US Customs and Border Protection is looking at a more mobile way to monitor the border: consumer drones. The agency is currently soliciting proposals for small unmanned aerial systems, similar to consumer drones manufactured by DJI and Parrot, to be deployed by US Border Patrol agents in the field. Continue reading
Author Archives: The Editor
NASA Developing Drones for Mars Exploration
Using rovers has done wonders to open up Mars exploration, but traveling at a rate of about 10 mi (16 km) every four and half years is still a bit limiting, so NASA”s Langley Research Center is looking at expanding that range by equipping future missions with autonomous aerial drones. Continue reading
MQ-4C Triton Improves Mission Capability with Software Upgrade Test
The U.S. Navy’s MQ-4C Triton, built by Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC), completed formal lab testing and a successful first flight of an improved software suite that enhances the autonomous unmanned system’s operational capabilities and enables Early Operational Capability (EOC) deployment in early 2018. Continue reading
New Chinese Drone for Export
BZK 005
China is the largest exporter of military drones today, and it is ready to place a new model on the international market. The TYW-1, developed by Beihang University in Beijing, one of China’s top institutes for science and technology, is an unmanned aircraft for reconnaissance and combat based on the BZK-005 high-altitude, long-range reconnaissance drone, which the university also developed. Continue reading
As the Predator Retires, its Inventor Remembers its Birth
As the Air Force works to retire its fleet of MQ-1 Predators, Air Force Magazine spoke with the man whose engineering feats of the 1970s and 1980s first made unmanned systems reliable. Continue reading
Global Hawk – 1,000 Sorties Without Maintenance
A 380th Air Expeditionary Wing EQ-4 Global Hawk, carrying a communications enhancing payload, completed 1,000 continuous sorties without occurring a single maintenance cancellation while supporting Operation Inherent Resolve here. Continue reading
Low Fly By Video
Textron to Demonstrate Vertical Capability for Aerosonde on US Navy Vessel
Textron has developed a modification to its Aerosonde unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to give it a vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) capability and will demonstrate it at sea this summer. The modification allows for more flexibility in operations and a reduction in footprint for launch and recovery equipment. Continue reading