AAI Unmanned Aircraft Systems announced yesterday that it has successfully completed an unmanned flight demonstration of a Small Sense and Avoid System (SSAASy) on a Shadow 200 UAS. The Shadow system has clocked up more than 600,000 flight hours, the majority of which have taken place in Iraq and Afghanistan.
US Government RFI for Predator/Reaper Support
The US Government is considering a combined MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper organizational-level maintenance contract starting on/about 1 October 2011 and is seeking industry input on how best to support Air Combat Command’s remotely piloted aircraft missions.
Kaman K-MAX Makes Unmanned Sling Drops
Kaman Aerospace Corporation and the U.S. Army Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center (NSRDEC) recently made aviation history with the Unmanned K-MAX helicopter by successfully completing multiple guided airdrops via sling load at 10,000 ft above sea level.
US Navy Adapts Space Radio for UAS Communications
AAI Shadow
Three naval entities collaborated to adapt a small radio receiver intended for space applications into a full-featured radio frequency system for a Marine Corps UAS. The Software Reprogrammable Payload (SRP), a joint effort between the Office of Naval Research, the Naval Research Laboratory and Marine Corps aviation, is currently targeted for the AAI Shadow.
Trident Systems Wins $50M Small UAS Contract from US Navy
Trident Systems has won a $49.5 million contract from the U.S. Navy to run the small UAS component of the Special Surveillance Programme (SSP) to detect and target terrorist forces engaged in planting improvised explosive devices (IEDs), sabotage, and attacking U.S. and allied military bases.
UVS TECH Conference & Exhibition, Moscow
The Fifth International Forum and Exhibition “Unmanned Multipurpose Vehicle Systems”-“UVS-TECH 2011” held at the Expocentre Fairgrounds, Moscow, Russia starts next Tuesday, March 1st. The detailed programme is now available: UVS-TECH-2011_Conference-Programme .
FLIR Systems EO/IR Sensor Chosen for Predator XP
FLIR Systems, Inc. has announced at IDEX that the Star SAFIRE 380-HD electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) sensor has been selected by General Atomics as the leading EO/IR sensor candidate for various Predator XP UAS projects in the Middle East and North Africa.
BOSH Wins $2M UAS Training Contract from USAFA
BOSH Global Services has been awarded a $2.2 million one-year contract (with the option for a second year) to provide UAS training to United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) cadets.