The Navy and Marine Corps plans to field a cargo unmanned aircraft system are moving forward as the first of two potential UAS helicopters landed at Pax River, July 1.
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Monthly Archives: July 2011
Kansas University Meridian Monitors Ice Flow
Kansas University’s school of Aerospace Engineering (KUAE) has used MTM®45-1 prepreg from Advanced Composites Group (ACG) to build a fleet of Meridian UAS designed to monitor the flow of ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica. Continue reading
L-3 Communications gets $28M ARGUS Data Link Contract from US Air Force
The US Air Force has awarded L-3 Communications Corp., Salt Lake City, Utah, a $27,936,509 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract in direct support of data link communications activities including the Automated Real-Time Ground Ubiquitous Surveillance (ARGUS)-Imaging System.
International Institute for Strategic Studies Comments European UAS Programmes
France and Britain recently announced they would be postponing a decision on a joint development project for next-generation unmanned aerial vehicles for 12-18 months to consider their options. Douglas Barrie, senior fellow for military aerospace at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, discussed European UAS programmes with the editors of World Politics Review:
China Speeds Up UAS Development Programmes
No country has intensified its research in recent years faster than China – now every major manufacturer for the Chinese military has a research centre devoted to UAS. Much of this work remains secret, but it is clear that China is determined to catch up — by building equivalents to the leading U.S. combat and surveillance models, the Predator and the Global Hawk — and also it has a desire to sell this technology abroad.
Solar Impulse Back in Switzerland After 12 Hour Solar Energy Flight
Solar Impulse HB-SIA landed back home in Switzerland at the weekend following a flight powered exclusively by solar energy. The flight marked the end of the European solar flights campaign that took Solar Impulse’ team to Brussels and to the Paris Air Show.
Neuron Assembly Programme On Schedule
Dassault released photographs of the Neuron UCAV (unmanned combat air vehicle) demonstrator in final assembly at Istres, France, and confirmed that the six-nation collaborative programme is on schedule.
US Navy Tests UAS Automatic Landing on Aircraft Carrier
A F/A-18D from the "Salty Dogs" of Air Test and Evaluation Squadron (VX) 23 makes and arrested landing aboard aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower ((U.S. Navy photo)
The US Navy is one step closer to demonstrating the first carrier-based recoveries and launches of an autonomous, low-observable relevant unmanned aircraft. Continue reading