There’s great interest in Europe developing a homegrown UAS-building programme “to add reconnaissance and strike capability at lesser cost and risk to service members.”
Category Archives: Military UAS
Airbus to Team with Textron on French Tactical UAS
Airbus Group is in discussions to team with US firm Textron Systems for a forthcoming unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) requirement, Airbus revealed on 17 June.
MQ-8B Fire Scout Gets Long-Range Radar
Northrop Grumman Corporation and the U.S. Navy demonstrated a new multimode maritime surveillance radar on the MQ-8B Fire Scout unmanned helicopter that will drastically enhance long-range imaging and search capabilities for Navy commanders.
Iran Wants UAS to Patrol Pakistan Border
“We are in the process of signing contracts with the manufacturing companies to use UAS for protecting the country’s borders,” Commander of the Iranian Border Guards Units General Hossein Zolfaqari told reporters last week.
Airbus Wants to Become Major UAS Supplier
Airbus Defence & Space is determined to establish itself in the top tier of global unmanned air vehicle suppliers, with a joint MALE 2020 project being proposed with Alenia Aermacchi and Dassault intended to head the process. Continue reading
Successful Simultaneous Manned, Unmanned Helicopter Flight Tests Aboard Littoral Combat Ship
Northrop Grumman Corporation and the U.S. Navy successfully flew the unmanned MQ-8B Fire Scout simultaneously with the MH-60R Sea Hawk helicopter for the first time. The capability demonstrates how a mix of aircraft can increase a ship commander’s intelligence-gathering capabilities aboard the Littoral Combat Ship. Continue reading
Global Hawk Needs $1.9 BN in Upgrades Before U-2 Can Retire
The Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk unmanned surveillance aircraft still needs nearly USD 2 billion in upgrades so that it can complete all the missions done by the manned Lockheed U-2, which the US Air Force (USAF) wants to retire to save money, a top service official said on 9 June.
188th Wing Converts from A-10s to MQ-9 Reapers
Several hundred Air National Guard members were in attendance Saturday for the 188th Conversion Day. After serving an evolving series of aircraft for more than 60 years, the 188th Maintenance Group, which included about 350 of the wing’s approximately 1,000 military and civilian members, was inactivated. Moments later, the 188th Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Group came alive.