A group of engineering professors and college students have come up with a 3D-printed UAS for the U.S. Department of Defense. The research group at the University of Virginia is led by David Sheffler, a lecturer in the university’s Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. Continue reading
PrecisionHawk Raises $10M to Expand
PrecisionHawk, an information delivery company that uses a small, lightweight UAV [Unmanned Aerial Vehicle] and cloud-based software to collect, process and analyze aerial data, today announced it has closed a Series B financing round of approximately $10 million led by New York City-based investor Millennium Technology Value Partners. Continue reading
India’s Panchi Prepares for Maiden Flight
Defence scientists are all set to unveil the wheeled-version of India’s homegrown unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) Nishant. The UAV named Panchi (meaning bird) will be capable of taking off and landing from semi-prepared runways, thereby reducing the turnaround time between missions. Continue reading
MQ-4C Triton’s First Cross-Country Flight
The first U.S. Navy MQ-4C Triton unmanned aircraft system (UAS) has completed a flight from California to Maryland. The UAS flew 11 hours from the Northrop Grumman Corporation facility in Palmdale to Naval Air Station Patuxent River to start its next phase of testing, moving the program closer toward operational assessment. Northrop Grumman is the prime contractor for the Navy’s MQ-4C Triton UAS program.
Israeli UAS Crashes in South Lebanon
An Israeli unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) crashed over the Marjayoun area in South Lebanon, close to the Israeli-Lebanese border, Hezbollah-affiliated Al Manar reported Saturday. The Israeli army confirmed the drone crashed due to technical problems during a routine mission.
Coalition UAS Crashes Near Pakistan Border
An unarmed coalition reconnaissance UAS crashed Wednesday in the mountains of eastern Afghanistan near the border with Pakistan, Afghan police and international military officials said. Continue reading
Chinese UAS Photographs Disputed Japan Islands
A private Chinese company is displaying a UAS that it says took photographs of the disputed Senkaku Islands, a claim doubted by outside observers. The Haiyao 1 unmanned surveillance aircraft, produced by an aircraft manufacturer from Jiangsu province, has attracted visitors at the 5th UAS (Unmanned Aircraft Systems) China Conference and Exhibition in Beijing, which started on Sept. 16.
NATO Report Highlights RPAS Limitations
NATO’s Joint Air Power Competence Centre (JAPCC) has released a study into the vulnerabilities that the alliance’s in-use unmanned air vehicles have, claiming that the nature of UAV operations to date may have limited their development. Continue reading