UAS VISION
an independent online news service for the Unmanned Aircraft Systems world
Hermes 450 Photo:Antonio Riciere
Elbit Systems Ltd. announced today that its Brazilian subsidiary, Aeroeletrônica Ltda. (AEL), has been awarded a contract to supply Hermes® 450 UAS to the Brazilian Air Force. The project is a part of the Brazilian Air Forces’ objective to establish independent UAS capabilities.
IAI has delivered a dozen UAS, including the short-range Bird-Eye 400 and I-View Mk 150 aircraft, and the longer-range Searcher II, in recent weeks as part of an Israeli effort to encourage the Russians not to provide Iran and Syria with advanced weapons systems, according to The Jerusalem Post.
Northrop Grumman Corporation’s Hunter in use with the U.S. Army since 1996, recently surpassed 100,000 flight hours in service, more than 72,000 of which were flown in combat.
Britain and France have launched a proposal to design and build the next generation of unmanned military attack aircraft worth £600 million (€710 million, $952 million). British and French forces want a more advanced aircraft than the General Atomics Reaper currently in service with the Royal Air Force.
Apache helicopter pilots will soon be able to control Grey Eagle UAS directly from the cockpit. The Grey Eagle-Apache command system is undergoing testing and is expected to be ready for demonstration at the Dugway Proving Ground test centre in Utah by September.
TAI's "Anka" MALE
Turkey’s first locally developed Medium-Altitude, Long-Endurance (MALE) UAS, the TAI ‘Anka’, first unveiled in July 2010, made its first test flight at the end of the year.
An experimental UAS with a wingspan almost the size of a Boeing 747 took to the skies over the Mojave Desert last week in a test flight from Edwards Air Force Base, reports the LA Times. On Thursday, the Global Observer performed its first test demonstrating its ability to use liquid hydrogen as fuel. It circled above Edwards at about 3,000 feet above ground level in a four-hour test, according to AeroVironment executives.
The VT Group has announced that Daniel Bertram has joined the organization as president of the Unmanned Systems line of business and member of the Senior Leadership Team. In this role, he will have responsibility for the vertical and horizontal expansion of the group’s US services offering worldwide. Continue reading