There is an effort underway to develop a UAV version of the F-16. This would be based on the QF-16, the remotely controlled target version of the F-16. The air force is already in the process of converting 210 retired F-16s to QF-16s and it was noted that with a little extra work the QF-16 could be turned into a combat UAV for dangerous missions like SEAD (suppression of enemy defenses) or attacking ground targets guarded by heavy air defenses.
Author Archives: The Editor
FAA to Consider Exemptions for Commercial UAS Movie and TV Production
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration has announced that seven aerial photo and video production companies have asked for regulatory exemptions that would allow the film and television industry to use unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) with FAA approval for the first time.
NASA Widens 2014 Hurricane Research Mission
During this year’s Atlantic hurricane season, NASA is redoubling its efforts to probe the inner workings of hurricanes and tropical storms with two unmanned Global Hawk aircraft flying over storms and two new space-based missions. NASA’s airborne Hurricane and Severe Storm Sentinel or HS3 mission, will revisit the Atlantic Ocean for the third year in a row.
Heron UAS Operators Offered Airframe Transplant
Existing operators of the Israel Aerospace Industries Heron unmanned aircraft system are being offered a way of getting the advanced performance of the heavy fuel engine-powered Super Heron, by taking the avionics package of the older version and “transplanting” it into the new model’s enlarged fuselage.
Las Vegas Club Delivers Champagne by OctoCopter
Bottle service took to the sky Memorial Weekend as Marquee Dayclub at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas debuted a new high roller delivery method: OctoCopter. Continue reading
Switzerland Considers Israeli UAS
After a public vote ruling out buying Gripen fighter jets, the Swiss parliament will also be looking at new UAS. The decision has sparked controversy, as both models being considered are produced by Israel and were tested in the conflict with Palestine. Continue reading
RPAS 2014 – The European RPAS Roadmap in Detail
At the RPAS 2014 conference in Brussels, Belgium on June 23rd, Jean-Pierre Lentz, of EC dG Enterprise & Industry and Koen de Vos, EC dG Mobility & Transport will provide an overview of the European Commission’s European RPAS Roadmap Initiative. Continue reading
Winners of 3D Printed UAS Challenge
iMaterialize, a Belgium based company, which aims to make high quality 3D printing accessible to as many people as possible, launched a contest back in February, along with Autodesk and Flexbot, to see who could come up with the most creative 3D printed UAS designs. They have now announced the winners of that contest. Continue reading