General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. has announced that it has delivered a third Predator B/MQ-9 Reaper RPA to the French Ministry of Defence. Delivered less than two months after contract award, the aircraft joins two other French Reapers in service, which together have accumulated over 4,000 flight hours since operations began in January 2014.
Category Archives: Business News
Airware Launches Drone Investment Fund
Airware is announcing the Commercial Drone Fund, which will invest $250,000 to $1 million in dozens of early stage startups that are building out other components of the enterprise drone ecosystem. The fund’s first two investments are in RedBird, a Paris-based drone data processing startup, and Sky-Futures, a London company that builds drone sensors for monitoring oil and gas infrastructure. Continue reading
DJI and Accel Announce SkyFund
Accel invested $75 million into DJI this month, sparking this new partnership. Skyfund will make $250,000-plus investments in early stage drone startups through convertible notes or traditional seed and Series A rounds. DJI and Accel will have the option to make follow-on investments. Continue reading
General Atomics Gets $72M US Air Force Contract for 8 Reapers
General Atomics – Aeronautical Systems Inc., Poway, California, has been awarded a fixed-price incentive firm and firm-fixed-price $72,068,072 modification (01) to order 077 on the basic ordering agreement FA8620-10-G-3038.
US Special Operations: SnowGoose Delivers
Robonic and Lockheed Martin Team on New‐Generation Tactical Drone Launcher
Robonic Ltd Oy of Finland (Sagem / Safran) and Lockheed Martin of the United States have signed an agreement to develop a smaller, more efficient and transportable fourth‐generation pneumatic launcher for drones, called OHTO.
Delair-Tech to Provide Observation and Crisis Management for EU Earth Surveillance Programme
Delair-Tech, based in Toulouse, France, has won a tender to provide UAVs to the EU Commission’s “COPERNICUS” Earth surveillance programme. During the agreement, which runs until 2019, Delair-Tech will provide its technology to the programme in order to offer reactive and reliable surveillance to monitor climatic, ecological, environmental or natural events, for the whole of Europe.
European MALE UAV Study Signed
A plan by companies in France, Germany and Italy to launch a European medium-altitude, long-endurance (MALE) UAV programme will get a boost today when defence ministers sign a Declaration of Intent for a two-year definition study. Continue reading