an independent online news service for the Unmanned Aircraft Systems world
Nearly 300,000 owners have registered their small unmanned aircraft in the first 30 days after the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) online registration system went live. Owners who registered in the first month received a refund for the $5 application fee. Continue reading
An unmanned, electric, autonomous aircraft travelling at 75 kilometres per hour lands gently on the roof of a moving car. For the first time, researchers at the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) have successfully demonstrated a technique developed for this purpose.
The French Army and the procurement office have selected the Sagem Patroller for the tactical unmanned aerial vehicle over the Thales Watchkeeper, with the pick due to be formally approved at a ministerial investment committee meeting next month, French media reported.
Two men charged with flying drones near an airport and hospital heliports in Los Angeles could be looking at fines and jail time. City Attorney Mike Feuer announced on January 20th that his office has filed two criminal cases against drone operators, the first under the City’s new ordinance restricting drone operation.
The US Navy and Marine Corps’ RQ-21A Blackjack unmanned aircraft system received the official green light for operation Jan. 13, marking a major milestone for the program.
Coyote
Raytheon Company is providing its enhanced Coyote Unmanned Air System to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for hurricane tracking and modelling, giving researchers an unprecedented perspective from inside storms that build in the Atlantic Ocean. The Coyote is a small, expendable UAS that can be tube-launched from a host vehicle on the ground or in the air. Continue reading
The Canadian Air Force is moving ahead with its weaponised drone program. The government published the call-out to the defense industry on Friday, asking military contractors to spell out how they would build a Canadian drone fleet. Continue reading
Four years after the Air Force’s missile–zapping Boeing 747 went to its final resting place in the Arizona desert, the Pentagon is thinking anew about airborne lasers that shoot down ballistic missiles. This time, they’d be mounted on smaller, higher-flying drones. Continue reading