The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has received nearly a dozen new applications to allow commercial use of unmanned aircraft over the past week, and it plans to publish draft rules to allow broader use by the end of the year, the top agency official for the programme said on Wednesday. Continue reading
Author Archives: The Editor
Northrop Grumman Gets $306M Global Hawk Operations Contract
Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., San Diego, California, has been awarded a $306,133,056 definitive contract for Global Hawk contractor logistic services and sustainment III. Contractor will provide contractor logistics support of the Global Hawk fielded weapon system, to include providing material and services for planning, operations and maintenance support.
Manned UAVs Cost Half of UAS with No Restrictions
SkyIMD is a one-stop source for deploying an aerial surveillance system which usually involves multiple technologies and providers. The company is now promoting a new service using manned UAVs equipped with gyro stabilized gimbals and geomatic cameras pre-programmed to automatically follow GIS (Geographic Information System). The camera systems can be live controlled and viewed from the ground over an unlicensed microwave link. A 6 hour/500 mile duration is more than most drones, yet operational costs are less, and there are no flight restrictions (day/night, IFR/VFR, urban areas, altitudes).
New Jersey Man Shoots Down Neighbour’s QuadCopter
A New Jersey man was arrested after police say he shot down a neighbor’s remote control helicopter. According to investigators, officers with the Lower Township Police Department were called to a home in the 1000 block of Seashore Road on September 26th to investigate the report by a resident that his remote control helicopter was shot down.
Plexi Drone Aims to Simplify Aerial Filming
A Toronto startup is launching a campaign to send swarms of lightweight cameras into the skies. The PlexiDrone is a small quadcopter with a snap-in socket for lifting a variety of prosumer devices skyward, from point-and-shoots to GoPros. DreamQii, the company behind the PlexiDrone, boasts that the aircraft’s design lets users capture 360 degrees of footage without propellers or landing gear getting in the way. Continue reading
Twin Avro Lancaster Formation Display
The twin Avro Lancaster formation display at the Imperial War Museum, Duxford. Continue reading
Iran’s Sadegh UCAV Armed with Air-to-Air Missiles
During this year’s Sacred Defense Week, Iran publicly unveiled the Sadegh-1 (“Allegiant-1”) unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV). In appearance and layout, Sadegh-1 is similar to the proven, reliable Mohajer-4 (“Migrant-4”) reconnaissance UAV, suggesting manufacture by Ghods Aviation Industry. Continue reading
UAV/UGV Cooperative System
A system to allow air- and ground-based robot vehicles to work together, without GPS signals or expensive sensor devices, is being developed by a team at Yonsei University in Korea. This could be used by unmanned vehicle teams to explore environments, ranging from farms here on earth to the surfaces of other worlds.
