USS Coronado (LCS 4) and Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 1 (VX-1) completed the first comprehensive Initial Operational Test and Evaluation (IOT&E) for the MQ-8C Fire Scout, June 29. Continue reading
Category Archives: VTOL
AeroVironment Collaborating with NASA to Build Mars Helicopter
At a briefing held Wednesday at New York City’s NASDAQ Marketsite, AeroVironment, Inc. revealed its critical role in collaborating with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (NASA/JPL) in Pasadena, Calif. to build the drone helicopter recently selected by NASA/JPL’s Mars Exploration Program, and displayed a model of the Mars Helicopter, which is planned to fly on Mars in less than three years. Continue reading
UMS SKELDAR and QinetiQ Target Systems Partner for Royal Canadian Navy UAV Program
UMS SKELDAR, has joined forces with a provider of unmanned air, land and surface vehicle targets QinetiQ Target Systems. The partnership has been formed to enable both organizations to provide the platforms and solutions for a joint Canadian maritime program, including the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) UAV contract. Continue reading
UAVOS Develops New Main Rotor Blades for Helicopters
UAVOS Inc, a Mountain View-based company specialised in unmanned solutions, has created a qualitatively new main rotor blade to be installed on helicopters with 77 lbs (35 kg) take-off mass and rotor diameter of 102,36″ (2600 mm). Continue reading
Cormorant Achieves IDF Mission Demo Milestone
On May 7th, Tactical Robotics (a subsidiary of Urban Aeronautics Ltd), based in Yavne. Israel, successfully performed a first “mission representative” demonstration for its lead customer, the Israel Defence Forces. Continue reading
Autonomous Helicopter Technology Wins Major Award
The Howard Hughes Award — given by the American Helicopter Society — was presented here May 17 to the Office of Naval Research and Aurora Flight Sciences for their joint work on the Autonomous Aerial Cargo Utility System, or AACUS. Continue reading
Russian Corvettes to be Fitted with BPV-500 VTOL UAVs
Russian Project 22160 corvettes will be fitted with unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) for searching for submarines, and surveillance of surface vessels and shoreline. Also, UAVs will provide target designation to ship-based armament systems and, in the future, may be used for strike missions, the newspaper Izvestia reports. Continue reading
Textron Unveils Thrust-Vectoring X5-55 VTOL UAS
Textron Systems unveiled its X5-55 vertical take-off and landing engineering testbed at the AUVSI Xponential show in Denver, Colorado, on 1 May. Continue reading