The web-site of Press TV, Iran’s television network, ran this story last week: Ruhollah Samon, a Paktia provincial government spokesman in eastern Afghanistan, confirmed that the US surveillance UAS had crashed in the Zurmat district. According to the report, wreckage of the drone has not been found and the Afghan police have sent investigation teams to the area to search for it.
FAA Reauthorization Bill Passes Through the US House of Representatives
Last Friday, the US House of Representatives passed the Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization and Reform Act of 2011 by a vote of 223 to 196. The bill includes important passages about integrating unmanned aircraft systems into the National Airspace System (civil airspace).
FAA Reauthorization Bill – Comment
Doug Davis is currently Director, Global UAS Strategic Initiatives at New Mexico State University, after spending almost 25 years with the FAA. He is widely known and respected for his pioneering work in developing the vision for how UAS will operate in the National Airspace System. We asked Doug for his appraisal of the current legislative and budgetary situations facing the FAA and the progress that it is being made. Doug told us:
Global Observer Inflight Mishap on Ninth Test Flight
AeroVironment, Inc. announced that the Global Observer undergoing flight test envelope expansion at Edwards Air Force Base (EAFB) in California experienced a mishap at 2:30 am Pacific Daylight Time last Friday, approximately 18 hours into its ninth test flight. There are no reports of injury or damage to other property.
Inside the Quadrotor Thunderdome
Filmed at Zurich’s Institute for Dynamic Systems and Control inside the Flying Machine Arena, two Quadrotors demonstrate their extreme manoeuvrability by playing ball with a human, then with each other…
Bristol University Researches Autonomous in-Flight Refuelling
The University of Bristol will open a relative motion robotics centre of excellence to research and develop an autonomous engagement solution for in-flight refuelling. Cobham Mission Equipment has commissioned the centre, as part of the ASTRAEA Autonomy and Decision Making project. The South West RDA is providing significant support to this aspect of the programme.
UK RAF “Non-Pilots and Pilots Equally Skilled to Fly UAS”
The UK Royal Air Force has completed a trial programme intended to assess the ability of non-pilots to fly UAS. Called Daedalus, the process “has successfully demonstrated that selection and training can generate remote pilots who, despite undergoing a different sort of training, are as highly trained and equally skilled as traditional pilots in that field”, the RAF says.
eBay Raven Seller Faces 20 Years Jail
Henson Chua of the Philippines is looking at 20 years in prison for starting an auction on parts for a RQ-11B Raven, which is totally forbidden under the Arms Control Export Act. As seller celltron8 on eBay, Chua allegedly asked for $13,000 for the handheld UAS. Unfortunately for him, his bidder was an undercover investigator for the Department of Homeland Security.