Pratt & Whitney’s F100-PW-220U engine and exhaust system powered the first flight of the Navy / Northrop Grumman X-47B flight test aircraft for the U.S. Navy’s Unmanned Combat Air System Carrier Demonstration (UCAS-D) programme.
Category Archives: Military UAS
Northrop Grumman Gets $3M UAS Common Architecture Working Group Contract
The U.S. Navy has awarded Northrop Grumman Corporation a $3.3 million contract to participate in the Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Control Segment (UCS) Architecture Working Group (UCSWG). Sponsored by the Unmanned Warfare Office of the Office Secretary of Defense (OSD), the UCSWG will provide increased UAS command and control capability to the war-fighter at lower cost by using an open system architecture approach across the UAS enterprise.
Indian Navy Wants MQ-4C BAMS
MQ-4C
First news from Aero India 2011 is that Northrop Grumman revealed that it has responded to the Request for Information (RFI) from the Ministry of Defence for MQ-4C Broad Area Maritime Surveillance Unmanned Aircraft Systems (BAMS UAS) for the Indian Navy. The MQ-4C is the naval version of RQ-4 Global Hawk.
US Army Awards 5 Year Contract to Griffon Aerospace
The US Army Aviation and Missile Command awarded Griffon Aerospace a five year contract for the production, maintenance, engineering and flight services for the Remotely Piloted Vehicle Target (RPVT) programme. The contract also provides for aerial target scoring systems and services at Department of Defense (DOD) ranges worldwide.
India’s Nishant Finally Flies
The Nishant, India’s domestically-built unmanned aircraft, has successfully completed its series of confirmatory trials carried out at the Chandan ranges in Pokhran, Rajasthan, ahead of its induction. The Army conducted the successful flight trials before taking delivery of a set of four Nishants, together with ground systems.
US Air Force Orders 24 Reapers for $148 Million
The US Air Force Aeronautical Systems Centre at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, has awarded a $148.3 million contract to General Atomics Aeronautical Systems to provide 24 MQ-9 Reaper hunter-killer Unmanned Aircraft. Continue reading
X-47 First Official Photos
On Feb. 4, 2011, Northrop Grumman Corporation and the U.S. Navy successfully conducted the first flight of the X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System Demonstration (UCAS-D) aircraft. The flight, which was conducted under hazy skies at Edwards Air Force Base in California, began at 2:09 p.m. PST and lasted 29 minutes. The aircraft will remain at Edwards AFB for flight envelope expansion before transitioning to Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md. later this year. There, the system will undergo additional tests in preparation for carrier trials in 2013. Continue reading
US Air Force Wants Hybrid-Powered One-Man UAS
The U.S. Air Force is calling for industry to build a hybrid-powered unmanned aircraft able to be carried and operated by only one person on battlefield situational awareness missions. It should weigh less than 20 pounds and be able to carry a 4-pound electro-optical payload on missions over rough terrain for at least four hours. The total cost of the programme is expected to be about $2.2 million.