The Panther FE hybrid-powered vertical take off and landing drone developed by IAI and the South Korean company Hankuk Carbon made its maiden flight in Korea recently. The FE-Panther uses three electrical motors for vertical lift and an internal combustion engine for horizontal flight. Continue reading
Category Archives: Applications & Testing & Experience
Production Representative Gray Eagle Extended Range Flight Testing Starts
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. has announced the commencement of flight testing for its MQ-1C Gray Eagle Extended Range (ER) series with the successful first flight of the company’s production representative MQ-1C Gray Eagle ER aircraft from its El Mirage Flight Operations Facility in Adelanto, California, on October 29th.
Qualcomm Tests Cellphone Networks for BVLOS
One of the main hurdles to drones’ ability to zip around the country delivering packages is a requirement that they stay within their operator’s line of sight during daylight hours. Qualcomm Inc. is working on a solution that’s been right before our eyes: cellphone networks. Continue reading
3-D Printed Drone with Embedded Electronics
The electronics were incorporated in the drone during the 3-D printing process which employs Stratasys ULTEMTM 9085 – a high strength, lightweight FDM material certified for use in commercial aircraft. Continue reading
Type-Certifiable Predator B Takes Flight
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA‑ASI), has announced that its Type-Certifiable Predator B (TCPB) variant completed its first flight test at the company’s Gray Butte Flight Operations Facility near Palmdale, Calif., on November 17th. Continue reading
Agile UAV in Network Centric Environment (NCE)
What began in 2003 as the “deep black program” under the project name “Barracuda” was completed in December 2015 as the Agile UAV in NCE. The unmanned air vehicle platform was initially designed to test new technological developments with just a small number of flight trials. Following an 18-year utilisation and development phase, the Agile UAV is now one of Europe’s leading technology Demonstrator Systems. Continue reading
Camcopter Tests New COMINT Payload
Schiebel and Israel Aerospace Industries’ Elta subsidiary are performing demonstrations of the former’s Camcopter S-100 unmanned air vehicle equipped with the ELK-7065 3D HF communications intelligence (COMINT) payload. Continue reading
Email Chain Reveals Amazon UK Drone Tests
An email chain shows that Amazon has been testing drones in the UK for longer than initially thought. Correspondence between Amazon and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), which regulates drone flying in the UK, shows that Amazon has been testing drones in UK airspace since summer 2015. It was previously believed that Amazon only began testing drones in UK airspace in the summer of 2016. Continue reading