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.
US Embassy Organises Unmanned Systems Trade Mission to Israel
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’s Ram-Air Cargo Parachute System is a UAS – Official Certification
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.
IAI Abandons Unmanned Helicopter Conversions
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.
Boeing & Qinetiq to Build World’s Largest Unmanned Solar Aircraft with Help from Newcastle University (UK)
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.
FAA Consolidates Guidelines on Unmanned Aircraft Operations in the National Airspace System
In anticipation of a complete review of the conditions of integrating non-military UAS into the US civilian airspace (known as the National Airspace System in the US) the FAA has issued new interim guidelines for the operation of unmanned aircraft systems.
Wireless Data Links for UAS – New White Paper
A new white paper entitled “Wireless Data-link for Unmanned Aircraft Systems: Requirements, Challenges and Design Ideas,” has just been published by Dr. Raj Jain,Professor of Computer Science and Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis and Fred Templin of Boeing. The full paper can be seen here: Wireless Data Links
ABSTRACT:
Bell’s Kiowa Warrior Upgrade Gets Live Feeds from UAS
Kiowa Warrior Photo: Bell
The U.S. Army is beginning mission equipment upgrade modifications to its fleet of Bell OH-58 Kiowa Warrior scout aircraft to build a new, high-tech “F” model helicopter. The OH-58 is configured with Level 2 Manned-Unmanned teaming, or L2MUM – which means that the pilots in the cockpit can view feeds from nearby unmanned aircraft systems in real time.