More than 40 nations have joined the U.S. in a joint declaration aimed at controlling exports of armed or weapons-capable unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Major UAV-producing nations such as Israel, Russia, China and India are not among signatories to the declaration of broad principles, which is a precursor to setting more detailed standards. Continue reading
Bell Seeks Customer to Fund Vigilant Development
After unveiling its new unmanned tiltrotor aircraft earlier this month, the V-247 Vigilant, Bell Helicopter isn’t sinking additional internal funds into the platform until a later design effort. Continue reading
Japan Wants Combat Drones That Can Fly in Formation With Its Fighters
The Japanese Ministry of Defense has released new details about its plans for future unmanned aircraft that would fly in supporting roles, aiding piloted fighters in the Japanese Air Self-Defense Force, or JASDF. Continue reading
US Army wants Runway-Independent Shadow
The US Army is eyeing a new, runway-independent tactical UAS with additional sensors to augment the Textron Systems RQ-7B Shadow mission, according to the service’s project manager for UAS. Continue reading
Verizon’s Strategy for Airborne LTE Operations
The internet of things (IoT) is taking flight at Verizon. The company today announced its strategy to drive innovation and wide-spread adoption for in-flight wireless connectivity through its Airborne LTE Operations (ALO) initiative. Continue reading
Drone World Expo – Exclusive Interviews – John L Petersen
We wanted to find out more about the team behind Drone World Expo – what makes them tick, what motivates them and what are the secrets behind the success of the event. We interviewed Advisory Board member John L Petersen, Chairman of The Charles A. and Anne Morrow Lindbergh Foundation. John is an aviator and a professional futurist and in 1989 founded The Arlington Institute (TAI), a non-profit, future-oriented research institute where he now edits and publishes FUTUREdition. His aviation career began with flying attack aircraft off of aircraft carriers for the Navy during the Viet Nam war and evolved into ultimately building his own aircraft and flying aerobatic airplanes. Continue reading
US Army Cyber Command Tests COTS-Modified Quadcopter
During battlefield exercises that took place in August at Fort Irwin, California, the Army tested new tactical unmanned aerial vehicle capabilities to feed information directly to brigade combat team commanders.
Bio-Inspired Algorithm for Online Visual Tracking
Tracking of targets within aerial footage is becoming increasingly important, for example, as the applications of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) continue to expand (UAVs are now being used in film production, mining, news media, and agriculture). Moreover, the world’s security agencies are gathering enormous amounts of UAV video data, from which they are looking for events of interest, e.g., suspicious vehicles. Continue reading