Fresh photos of Marilyn Monroe have emerged showing the Hollywood pin-up ‘building’ drones for the US Army during World War II. At the time the photos were shot, in 1944 Monroe hadn’t yet taken up the famous stage name, nor had she dyed her curly locks blonde. Continue reading
Polish Deputy Defence Minister Accused of Favouring Israeli UAS
Poland’s Deputy Defence Minister General Waldemar Skrzypczak has been stripped of his security clearance over suspicions that he gave preferential treatment for acquiring Israeli military equipment and over his close personal ties with Yedidia Yaari, the head of Israeli armaments maker Rafael Advanced Defense Systems. Continue reading
Deployable Air Land Exploration Robot Can Walk and Fly
The Laboratory of Intelligent Systems at Lausanne Polytech in Switzerland is developing a novel flying platform which has the ability to move on the ground by using its wings only. EPFL’s DALER – Deployable Air Land Exploration Robot – has the wings mounted on shafts that can either be locked or rotate. Continue reading
DARPA Wants Unmanned Submersible Mothership to Deploy UAS and UUVs
Unmanned vehicles designers at the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in Arlington, Va., will brief industry next month on a project to develop an unmanned submersible designed to transport and deploy unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) stealthily close to enemy operations. Continue reading
3D Robotics Unveils $700 Semi-Pro Quadcopter
3D Robotics gave a sneak preview of a semi-pro UAS at an unmanned aircraft convention in San Francisco last week. The company’s new quadcopter, or four-rotor helicopter, can be controlled from a tablet running an Android flight system or other similar app. Continue reading
Improved Gray Eagle Completes Initial Flight Test
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. has announced the successful first flight of the U.S. Army’s Improved Gray Eagle (IGE), a next-generation derivative of the combat-proven Block 1 Gray Eagle Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) that has accumulated over 70,000 flight hours since 2008. The flight occurred today at the company’s El Mirage Flight Operations Facility in Palmdale, California.
AeroVironment’s Puma AE sUAS Receives Federal Aviation Administration Restricted Category Type Certificate for Commercial Use
AeroVironment, Inc. announced that on July 19, 2013 it received a “Restricted Category” rating for its Puma AE small unmanned aircraft system from the Federal Aviation Administration. The first-of-its-kind certificate permits operators to fly Puma for commercial missions, such as oil spill monitoring and ocean surveys, in the North Slope region of the Arctic. Continue reading
China Grounds Cake Deliveries by UAS
Chinese authorities have had their way – the UAS transporting cakes for romantic couples has been grounded. Continue reading