Embraer Defense and Security and AEL Sistemas, a subsidiary of Elbit Systems Ltd announced in LAAD 2011 in Rio de Janeiro, the signature of a strategic agreement envisaging the evaluation of joint exploration of UAS, including the potential creation of a company with majority participation of Embraer Defense and Security to work in the segment.
Monthly Archives: April 2011
Z Microsytems Acquires Enhanced Video Devices to Grow UAS Activity
Z Microsystems, a leading provider of mission-ready computing systems, announced that it has acquired the intellectual property and product development team of Enhanced Video Devices (EVD), a developer of image enhancement technology.
India Develops Domestic UCAV Programme
India’s Defence Research and Development Organization told the Times of India recently that the aim of the secretive AURA (autonomous unmanned research aircraft) programme is to develop a UCAV for the Indian Air Force in seven to eight years.
US Army Orders $14.8 Million Digital Raven Retrofit Kits from AeroVironment
AeroVironment, Inc. announced that it received a firm-fixed-price contract order valued at $14,773,816 under an existing contract with the U.S. Army. The order comprises digital Raven small UAS retrofit kits. Work is scheduled to be completed by December 2011.
Spain: Indra Pelican Gets Experimental Airworthiness Certificate
Indra’s Pelican rotary wing UAS has received the Special Airworthiness Certificate (CAEE) by the Spanish State Aviation Safety Agency, a body within the Ministry of Public Works, to perform integration, test and demo flights.
US Navy Gives Boeing $12 M Contract Extension
Boeing was awarded on April 8 a $12,355,455 modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract for additional Mid-Wave Infrared UAS intelligence reconnaissance surveillance services in for the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force combat missions in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.
Work is expected to be completed in May 2011. The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Lakehurst, N.J., is the contracting activity.
Source: United States Department of Defense (DoD)
MIT : Mini-UAS to Navigate Dense Urban and Natural Environments
A multidisciplinary university research initiative (MURI) led by MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory Associate Professor, Russ Tedrake, will bring together a diverse group of researchers to develop a bird-sized UAS, thanks to an Office of Naval Research Grant. The vehicle will be capable of navigating both urban and forest environments using vision-based control.
US Navy Orders ScanEagle Upgrade Kits from Insitu
The Naval Air Warfare Center, Weapons Division, China Lake, CA has ordered 4 Dual Bay, Block D ScanEagle Upgrade kits from Insitu, Inc., which it identifies as “the only vendor able to produce and distribute these parts which have been extensively tested to ensure the structural and aerodynamic integrity during launch, recovery, and flight operations of the UAS.
Source: FedBizOpps.Gov