A 21-year-old computer science student in India has come up with a design for an unmanned bomber aircraft made of scrap metal and costing £400. The unmanned aircraft cost Subhanjan Saha about £610 (60,000 Indian rupees) and he is hoping the Indian army will buy his design. Continue reading
Category Archives: Applications & Testing & Experience
Northrop Grumman X-47B UCAS – Aviation History Video
Northrop Grumman just posted this 4 minute-plus video trumpeting its recent achievements with the X-47B UCAS – successful takeoff and land from the deck of a moving aircraft carrier. It links the take-off and touch-and-go sequences in May with July footage of arrested landings in July. Continue reading
Ice Protection Specialists Focus on Unmanned Aircraft
CAV Ice Protection’s engineering staff, recently relocated to New Century Airport, are increasing focus on the company’s expertise in developing ice protection for unmanned flight. Continue reading
US Missile Defense Agency Tests UAS For Boost-Phase Targeting
The U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) plans to continue testing the use of Reaper unmanned aircraft for ballistic missile target discrimination in the near term because taking that mission to space is still too costly. Continue reading
Lockheed Martin’s Transformer TX in Phase 3 of Development Process
With Transformer (TX), the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is giving ‘off-road’ an entirely new meaning. Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works® is leading a team with Piasecki Aircraft to develop the next generation of compact, high-speed vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) unmanned payload delivery systems under the Transformer programme. Continue reading
Sikorsky Develops Matrix Software for Autonomous Helicopters
Sikorsky’s research department has announced that it is developing software and hardware called Matrix intended to “improve significantly the capability, reliability, and safety” of autonomous VTOL aircraft. Continue reading
Solara – Five Years in the Sky at 65,000 Feet
Imagine a featherweight aircraft built of composites boasting an enormous 160 foot wing, swathed in solar cells that can take off at 20 mph and remain aloft for five years. The plane would fly at 65,000 feet, above most air traffic aside from the odd U-2 zooming past. It would, without a doubt, be the loneliest plane in history. Continue reading
US Department of Homeland Security Extends UAS Assessment Programme
The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will soon be taking new applications for its unmanned aircraft assessment programme — a project that gives potential government customers at local, state, and federal levels an impartial evaluation of the strengths and costs of different systems.