Commercial use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) is an emerging line of business in China, is set to be worth billions of yuan within a few years as more companies show interest in entering the market, with a Shenzhen-based UAV company having posted explosive growth since its establishment in 2006, Guangzhou’s 21st Century Business Review reports.
Category Archives: Business News
Drones and Smartphones
Unmanned Aerial Systems, Incorporated has announced a new project to develop a software application that will downlink drone imagery to a customer’s laptop or smartphone. The developer has launched an Indiegogo campaign to provide funding for the writing and testing of the software, as well as making hardware adjustments on the latest commercial drone aircraft. Continue reading
Israel Blocks Further UAS Sales to Russia
Israel’s defence ministry has ordered all Israeli companies that manufacture unmanned air systems not to begin or continue negotiations for new contracts in Russia. Israeli sources on 4 August said the decision is a result of Russian intervention in Ukraine, and that Washington had played a major role in the ruling. Continue reading
Detroit Aircraft Corp Reborn
There was once a time when Detroit was the center of not only the automotive world, but the aviation world, too. Back in the early 20th century, the Detroit Aircraft Corp produced more aircraft than any other company and owned a number of subsidiaries, including the company that is now Lockheed Martin. The Detroit Aircraft Corp didn’t survive the Great Depression.
Brazil Sells UAS to Africa
Brazilian company Flight Tech has sold Horus FT-100 mini-unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to an African country, in a first for Brazil. The three UAVs will be delivered late this year to the undisclosed customer, with options for more sales in 2015. The deal includes logistical support.
Ex-Insitu Employee Gets 3 Months Jail
A 49-year-old Kentucky man was sentenced last Thursday by a federal judge in Yakima to three months in prison for selling trade secrets involving drone aircraft. Stephen Martin Ward of Owensboro, Ky., was arrested in November 2011 in Indiana after giving a digital copy of an unmanned aircraft maintenance manual to an undercover agent for $10,000, according to a news release issued by Michael C. Ormsby, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington in Spokane.
Italy Considers Hammerhead as Predator Replacement
Italy is evaluating the Piaggio Aero P1HH Hammerhead unmanned air vehicle (UAV) as a likely replacement for its air force’s fleet of GeneralAtomics Aeronautical Systems Predator as from later this decade. The medium-altitude, long-endurance type is being developed by Piaggio as an unmanned variant of its twin-pusher P180 Avanti II business aircraft, but is yet to attract a launch customer. Continue reading
MicroPilot Celebrates 20th Birthday
Stony Mountain company, MicroPilot, is celebrated its 20th anniversary last weekend and Howard Loewen hopes someday — maybe within the next five years — his company might become an overnight success. MicroPilot makes autopilot technology — autonomous flight operating systems — for unmanned aerial vehicles.