PTERA is a scale 737 unmanned aircraft system with big implications for the world of commercial aircraft. Created by aerospace engineering company Area-I in Georgia, PTERA is the unmanned Prototype-Technology Evaluation and Research Aircraft yielding inexpensive flight research for commercial aircraft and NASA, and it’s using 3D Printing in a few instrumental ways. Continue reading
Category Archives: Applications & Testing & Experience
US Army Zaps Drones with New Laser System
The U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command for the first time used a vehicle mounted high energy laser to successfully engage more than 90 mortar rounds and several unmanned aircraft systems in flight. Continue reading
Armenia Student Develops UAS for Agriculture
Luys scholar at MIT Armen Mkrtchyan is dreaming big about the sustainability of rural communities in Armenia. With a background in aeronautics and astronautics, Armen is working on the unheard-of — a UAS that can analyze the quality of soil for Armenian farmers using imagery. Continue reading
British University Offers UAS to Help with Fukushima Clean-up
Parts of Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant, which was devastated by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, are still too dangerous for humans to enter. But not, perhaps, for UAS. A team from the University of Bristol, backed by Sellafield, has offered its services. Continue reading
Successful Flight Trials for Selex Es Sage Esm System on Schiebel Camcopter S-100
Schiebel and Selex ES, a Finmeccanica company, have successfully integrated and flown the SAGE electronic warfare system on an unmanned air system for the first time. On 12th December 2013 the system flew on-board a Schiebel CAMCOPTERS-100 UAS. Continue reading
AirMule Completes Autonomous Test Flights
The Israeli developed AirMule, an unmanned VTOL aircraft developed by Urban Aeronautics successfully completed a major milestone in preparation for full mission demonstrations scheduled for next year. Continue reading
Global Hawk Flies in Canadian Airspace for First Time to Study Canadian Arctic
Northrop Grumman Corporation, the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center and a team of international science organizations successfully flew a Northrop Grumman-produced NASA Global Hawk unmanned aircraft system through Canadian airspace as part of a mission to collect environmental data in the Canadian Arctic. Continue reading
Sikorsky Innovations Gets $15M DARPA Contract for Phase 1 VTOL-X Plane Design
Sikorsky Innovations, the technology development organization of Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., has announced it has won a contract for Phase 1 of the Vertical Take-Off and Landing Experimental Aircraft (VTOL X-Plane) programme by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Continue reading