In January a small group of U.S. Marines at a remote base near the village of Shurakay in northern Helmand province was running low on ammunition after fighting fiercely for days. The road in was too dangerous for a resupply convoy, and there were so many Taliban fighters that a helicopter crew trying to fly in would have been at serious risk. Continue reading
Europe Considers ‘Black’ Armed MALE UAS Project
Frustrated by apparent U.S. ambivalence in granting authority to integrate weapons onto its Reaper aircraft, the Italian Air Force is looking at possible alternatives, including a yet-to-be-announced “black programme” to create a European medium-altitude/long-endurance (MALE) armed UAS. Continue reading
NASA’s $500K Aircraft Operations Challenge
NASA has selected a Dayton non-profit organization to manage the only unmanned aircraft systems contest in the nation to help make UAS safe to fly in civilian airspace, the space agency announced last week. Continue reading
Iran Ramps Up UAS Development Programme
Last week Iran unveiled its latest UAS dubbed “Hamaseh”. This unmanned aircraft follows a classic twin-boom tail design, pioneered by IAI’s Scout and Tadiran Mastiff in the 1980s. Continue reading
US Naval Research Laboratory Shatters Endurance Record for Small Electric UAS
Researchers at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory flew their fuel cell powered Ion Tiger UAS for 48 hours and 1 minute on April 16-18 by using liquid hydrogen fuel in a new, NRL-developed, cryogenic fuel storage tank and delivery system. Continue reading
WineHawk Labs Rebrands as Precision Hawk to Focus on Precision Agriculture Market
Unmanned aircraft systems and remote sensing company Winehawk Labs announced today they will release a new model of their successful UAS platform in May of 2013 to coincide with company re-branding. The change in company name, from WineHawk Labs to Precision Hawk, reflects a change in focus from specifically viticulture to broader agriculture where there is a great need for precise data collection and cost-effective platforms for farmers and surveyors. Continue reading
Draganflyer Helps Canadian Police Find Accident Victim
A Saskatchewan man, lost and alone, was found by an RCMP remote controlled helicopter that spotted him from the sky. Continue reading
New OctoCopter from Tescorp in Colombia
Tecscorp Industries will soon unveil its new VTOL “Chronos” unmanned aircraft system, as part of an effort to develop covert equipment for use by special forces personnel and for agricultural, industrial applications. Continue reading