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X-47B AV-2 Undergoes Proof Load Test Photo: Norhrop Grumman
Following a rigorous, five-week series of structural proof tests of the jet’s airframe, the US Navy /Northrop Grumman test team have proven that the X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System will be able to withstand all of the structural stresses and strains associated with takeoff, flight and landing – including those uniquely linked with landing or taking off from the moving, pitching deck of an aircraft carrier.
© ADE
India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation announced that it has conducted low-altitude trials (down to 82ft – 25m) with its Lakshya-2 unmanned aerial target.
Iran's Unmanned Flying Tea Cup
The official Iranian news service, the Fars News Agency has announced that the Islamic Republic has built an unmanned flying saucer. Quote from the release:
US Vice Admiral Bill Gortney, director of the Joint Staff, told reporters at a Pentagon news briefing that once the bombing and missile campaign ends in Libya, unmanned Global Hawk aircraft will conduct a bomb damage assessment. The USAF also confirms that a Global Hawk flew in support of no-fly-zone operations before March 21.
The Commercial Service of the US Embassy in Tel Aviv and Airlift Inc. are jointly organizing an International Unmanned Systems trade mission to Israel from March 27 – April 1. The event is sponsored by IAI, Rafael, Aeronautics, Bluebird, Simlat, and Urban Aeronautics and features visits to these companies, individual B2B meetings and a UAS Flight Show at Ein Shemer Air Force Base.
Cassidian ParaLander - A UAS by Any Other Name
The ParaLander ram-air cargo parachute system, developed and produced by Cassidian, has been approved for operational deployment by the Bundeswehr Technical Centre (WTD) 61 in cooperation with Cassidian in Manching. ParaLander was classified as an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) following extensive flight testing.
Israel Aerospace Industries has abandoned its programme of converting manned helicopters into unmanned aircraft. IAI had been helping Hindustan Aeronautics in India to convert an existing helicopter for unmanned operations. However in the absence of a defined budget by the Indian Government, it withdrew from the project.
Newcastle University engineers in the UK will help QinetiQ build a monster, record-breaking solar-powered plane under a project jointly funded by Boeing and the US Government. The unmanned SolarEagle aircraft fitted with solar panels will be able to stay in the air at an altitude of more than 18km for five years at a time.