an independent online news service for the Unmanned Aircraft Systems world
V-TOL Aerospace has extended its partnership with UK-based RelmaTech to claim another world first in UAS operations, successfully conducting day and night beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) flights continuously monitored by an operational UAS Traffic Management (UTM) system. Continue reading
The Vintage Aviator Ltd’s Fokker D.VII replica, originally built for the motion picture ‘The Blue Max’ is shown here during a display at Oamaka Aerodrome (Blenheim, New Zealand) shortly after its arrival in New Zealand. Continue reading
China’s aerospace engineers boast the “Caihong” is the world’s largest solar-powered drone, dwarfing NASA’s Pathfinder series that never made it into mass production. The prospect of the drone leading in disaster monitoring is in the horizon. Continue reading
US Air Force security forces, as well as other military personnel and federal law enforcement agencies, may soon be getting a new tool to take down small commercial drones: shotgun shells with a net. The special cartridge is just one system the Pentagon has been looking at to manage the growing threat from small and readily available quad-and hex-copter-type unmanned aircraft. Continue reading
Over recent years the explosion in popularity of drones, both professionally and for amateur use, has inspired researchers to consider how to make flying robots as safe and robust as possible. Previous design methods have included producing bulky protective cages or making them as unlikely to crash as possible. Continue reading
Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. announced that its Unmanned Systems Division (USD) recently received a $5.6 million contract award from a U.S. Government Agency for High Performance Unmanned Aerial Target Drone Systems.
A diagram shows how an Amazon drone could land on a sloping surface while keeping its main frame level, thanks to telescoping landing legs. (Amazon Illustration via USPTO)
Amazon’s inventors are taking a page from Inspector Gadget’s playbook to design drones with adjustable landing legs and reconfigurable propellers. Those two design tricks are the focus of patents issued today. It’s hard to say whether they’ll become features on Amazon’s delivery drones, still in development. Continue reading