The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced on Monday that the first of six test sites chosen to perform unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) research is operational more than two-and-a-half months ahead of the deadline specified for the programme by Congress. Continue reading
Category Archives: Applications & Testing & Experience
UAS Can Help Parched California Farms Save Water
Farmers represent a growing share of the market for UAS, and in California, some farmers are looking at the technology as a way to save water during the drought. Continue reading
DARPA Tests Retired UAS as WiFi Hot Spots
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is a step closer to perfecting the repurposing of aging surveillance UAS into high-bandwidth mobile hotspots designed to ensure warfighters have aerial Wi-Fi access in the most remote places on Earth. Continue reading
Sikorsky Prepares Fully Autonomous Flight of Sara S-76
Sikorsky is proceeding with the second phase of flight-testing for its Sara demonstrator, an S-76 fitted with special equipment to expand operational automation. Continue reading
Black Knight Transformer Completes First Flights
Advanced Tactics Inc. announced that it has successfully completed the first flight test of the Black Knight Transformer, a modular and roadable vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft. Continue reading
nEUROn Flies Formation with Rafale and Falcon 7X
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
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