The Israeli army has stepped up its military activities in Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan Region and is planning to station a number of unmanned aircraft in the area in northern Iraq in cooperation with the Kurdistan Democratic Party.
Category Archives: Military UAS
First Italian Predator Mission Over Libya
The first Italian Predator has completed a 12-hour surveillance flight over Libya after taking off from an air base in Foggia, southern Italy.
Northrop Grumman Joins Sand Dragon Unmanned Aircraft Programme Against Improvised Explosive Devices (IED)
Northrop Grumman Corp. Aerospace Systems sector in San Diego is joining the U.S. Air Force Sand Dragon UAV programme to defeat improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and other roadside bombs. Northrop Grumman won a $26.2 million contract Friday for the Air Force Sand Dragon B programme to develop and deploy a UAV with counter-IED capability.
Apparently Northrop Grumman is joining the Chandler May Inc. AME Unmanned Air Systems segment in San Luis Obispo, Calif., which since early 2010 has been working on the Air Force’s Sand Dragon medium-altitude, long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) for route surveillance on missions as long as 24 hours.
Awarding the contract Friday to Northrop Grumman were officials of the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio — the same organization providing funding to Chandler May’s AME Unmanned Air Systems of $16.4 million in 2010 and $2.14 million this year for the Sand Dragon UAV programme.
Friday’s Air Force contract announcement does not make clear the extent of the work that Northrop Grumman will do on the Sand Dragon B development effort.
Chandler May AME is providing the company’s Fury B catapult-launched UAV for the Sand Dragon programme, which can operate independently of prepared runways on missions lasting as long as 24 hours. The Chandler May AME San Dragon UAV will be fitted with a dual-band radar and electro-optical sensor to help detect and locate IED threats.
US Navy to Replace Lockheed P-3 with UAS by 2020
The US Navy has confirmed plans to retire the special mission versions of the Lockheed P-3 by 2020, and replace them with an all-unmanned fleet.
New Russian Strike UAS has Rotax Engine
Russia’s leading unmanned aircraft developer, Vega, will unveil its latest model at the MAKS-2011 air show. Company spokesman Alexei Nedelin said that the new aircraft, named Luch* after the design bureau that developed the bulk of the technology, can be armed with up to 170 kg of weapons systems along with control systems.
Divert Tow Kit Makes Global Hawk Truly Global
Divert Kit fits snugly in an otherwise empty space in a Global Hawk wing without affecting the aircraft performance…….(U.S. Air Force photo)
A simple solution to a difficult problem resulted in dramatically enhancing the ability of the RQ-4B Global Hawk to deploy anywhere in the world.
Global Hawk to Replace U-2 in 2015
The Global Hawk will finally replace the long-serving U-2 spy plane in 2015. “No U-2s in the Air Force in fiscal year ’15,” said Lt. Col. Rick Thomas, the Air Force’s Global Hawk functional manager, at the National Press Club on August 10.
Israeli Air Force Increases Use of Mini UAS
The line between operators of mini UAS in the Israeli Defence Forces has become further blurred, with the nation’s air force having decided to increase the “in-house” use of such equipment.