UAS VISION
an independent online news service for the Unmanned Aircraft Systems world
A STARLite-equipped Firebird at the Empire Challenge Exercise
At the U.S. Joint Forces Command’s Empire Challenge 2011, Northrop Grumman Corporation successfully demonstrated the ability of its STARLite radar to provide Ground Moving Target Indicator (GMTI) data and Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imagery to ground commanders in real time.
From left to right: in the cockpit: Test Pilot Norbert Lorenzen, Sascha Voitle (mechanic), Calin Gologan (developer of the Elektra One and CEO PC-Aero), Michael Mularski (SolarWorld) Photo:Shahn Sederberg
Erik Lindbergh, founder of LEAP, announced the winner of the Lindbergh Prize for Electric Aircraft at the World Electric Aircraft Symposium at EAA’s AirVenture in Oshkosh. PC-Aero is the winner for its integration of Solar World’s solar technology into its ELEKTRA ONE aircraft and the supporting hangar.
Northrop Grumman Corp. Aerospace Systems sector in San Diego is joining the U.S. Air Force Sand Dragon UAV programme to defeat improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and other roadside bombs. Northrop Grumman won a $26.2 million contract Friday for the Air Force Sand Dragon B programme to develop and deploy a UAV with counter-IED capability.
Apparently Northrop Grumman is joining the Chandler May Inc. AME Unmanned Air Systems segment in San Luis Obispo, Calif., which since early 2010 has been working on the Air Force’s Sand Dragon medium-altitude, long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) for route surveillance on missions as long as 24 hours.
Awarding the contract Friday to Northrop Grumman were officials of the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio — the same organization providing funding to Chandler May’s AME Unmanned Air Systems of $16.4 million in 2010 and $2.14 million this year for the Sand Dragon UAV programme.
Friday’s Air Force contract announcement does not make clear the extent of the work that Northrop Grumman will do on the Sand Dragon B development effort.
Chandler May AME is providing the company’s Fury B catapult-launched UAV for the Sand Dragon programme, which can operate independently of prepared runways on missions lasting as long as 24 hours. The Chandler May AME San Dragon UAV will be fitted with a dual-band radar and electro-optical sensor to help detect and locate IED threats.
Engineers and scientists monitoring the Falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 2, which was designed to fly at 20 times the speed of sound, lost contact with the vehicle midway through a scheduled 30-minute flight from Vandenberg Air Force Base.
DARPA’s second flight test of the Falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 2 is scheduled to launch today. The flight window is between 7:00am – 1:00 pm PDT from Vandenberg Air Forc Base, California, aboard an Air Force Minotaur IV rocket.
Canada is deploying unmanned surveillance aircraft to the High Arctic for the first time, as part of the largest military exercise ever in the Far North.
EOS, the world-leading manufacturer of laser-sintering systems, is developing UAV parts and promoting the use of laser-sintering as a competitive business strategy. Laser-sintering involves no tooling, and very little machining or fixturing, making it highly cost-effective and speedy for the low production runs of most UAVs.
A U.S. Navy F/A-18D surrogate aircraft emulated an autonomous, unmanned aircraft as it performed several approaches to arrested landings on the deck of the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) on 2 July.