Less than two years after proposing termination and premature mothballing of the new Block 30 version—once eyed as a replacement for the venerable, high-flying U-2 reconnaissance aircraft—the Pentagon leadership is toying with a complete reversal on its position as it works through options for the fiscal 2015 budget proposal. Continue reading
Author Archives: The Editor
UK Royal Navy To Deploy ScanEagle UAS
The ScanEagle unmanned aircraft system (UAS) capability, commissioned by UK Royal Navy in June 2013,was set to go operational last week. Continue reading
Predator Series Aircraft in Search & Rescue Missions
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. announced that Predator-series aircraft have been involved in several high-profile search & rescue missions in recent months. Continue reading
Indestructible Quadcopter Airframe on Kickstarter
This quadcopter airframe from Game of Drones was createed by Eli Delia and Marque Cornblatt and features a virtually indestructible airframe. The Action Sports Airframe was rigorously tested for over a year. It was subjected to repeated 300 foot drops, exposed to fire, crashed through windows, and shot out of the sky with a shotgun. Continue reading
The Flying Donkey Challenge
The Flying Donkey Challenge is an escalating series of sub-challenges held annually in Africa. World-leading roboticists, engineers, regulators, entrepreneurs, logisticians, and designers will win substantial grants by advancing the safety, durability, legality, profitability and friendliness of cargo robots. Continue reading
UAS 3D Imagery to Hunt for North Sea Oil Reserves
Academics at the University of Aberdeen, in collaboration with a group at the University of Bergen in Norway, are using remotely operated flying machines to scan rock formations in remote areas in order to better understand what lies beneath the surface and improve understanding of subsurface reservoirs. Continue reading
Sagem Gets French Army Contract for 5 Sperwer UAS
Sagem (Safran) recorded a new order at the end of December 2013 from French defence procurement agency DGA for five additional Sperwer tactical UAS (including two on option), to be deployed by the French army. They will be delivered in 2015.
Pocket Drone Kickstarter Campaign Raises $265K +
Hardware Battlefield entrant Pocket Drones blew past their initial goal of $35,000 after launching on the Tech Crunch stage at CES 2014. Billed as The Pocket Drone, the world’s smallest heavy lift micro-copter, the rotors fold back so that the entire machine can fit into a pocket. Continue reading


