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Unmanned aerial vehicles, from large, long range aircraft to small tactical drones, have been a reliable tool for the military for years, but they still have weaknesses, according to the annual report to Congress by J. Michael Gilmore, director of the Defense Department’s office of Operational Test & Evaluation (OT&E). Here’s a summary of what OT&E had to say about some of the military’s most common UAVs. Continue reading
Recent tests of the U.S. Army’s Joint Precision Airdrop System (JPADS) have been trying new navigational software—developed by the Draper Laboratory in Cambridge, Mass., and other companies—to achieve GPS-style accuracy with images alone.
The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has issued a technical opinion on the future of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) in the skies over the European Union (EU), dividing them into three classes, and issuing 27 recommendations for their safe operation in EU airspace. Continue reading
It was the summer of 2014 and two Microsoft veterans, Phil Wheat and Zain Naboulsi, were chatting about drones. They knew the small gizmos were going to be ubiquitous in the near future and, after several hours of discussion, they realized that the potential for malevolent use was high. Continue reading
An accident investigation board found that a remotely piloted MQ-1B Predator that was intentionally crashed into an uninhabited area of the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility on May 27, 2015, suffered an engine failure due to loss of coolant. Continue reading
Following the lifting of sanctions on Iran, dual-use unmanned air vehicles can now be exported from the European Union, subject to authorisation. Continue reading
The British government is close to ordering two solar-powered high-altitude Zephyr UAVs from European aerospace giant Airbus. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced in a statement that the deal was worth £10.6 million ($15.2 million, 14 million euros), in the first ever order for Airbus Zephyr unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
The US Government has issued an Invitation to the Unmanned Aircraft Industry for Review and Comment Period on Edition 1 of NATO Standardization Agreement (STANAG) 4703 Light Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Airworthiness Requirements. Continue reading