UAS VISION

Northrop Grumman Proposes Cost Cuts, Sensor Change To Save Global Hawk

The Editor — Wed, 22 May 2013 06:55:45 +0000

Northrop Grumman is focusing efforts to save the Global Hawk unmanned aircraft programme on reversing the U.S. Air Force’s intent to retire its young fleet of multi-sensor RQ-4B Block 30s in favour of keeping in service the aircraft they were … Continue reading →

X-47B Performs First Ever Carrier Touch-and-Go

The Editor — Wed, 22 May 2013 06:48:57 +0000

The Navy’s X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System Demonstrator (UCAS-D) has begun touch-and-go landing operations aboard the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) May 17. For UCAS-D, this represents the most significant technology maturation of the programme. Ship relative … Continue reading →

Frost & Sullivan Report on Israel’s UAS Exports

The Editor — Wed, 22 May 2013 06:45:08 +0000

Israeli exports of unmanned aircraft over the last eight years totaled 4.62 billion USD and are expected to grow at 5-10% per year until 2020, according to a new study release by the International consulting firm of Frost & Sullivan. Israel is … Continue reading →

Geologists in Norway Deploy UAS in Search for Oil

The Editor — Wed, 22 May 2013 06:45:01 +0000

Researchers at Centre for integrated petroleum research (CIPR), a joint venture between the University of Bergen (UiB) and Uni Research, have found a new preferred method – using UAS to map new oil reserves from the air. In reality the UAS … Continue reading →

Smartphone App for Automatic Collision Avoidance Technology – NASA Dryden Video

The Editor — Wed, 22 May 2013 06:43:55 +0000

Flights tests of a smartphone-assisted automatic ground collision avoidance system at NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center consistently commanded evasive manoeuvres when it sensed that the unmanned test aircraft was getting too close to mountainous terrain. When fully developed, the technology … Continue reading →

China’s Lijian “Sharp Sword” UCAV Spotted Taxiing

The Editor — Tue, 21 May 2013 06:50:30 +0000

China’s first jet-powered stealth unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV), the Lijian or “Sharp Sword,” was recently spotted undergoing taxiing tests in China. The Lijian prototype rolled off the assembly line late last year after three years’ joint development by Hongdu … Continue reading →

Russian Bears to be Protected by UAS

The Editor — Tue, 21 May 2013 06:48:55 +0000

Unmanned aircraft systems are to be tested at a nature reserve on Russia’s Pacific coast this summer to help track wildlife and crack down on poachers, an official from the reserve said . “UAS are silent and can fly at … Continue reading →

Triton Prepares for Flight Trials

The Editor — Tue, 21 May 2013 06:48:27 +0000

Ahead of its first flight, the U.S. Navy’s Northrop Grumman MQ-4C Triton has performed high-speed taxi tests at Northrop’s Palmdale, California, facility after the resolution of issues that delayed flight testing and pushed back the start of production by a year. … Continue reading →

Target Drones from Sacremento

The Editor — Tue, 21 May 2013 06:45:08 +0000

The BQM-167 “Skeeter” blasts off the launch rail like a rocket, and flies like a cruise missile. Each one costs about $570,000. Air Force fighter pilots use them for target practice over the Gulf of Mexico. Expensive targets, but the … Continue reading →

Dancing with Drones

The Editor — Tue, 21 May 2013 06:43:06 +0000

For the past several years, researchers at MIT and the modern dance company Pilobulus have teamed up to explore the interactions between humans and robots as the line between man and machine continues to blur. In Seraph, a single male … Continue reading →