When the Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) “butterfly” unmanned aircraft, or rather super micro aircraft, takes off in one of the company’s hangars, it looks like a toy for spoiled boys who have parents with really deep pockets. In reality, it is being developed for far more serious scenarios. Continue reading
Boeing: Building A Better GPS
As the number of GPS devices increases globally, so must the satellites. Continue reading
Italian Predator Completes 4 Missions in One 24-Hour Sortie
The Italian Air Force has set a new service record in December 2012, when one of its Predators deployed to Herat flew for 24 hours, supporting four different ground missions in Afghanistan. Continue reading
UK MoD Reveals Expenditure on Delayed Watchkeeper Programme
The UK Ministry of Defence expects to spend £160 million ($258 million) on its Watchkeeper unmanned air system programme over the next three financial years, but is still unable to say when the delayed type will be ready to enter operational use. Continue reading
VectorNav Supplies IMU for Unmanned Innovation Autopilot Development Platform
Unmanned Innovation, a provider of development platforms for unmanned aircraft systems, has partnered with VectorNav Technologies to integrate VectorNav’s VN-100 inertial measurement unit (IMU) into Unmanned Innovation’s os-Series Autopilots. Continue reading
FRONTEX – “UAS are Reliable and Cost-Effective Means for Surveillance”
Frontex, the pan-European border agency based in Warsaw, is mandated to co-ordinate member state border police patrols on Europe’s external frontiers. Continue reading
US Air Force, Sandia Test UAS Ability to Track Radioactive Particles
The U.S. Air Force is teaming up with engineers from Sandia National Laboratories to test the capabilities of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) equipped with radiation sensors to collect airborne radioactive particles for analysis. Continue reading
After the TacoCopter, the Burrito Bomber
A San Francisco-based lab called Darwin Aerospace (which happens to be run by the popular food review site Yelp) has successfully test-launched an automatic delivery service that uses GPS-equipped drone to deliver burritos. Continue reading