The U.S. Navy’s X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System (UCAS), built by Northrop Grumman Corporation, has won an Aviation Week Laureate Award for “extraordinary achievements” in Aeronautics and Propulsion. Continue reading
Ukraine Border Guard Service UAS Video Shows Russian Soldiers in Crimea Armyansk
Ukraine’s Border Guard Service has published a video it says was filmed from one of its surveillance planes showing Russian troops digging in outside the town of Armyansk in Crimea. Continue reading
China to Combat Pollution Using Smog-Busting UAS
A new flexible-wing unmanned aircraft system (UAS) will be used in the first round of anti-fogging tests in airports and ports, a National People’s Congress deputy said. The UAS made by a Hubei-based life-saving equipment company under the Aviation Industry Corporation of China, can carry up to 700 kilograms of anti-fogging catalysts to clear up fog within a range of 5 kilometers, said company chairman Ma Yongsheng. Continue reading
Ecuador Develops Domestic UAS
Ecuador unveiled its first unmanned aircraft completely manufactured within the country, culminating five years of work. UAV-2 Gavilán, the first prototype of the nation’s unmanned aircraft system, will be used to keep an eye on border crossings, areas prone to natural disasters and territorial waters used for drug and human trafficking. Continue reading Embry Riddle UAS Team Helps Philippines Post Disaster Effort
Over the winter break, Team Awesome’s Stephen Rayleigh and Michael du Breuil from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University were contacted to fly to the Philippines with their UAS Lynx to help with post-disaster mapping of affected areas after Typhoon Yolanda. Continue reading
Andalusian Solar Powered UAS Prototype Unveiled
Leaders from the tech centres IAT (Andalusian Institute for Technology, CATEC (Centre for Advanced Aerospace Technologies), CITIC (Andalusian Centre for Innovation and Information and Communication Technology) and CTAER (Advanced Technological Centre for Renewable Energy), grouped under the consortium C4T, have provided a preview of the PEGASO project (Aerial Experimental Platform for Advanced and Sustainable Management of on-board energy), which is seeking to produce a demonstrator of an unmanned solar aircraft, equipped with efficient management of on-board energy. The first prototype rolled out in Andalusia represents an innovation in the national and international sphere within the aerospace market. Continue reading
FAA Loses Commercial UAS Flight Case
A federal administrative judge has dismissed a proposed $10,000 fine against businessman Raphael Pirker, who used a remotely operated 56-inch foam glider to take aerial video for an advertisement for the University of Virginia Medical Center.The FAA alleged that since Pirker was using the aircraft for profit, he ran afoul of regulations requiring commercial operators of “Unmanned Aircraft Systems” to obtain FAA authorisation. Continue reading
Northrop Grumman/HAV-Developed Long Endurance Multi-Intelligence Vehicle (LEMV) Reappears as HAV Airlander
A 300-foot-long aircraft originally developed for, by then dropped by, the US Army was recently re-unveiled in Great Britain as the world’s largest aircraft. The HAV 304 “Airlander” is an amalgamation of airship, airplane, helicopter and hovercraft features, and is referred to as a hybrid air vehicle. Continue reading