security blog. They decided to host a drone smackdown to see if one guy's machine could take down another. Unarmed drones, of course. The kind you can put together with a toy-store model and $200 in modifications.
Testing
Iran's propaganda organ Press TV claims that the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has unveiled a new indigenous unmanned aircraft with 24-hour nonstop flight capability. Called Shahed 129, it can carry out combat and reconnaissance missions with its 24-hour nonstop flight capability. The home-made aircraft is capable of
Data Links & Communications
Rockwell Collins has been selected as the prime contractor for the unmanned aircraft portion of the High-Assurance Cyber Military Systems (HACMS) programme sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The four-and-half-year contract calls for Rockwell Collins to develop cyber security solutions for unmanned air craft, with applicability to
Testing
The Marine Corps provided support for the Air Force during their Commander's Challenge 2012, held at the Combat Center's Range 220 Sept. 13, 2012. The Commander’s Challenge is an annual contest that challenges a group of engineers, with Air Force, to come up with a
VTOL
Boeing just released this demonstration video of it's optionally piloted version of the Unmanned Little Bird. The Unmanned Little Bird started life as a modified MD 530F single-turbine helicopter, and now Boeing engineers have taken it to a whole new level of capability by turning the proven multi-role
Testing
Indiana’s National Center for Complex Operation announced that it is pairing up with its first customer, BAE Systems. The company says it intends to use Indiana airspace to test the unmanned aircraft it produces. It will also use the state’s academic resources to create safety plans for its
VTOL
The Aerobot Ring is a co-axial hexacopter (dodecacopter) and due to its design, it is incredibly efficient as well as agile. Surf Life Saving Australia will be deploying the Aerobot Ring in a trial of its effectiveness. The aircraft are roughly three feet wide and have a payload capacity of