High above Yemen’s rebel-held city of Hodeida, a drone controlled by Emirati forces hovered as an SUV carrying a top Shiite Houthi rebel official turned onto a small street and stopped, waiting for another vehicle in its convoy to catch up. Seconds later, the SUV exploded in flames, killing Saleh al-Samad, a top political figure. Continue reading
Category Archives: Military UAS
AeroVironment Gets $13M USAF RQ-11B Raven Contract
AeroVironment, Inc. has announced the United States Air Force awarded the company a $13 million indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (ID/IQ) contract on Sept. 30, 2018 forRQ-11B Raven small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) to support Latin American and Caribbean nations. Continue reading
Second MQ-9B SkyGuardian Completes First Flight
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) completed the first flight of its second MQ-9B SkyGuardian Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) (YBC02) aircraft on September 26. The flight of the company-owned aircraft was conducted at Laguna Army Airfield in Yuma Proving Grounds. Continue reading
Kronshtadt Weaponises Orion-E
Russia’s Kronshtadt Group, a subsidiary of Joint-Stock Financial Corporation Sistema, has unveiled a strike-capable variant of the Orion-E medium-altitude long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle (MALE UAV). Continue reading
RQ-4B Global Hawk Accident Investigation Released
According to an Air Combat Command Accident Investigation Board (AIB) report released today, an RQ-4B Global Hawk that crashed June 21, 2017, near Lone Pine, California, broke up mid-air after experiencing issues with one of its navigational data devices/ navigators. This caused the RQ-4B to enter an unusual flight altitude and experience airspeeds that exceeded structural limitations, from which the aircraft could not recover. Continue reading
Bell Unveils V-247 Vigilant Tilt-Rotor Combat Drone
As the U.S. Marine Corps looks to move ahead with its multi-role, vertical landing and takeoff-capable drone program, known as MUX, Bell has unveiled a new, full-scale mock-up of its V-247 Vigilant unmanned tilt-rotor at a technology exposition at one of the service’s own bases. The company has been actively pitching the design as an option for MUX project, but it has a modular design that could make it appealing to other U.S. and foreign military services, as well. Continue reading
Blowfish VTOL UAV Enters Service with China People’s Liberation Army Navy
Officials from Chinese company Ziyan revealed at the Africa Aerospace and Defence (AAD) 2018 exhibition in South Africa on 19–23 September that the Blowfish I vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) has entered service with the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN). Continue reading
Serbia Confirms Procurement of Chinese UAVs
Serbian Deputy Defence Minister Nenad Miloradovic on 17 September confirmed that Serbia will buy unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAVs) from China. Continue reading







