Northrop Grumman Corporation announced that the newest RQ-4 Global Hawk completed the first of many production acceptance flights of an operational Block 30 multi-intelligence sensor package on May 25, flown from Palmdale, California.
Category Archives: Military UAS
US Navy Awards Neany $20M Contract for Persistent Surveillance UAS
The US Navy has awarded North Eastern Aeronautical Company, Inc. (Neany) a $19,998,314 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for the Persistent Surveillance Unmanned Aerial System (PSUAS).
US Army Gives Lockheed Martin $47M Procurement Contract
Lockheed Martin, Mission System & Sensors, Owego, N.Y., was awarded a $47,000,000 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract. The award will provide for procurement of autonomous technologies for unmanned aerial systems to maximize performance requirements and capabilities with mature technologies.
Lockheed Martin KMAX Begins Electromagnetic Environmental Effects (E3) Tests
The Navy and Marine Corps plans to field a cargo unmanned aircraft system are moving forward as the first of two potential UAS helicopters landed at Pax River, July 1.
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International Institute for Strategic Studies Comments European UAS Programmes
France and Britain recently announced they would be postponing a decision on a joint development project for next-generation unmanned aerial vehicles for 12-18 months to consider their options. Douglas Barrie, senior fellow for military aerospace at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, discussed European UAS programmes with the editors of World Politics Review:
China Speeds Up UAS Development Programmes
No country has intensified its research in recent years faster than China – now every major manufacturer for the Chinese military has a research centre devoted to UAS. Much of this work remains secret, but it is clear that China is determined to catch up — by building equivalents to the leading U.S. combat and surveillance models, the Predator and the Global Hawk — and also it has a desire to sell this technology abroad.
Neuron Assembly Programme On Schedule
Dassault released photographs of the Neuron UCAV (unmanned combat air vehicle) demonstrator in final assembly at Istres, France, and confirmed that the six-nation collaborative programme is on schedule.
US Navy Tests UAS Automatic Landing on Aircraft Carrier

A F/A-18D from the "Salty Dogs" of Air Test and Evaluation Squadron (VX) 23 makes and arrested landing aboard aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower ((U.S. Navy photo)
The US Navy is one step closer to demonstrating the first carrier-based recoveries and launches of an autonomous, low-observable relevant unmanned aircraft. Continue reading

