Aerial mapping company Bluesky has produced a prototype map of the UK showing where it may be unsafe or even illegal to fly Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). Bluesky has combined an expertise in flight planning and 3D aerial mapping with various geographic datasets to come up with the concept of a UAV Flight Restriction Map.
National Guard Seeks More UAS For Domestic Missions
The Air National Guard has quietly expanded its fleet of unmanned aircraft in the U.S. A dozen units scattered across the country now have drone-flying missions, and in some places, the Guard is lobbying to use military drones for missions at home.
WW2 Russian Fighter: Yakovlev YAK-3
Graeme Frew takes his Yak-3 for a spin at the Classics Of The Sky airshow in Tauranga, New Zealand. Continue reading
Insitu Gets $78M US Navy Blackjack Contract
The US Navy has awarded a contract modification of $78 million—actually, officially 78 million and one dollar—to Insitu for a half-dozen more RQ-21A Blackjack unmanned aircraft systems, small aircraft the Navy and Marines use for tactical reconnaissance, surveillance, and target acquisition at sea and on land.
ALPA’s Flight Plan for Safe and Fair Skies
The US Air Line Pilots Association’s (ALPA) white paper published last week, A Flight Plan for Safe and Fair Skies, looks at, among other issues, the safe integration of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) into the National Airspace System (NAS). Continue reading
FAA Says Wildfires and Drones Don’t Mix
Responding to recent incidents in which unmanned aircraft systems interfered with manned aircraft involved in wildland firefighting operations, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is supporting the U.S. Department of the Interior and U.S. Forest Service in their simple message to drone operators: If you fly; we can’t.
Northrop Signs Global Hawk Payload Deal with USAF
Northrop Grumman expects to start demonstrating a universal payload adaptor for the RQ-4B Global Hawk with various sensors carried by the Lockheed Martin U-2 after signing a cooperative research and development agreement on 14 July with the US Air Force.
More Sophisticated, Autonomous UAS on the Horizon
Drones have become one of the most ubiquitous weapons to come out of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. They have given battlefield commanders unprecedented situational awareness and struck key targets all while keeping soldiers out of harm’s way. Continue reading