Lockheed Martin Skunk Works is designing a next-generation high-altitude, long-endurance (HALE) surveillance airplane, known internally as RQ-X or UQ-2, as an optionally-manned successor to the U-2 and Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk. Continue reading
LED License Plates for Drones
Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, are now testing a kind of license plate for drones they think could help make drone operators more accountable. The project, called Lightcense, involves a rectangular array of bright, multicolored LEDs attached to the underside of a craft. The LEDs blink a unique pattern that could be looked up in a database by law enforcement to identify a drone’s owner.
Yamaha RMAX Gets CAA Part 102 Authorisation in New Zealand
The Yamaha RMAX unmanned helicopter has become the first drone to be certified for flight in New Zealand under Part 102 of the Civil Aviation Rules.
NASA to Discuss Drone Delivery at Logistics Summit
Emerging technologies will take center stage when speakers from NASA and Indiana State University address logistics leaders at the 13th annual Indiana Logistics Summit on Tuesday, Sept. 22, at the Indiana Convention Center. Unmanned systems, which include drones and robots, will be a primary theme for presentations by Frank Jones, Associate Director for Research Services Directorate at the NASA Langley Research Center and Dr. Richard Baker, director of Indiana State University’s new Center for Unmanned Systems. Continue reading
Registrations Take Off at Drone World Expo
Living up to it aim of being a truly ‘World’ event, more than 600 commercial drone end users representing 17 countries have already registered for Drone World Expo. These companies and more than 1,000 others will gather November 17 and 18 at the San Jose Convention Center in the heart of Silicon Valley to hear real-world solutions to their business challenges and see the latest products and services from industry leaders. Continue reading
GAO Reviews FAA Progress on UAS Integration
Federal aviation regulators by September expect to develop a foundation for a detailed plan to integrate drones into U.S. airspace, and then enact it in December, congressional investigators said in a new report. Continue reading
Helicopter Operators Consider RPAS
Remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS) present new opportunities for helicopter operators and some industry representatives in Europe suggest operators supplement their fleets with these aircraft, which can fill roles that rotorcraft cannot.
AeroVironment Gets $3.4M Raven Contract for Spain
AeroVironment, Inc. announced it has received a contract from the United States Army totalling $3.4 million for RQ-11B Raven unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) to supply the Spanish Ministry of Defence via the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) programme.