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– AeroVironment, Inc., a global leader in all-domain defense systems, has announced the release of its newest all-electric vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) platform–the VAPOR Compact Long Endurance (CLE) unmanned aircraft system (UAS). Continue reading
Russia’s Azimut company, part of the state-owned Rostec defense conglomerate, has begun field testing a new domestically developed reconnaissance drone produced with additive manufacturing technology. Continue reading
– AeroVironment, Inc., a leading global provider of loitering munition systems, announced the expansion of its combat-proven Switchblade family of precision loitering munitions with three new systems: the Switchblade 600 Block 2, the Switchblade 400, and the Switchblade 300 Block 20 equipped with a modular explosively formed penetrator (EFP) payload. Continue reading
While pilots have sought to maintain maneuverability-based right-of-way rules, along with shared responsibility for see-and-avoid, as drones are integrated into the national airspace system, the nascent drone industry has struggled to develop cost-effective ways to enable unmanned aircraft to detect other objects around them. Continue reading
The UK’s Ministry of Defence has published a preliminary market engagement notice under Project VANQUISH, seeking industry views on a new “Fixed Wing Short Take Off and Landing Autonomous Collaborative Platform” (FW STOL ACP) for Royal Navy carriers. Continue reading
The Ukrainian military has begun deploying special engineering barriers to prevent fiber-optic drones from flying behind the front line. The idea behind the simple engineering design, which consists of a stretched barbed wire, is to break the fiber-optic cable that gets on it by rotating the barb around its axis. Continue reading
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a meeting with the Minister of Defence of the Netherlands, Ruben Brekelmans. Following the meeting, the Defence Ministers of both countries signed the Memorandum of Understanding concerning the Co-Production of drones. Continue reading
– Northrop Grumman has been doing detailed design work that lays a path to air-launching its Lumberjack loitering one-way attack drone from Kratos’ stealthy XQ-58 Valkyrie uncrewed aircraft. Multiple manned and unmanned aircraft are being eyed as potential platforms for employing Lumberjack, which is already being tested in surface-launched modes and will have the ability to drop its own smaller precision munitions. Continue reading