Category Archives: Applications & Testing & Experience

Leonardo Trials Solo and Hero

Leonardo continues to invest heavily in unmanned helicopter technology, offering the Solo and Hero platforms. No customer has yet bought them, but the Italian and British defense ministries have provided funding for flight trials, and now the company is leading a major research contract on unmanned maritime surveillance for the European Defence Agency (EDA). Continue reading →

XQ-58A Valkyrie ‘Loyal Wingman’ Test Flights Scheduled

An experimental aircraft designed to demonstrate a radical new concept in modern air warfare will enter flight testing this autumn, says Major Gen William Cooley, commander of the US Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) The XQ-58A Valkyrie, built by target drone maker Kratos, embodies one approach to the AFRL’s concept of a “Loyal Wingman”, a low-cost, unmanned aircraft that could expand the combat capacity of a dwindling fleet of manned fighters and bombers without busting the service’s budget. Continue reading →

Russia’s ZALA AERO Tests LIDAR on UAS

ZALA AERO successfully tested BVS complex using airborne laser scanning technology (LIDAR). Target load of the aircraft – the modern laser scanner from leading manufacturers. This is the first domestic unmanned system using a laser scanner. Continue reading →

GA-ASI Maximizing Fuel Capacity for MQ-25

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) is using an integrated fuel tank structure to maximize fuel offload for the proposed MQ-25 unmanned aerial refuelling aircraft for the U.S. Navy. GA-ASI applied its knowledge of advanced composite aircraft structures to develop integrated fuel tanks in a large-scale wing box test article and a full-scale wing skin pre-production validation article. Continue reading →

AERTEC Solutions TARSIS 75 Sets New Altitude and Off-Shore Distance Records for Spain

The TARSIS 75 unmanned, fixed-wing aerial platform from AERTEC Solutions, the international engineering and consulting firm specialising in aerospace and defence systems, is continuing its testing campaign at the National Institute for Aerospace Technology’s (INTA) El Arenosillo Testing Centre (CEDEA) in Huelva. Continue reading →