The Kruger National Park (KNP) is no longer using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to combat poaching, after a year-long evaluation period exposed a number of shortcomings, but is using other aviation assets successfully. Continue reading
Category Archives: Applications & Testing & Experience
FAA, Industry and Academia Partner on Flight Tests of Sense-and-Avoid Avionics System
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and partners Northrop Grumman and ACSS, an L3 and Thales Company, have announced a series of successful flight tests of the sense-and-avoid avionics system for Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS). Continue reading
Solar Cell Technology for NRL Solar-Soaring UAV
SolAero Technologies Corp. (SolAero), a provider of high efficiency solar cells, solar panels, and composite structural products for satellite and aerospace applications, announced that it has delivered its high performance, lightweight solar cell technology to the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) to power its Solar-Soaring UAV demonstrator.
NASA Includes Swedish UAV in BVLOS Testing
Swedish manufacturer SmartPlanes has announced that the SmartPlanes Freya UAV is included in the NASA UAS Traffic Management (UTM) R&D Technical Capability Level 3 (TCL 3) project, at the FAA-designated Nevada UAS test site. SmartPlanes is represented by its US distributor Carbon Autonomous. Continue reading
US Army Demos Laser Weapon on Combat Vehicle
U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command team members are laser focused on the future of high energy lasers. Continue reading
China’s Rainbow Solar UAV to Make Maiden Flight
China’s aerospace engineers boast the “Caihong” is the world’s largest solar-powered drone, dwarfing NASA’s Pathfinder series that never made it into mass production. The prospect of the drone leading in disaster monitoring is in the horizon. Continue reading
Crashing Drones Into Test Dummies
Hank sat impassively on a Virginia Tech athletic field, ready to take it on the chin for the future of drone commerce. About 30 yards away, an eight-rotor unmanned copter hovered, buzzing like a swarm of bees. The 21-pound drone tilted forward, accelerated sharply and slammed into Hank’s head, smacking the crash-test dummy’s neck backward and embedding shards of shattered propeller in his plastic face. Continue reading
USAF Tests Drone for C-17 Post-Flight Inspection
The 412th Test Wing’s Emerging Technologies Combined Test Force used a quadcopter to conduct a maintenance inspection of the exterior of a C-17 Globemaster III here March 6, 2017. Continue reading