PrecisionHawk Inc. — a provider of aerial data and safety platforms for drones — announced that it has closed an $18 million round of funding with Verizon Ventures, a subsidiary of USAA, NTT Docomo Ventures, and Yamaha Motor with full participation from existing investors Intel Capital, Millennium Technology Value Partners and Indiana University’s Innovate Indiana Fund in an oversubscribed round.
General Atomics ‘Avenger’ Trials UTAS MS-177 Sensor
The US Air Force’s next-generation multispectral camera, the UTC Aerospace Systems (UTAS) MS-177, has been successfully flown on the General Atomics Aeronautical Systems “Predator C” Avenger aircraft.
Chinese Communications Regiment UAV Flight Training
Aurora Successfully Flies Subscale X-Plane Aircraft
Aurora Flight Sciences announced that a subscale vehicle demonstrator (SVD) of its LightningStrike, Vertical Take-off and Landing Experimental Plane (VTOL x-plane) for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) was successfully flown at a U.S. military facility.
Calls for Government Action Follow Heathrow UAV Incident
A lack of regulation has been blamed for a drone hitting a British Airways passenger jet, as it emerged that police have failed to investigate 40 near-misses in the past year. Calls for action to mitigate the threat to passenger aircraft from unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) came from Europe’s main regional airline trade group and others following an April 17 incident at London Heathrow Airport.
UK Navy uses Drones to Find Safe Route Through Antarctic Ice
HMS Protector has been trialling small drones to help her negotiate the Antarctic ice for the first time. The survey ship, which has just completed her third stint around the frozen continent this austral summer, has launched both a tiny quadcopter and a 3D-printed aircraft equipped with cameras.
Turkish Procurement Office Seeks UAS Domestic Sub-Systems
Turkey’s procurement agency has launched a competition promoting domestic development of key sub-systems used in drones. Continue reading
US Fighter Pilots Could Get Drone Wingmen
The U.S. Air Force is developing new computer algorithms to allow fighter pilots to control armed drones from inside their own cockpits. The goal of the so-called “Loyal Wingman” initiative is to pair up manned, fifth-generation stealth fighters with unmanned versions of older jets — in order to boost the lethality of both in air combat. Continue reading