On March 20, 2014, Dassault Aviation organized a formation flight of the nEUROn unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV) with a Rafale fighter and a Falcon 7X business jet. This was the first time in the world that a combat UAS flew in formation with other aircraft. The entire operation lasted 1 hour and 50 minutes and took the patrol out over the Mediterranean to a range of several hundred kilometers. Continue reading
Category Archives: Applications & Testing & Experience
X-47B Completes Night Flights
The unmanned X-47B conducts its first night flight April 10 over Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md. Night flights are the next incremental step in developing the operations concept for more routine UAS flight activity. Continue reading
US Navy Triton Programme Advances without “Sense-and-Avoid” System
The U.S. Navy’s MQ-4C Triton unmanned maritime surveillance aircraft is progressing through its flight-test programme, but still without a “sense-and-avoid” system that would protect against collisions with other aircraft. The Naval Air Systems Command (Navair) programme office said it is taking a “layered approach” to meeting the requirement until it finds a technology solution. Continue reading
US Marines Demonstrate Autonomous Aerial Cargo/Utility System (AACUS)
Autonomy options for the Marines have taken a major step forward, as officials at the Office of Naval Research (ONR) announced today two successful helicopter flight demonstrations with unmanned flight capability at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Va., part of the Autonomous Aerial Cargo/Utility System (AACUS) programme. Continue reading
RQ-4 Global Hawk Expands Satellite Communications Capability
The U.S. Air Force RQ-4 Global Hawk unmanned aircraft system (UAS) has completed a series of ground and air demonstrations at Beale Air Force Base, Calif., expanding the adaptability of the Global Hawk system to use an additional Satellite Communications (SATCOM) link to improve the transfer of mission data. Continue reading
New Lycoming Multi-Fuel Engine Soars Past 10,000 Flight Hours
AAI Unmanned Aircraft Systems, an operating unit of Textron Systems, and Lycoming Engines, a division of Avco Corporation, announced today that Lycoming’s new EL-005 multi-fuel engine has surpassed 10,000 deployed flight hours with the Aerosonde Small Unmanned Aircraft System (sUAS) in service of U.S. Department of Defense customers in Afghanistan. Continue reading
Researchers use UAS for Fish Population Surveys
Off the coast of Georgia, researchers and pilots from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration recently tested the ability of a small unmanned aircraft to conduct fish population surveys. Continue reading
Search & Rescue Teams UAS Exercises in New Zealand
Search and Rescue Teams from around the top of New Zealand’s South Island met in the Molesworth Station at the weekend for a LandSAR exercise. The teams were using unmanned aircraft systems as part of their live scenarios. Continue reading