A team from the Swiss Ornithological Station has studied the effects of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS or drones) on wildlife. The use of drones is becoming very popular for a wide variety of purposes in all kind of environments. Continue reading
This is What an ISIS Drone Workshop Looks Like
The Islamic State has increasingly used drones and other robotic IEDs against American, Iraqi, and civilian targets in Iraq. And as the Coalition fights its way through Mosul, troops are discovering workshops filled with crude but deadly robotics used to bomb people sometimes dozens of times per day. Continue reading
FAA Publishes Order on Unmanned Aircraft Systems
This Order published on June 29, provides information and guidance on the continued implementation of 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Part 101, Subpart E, Special Rule for Model Aircraft, and 14 CFR, Part 107 Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (sUAS). Continue reading
Facebook Aquila’s Successful Second Flight
Just after dawn on May 22, Facebook reached another exciting and important milestone for the Aquila program — completing the successful second full-scale test flight of the aircraft. The aircraft flew for 1 hour and 46 minutes, and landed perfectly on our prepared landing site. Continue reading
Block 5 MQ-9 Reaper Makes Combat Debut
The latest version of the MQ-9 Reaper, the Block 5 variant, flew its first successful combat mission June 23, 2017, in support of Operation Inherent Resolve. Continue reading
DARPA Test-Flies Autonomous Small Quad-Copters
Phase 1 of DARPA’s Fast Lightweight Autonomy (FLA) program concluded recently following a series of obstacle-course flight tests in central Florida. Over four days, three teams of DARPA-supported researchers huddled under shade tents in the sweltering Florida sun, fine-tuning their sensor-laden quadcopter unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) during the intervals between increasingly difficult runs. Continue reading
Drone ID Aviation Rulemaking Committee Update
The first meeting of the UAS Identification and Tracking Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ARC) on June 21-23 advanced key policies of concern to the FAA, industry and law enforcement. Continue reading
Malawi and Unicef Launch Drone Air Corridor
Malawi has launched Africa’s first air corridor to test the use of drones, or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, in humanitarian missions in partnership with the UN children’s agency, Unicef. Continue reading