When Turkey’s military planners grasped more than a decade ago the virtues of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) mostly in their asymmetric warfare against Kurdish separatists, the country was solely dependent on imported aircraft. Later, the dependency on UAS grew exponentially and the Turks decided to build their own. They are still thriving. Continue reading
Category Archives: Military UAS
AAI Gets $12M Contract for Upgrade of 6 Shadow UAS
AAI, Hunt Valley, Md., was awarded a firm-fixed-price, no option, non-multi-year, contract modification (P00111) of $11,798,626 with a cumulative maximum value of $1,530,786,418 for purchase of six Shadow unmanned aircraft systems and auxiliary equipment. Continue reading
Unmanned K-Max Gets Cleverer
Lockheed Martin and Kaman have demonstrated new capabilities for the K-Max unmanned cargo helicopter under the U.S. Army Aviation Applied Technology Directorate’s Autonomous Technologies for Unmanned Air Systems (ATUAS) programme. Continue reading
Russian Defence Ministry’s Innovation Day Fair in Moscow
Cutting-edge military equipment and hardware – some of it too secret for the public eye – was featured at the Russian Defence Ministry’s Innovation Day fair in Moscow. Androids, UAS prototypes, and thin impenetrable armour were revealed to visitors. Continue reading
Northrop Grumman X-47B UCAS – Aviation History Video
Northrop Grumman just posted this 4 minute-plus video trumpeting its recent achievements with the X-47B UCAS – successful takeoff and land from the deck of a moving aircraft carrier. It links the take-off and touch-and-go sequences in May with July footage of arrested landings in July. Continue reading
Ice Protection Specialists Focus on Unmanned Aircraft
CAV Ice Protection’s engineering staff, recently relocated to New Century Airport, are increasing focus on the company’s expertise in developing ice protection for unmanned flight. Continue reading
US Air Force Faces Shortage of UAS Operators
The US Air Force is unable to keep up with a growing demand for pilots capable of operating UAS partly due to a shortage of volunteers, according to a new study. Continue reading
US Navy Builds Mission Control Centre for Maritime UAS Operations in Jacksonville, Florida
U.S. Navy officials plan to build a mission-control complex for unmanned maritime patrol aircraft at Jacksonville Naval Air Station, Fla. The complex will provide command and control for the Navy’s future fleet of Northrop Grumman MQ-4C Triton Broad Area Maritime Surveillance (BAMS) unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). Continue reading