Indian giant Piramal Healthcare is to invest in Israeli unmanned air systems manufacturer BlueBird. Continue reading
Final Phantom Converted to Target Drone
The final F-4 Phantom destined for conversion to a QF-4 aerial target drone recently entered the 309th Aircraft Maintenance and Regeneration Group’s refurbishment line at Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz., according to the Desert Lightning News, the base newspaper. Continue reading
Northrop Grumman BAMS Crashes in Maryland
A U.S. Navy Global Hawk flying out of Patuxent River Naval Air Station crashed on Monday after operators lost contact with the aircraft. Continue reading
Sweden Orders AeroVironment Puma AE and Wasp sUAS
AeroVironment has received a firm fixed-price order for 12 hybrid small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) from the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (Försvarets Materielverk) on behalf of the Swedish Army. Continue reading
Poland Set to Spend $300M on UAS by 2018
Poland’s Ministry of Defence has announced plans to acquire between 123 and 205 UAS by 2018, reported local newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza, at a cost of at least 1 billion zloty ($295 million). Continue reading
Raytheon Gets $28M US Navy Contract for Linux Ground Control Stations
Raytheon Intelligence and Information Systems has been awarded a $27,883,883 cost-plus-incentive-fee, firm-fixed-price contract for efforts required to complete Linux transition on the tactical control system software for vertical take-off unmanned aircraft ground control stations. Continue reading
Iraqi Navy UAS Use Hood Imaging Systems
The UAS imaging systems from Hood Technology will be utilized by the Iraqi Navy for monitoring oil platforms beyond the southern coast of the country. Continue reading
Cornell Engineers Develop Algorithm for Robot Hand
When Cornell engineers developed a new type of robot hand that could pick up oddly shaped objects it presented a challenge: It was easy for a human operator to choose the best place to take hold of an object, but an autonomous robot, like the ones we may someday have helping around the home or office, would need a new kind of programming. So they have developed a procedure — an algorithm — that allows a robot to learn grasping skills from experience and apply them in new situations. Continue reading