Australia has agreed to extend the deployment of two Heron unmanned surveillance aircraft to assist with security for Afghanistan’s national elections in April next year. Defence Minister David Johnston said the 40-member Heron team, based at Kandahar airport, would now stay until next July. Continue reading
Category Archives: Military UAS
Iran Claims Reverse-Enginered RQ-170 Soon Ready to Fly
Lieutenant Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Brigadier General Hossein Salami announced that the Iranian version of the RQ-170 which has been manufactured through the reverse engineering of the American UAS which was tracked and hunted down in Iran late in 2011, will be unveiled to the public soon. “The construction will finish soon and most of the job has been done now,” General Salami told reporters on the sidelines of a conference in Tehran on Tuesday. Continue reading
General Atomics Gets $40M Gray Eagle Production Contract from US Army
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc.,was awarded a $40,253,105 modification to contract W58RGZ-13-C-0109 for the Gray Eagle full rate production option exercise applicable to the Gray Eagle Unmanned Aircraft System. Continue reading
US Blocks Sale of WESCAM Equipment to Turkey
The US government has blocked the export of cameras and laser pointers for the Turkish Karayel UAS, developed by Vestel. Continue reading
Northrop Grumman RQ-180 – More Stealth, More Efficiency
A large, classified unmanned aircraft developed by Northrop Grumman is now flying—and it demonstrates a major advance in combining stealth and aerodynamic efficiency. Defence and intelligence officials say the secret unmanned aircraft system (UAS), designed for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) missions, is scheduled to enter production for the U.S. Air Force and could be operational by 2015.
Russia’s $3M UAS Inventory Update
Russia’s defence ministry has signed a deal worth over Rb100 million ($3 million) with Kazan-based Eniks for delivery of 34 short-range surveillance unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). Continue reading
United Nations UAS Deployment Debuts in Congo
UN forces in Democratic Republic of Congo launched unmanned aircraft on Monday to monitor the volatile border with Rwanda and Uganda, the first time UN peacekeepers have deployed unmanned surveillance aircraft. Continue reading
Northrop Grumman Begins On-Time Production of First NATO Global Hawk
Northrop Grumman Corporation’s Moss Point, Miss., Unmanned Systems Center started production of the first NATO Alliance Ground Surveillance (AGS) Block 40 Global Hawk aircraft, enhanced to meet NATO operational requirements. Continue reading

