UAS VISION
an independent online news service for the Unmanned Aircraft Systems world
Part of a series demonstrating what skills can be acquired during an Army career, the first episode compares the skills of an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Systems Operator and those of a civilian Skycam Operator during an NCAA football game. This clip was posted on YouTube and the full series can be seen here.
Sagetech Transponder
Kansas State University at Salina’s unmanned aircraft programme is the first to use the XPS-TR transponder developed by Sagetech Corporation, which has shattered size records with a footprint smaller than that of a standard business card.
WinterGreen Research announces that it has a new study on homeland security unmanned aircraft systems . Markets valued at $84 million in 2010 are forecast to reach $2.3 billion dollars, worldwide by 2017. The 2011 study has 672 pages and 216 tables and figures. Homeland_UAS_Abstract.pdf
The US Army has awarded General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc., a $335,504,000 fixed-price-incentive-fee contract on February 28th. The award provides for the purchase of system hardware applicable to the Extended Range Multi-Purpose Unmanned Aircraft System.
A new contender has emerged for Finland’s Ministry of Defence requirement for up to 45 UAS that we reported in January. Avartek, a Finnish aerial target manufacturer, has teamed up with Innocon (Israel) to offer the Micro Falcon under the name AT-11.
UAS has been the most dynamic growth sector of the world aerospace industry this decade, according to a report just issued by the Teal Group. The 2011 market study estimates that UAS spending will almost double over the next decade from current worldwide UAS expenditures of $5.9 billion annually to $11.3 billion, totalling just over $94 billion in the next ten years.
The UK Ministry of Defence issued a contract notification last month, with an estimated value of between £10 million ($16.4 million) and £20 million, for a Nano UAS to be deployed urgently in Afghanistan.
The U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command Aviation and Missile Research, Development, and Engineering Center have issued an RFI on behalf of the U.S. Army to obtain information to serve as a market survey to aid in research associated with the development of a SDDL designed to provide a secure data link for control and sensor data for small unmanned aerial systems and munitions over the operating temperatures ranges from -40 degrees Fahrenheit to +140 degrees Fahrenheit and withstand storage from -40 degrees Fahrenheit to +140 degrees Fahrenheit. High humidity shall not degrade operations. Interested parties should submit white papers not to exceed 20 pages. To view the full RFI from FedBizOpps click here.