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BAE's Mantis - Basis for New Joint UAS
BAE Systems and Dassault Aviation announced that they have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to collaborate on the design, development, production and support of a medium altitude long endurance (MALE) unmanned aircraft system for the UK and French defence ministries.
The US Navy has outlined a new timeline for buying services provided by a fleet of unmanned aircraft systems worth up to $874 million. The close-range intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) contract would replace the Boeing/Insitu ScanEagle with a ship-based, small UAS that would keep track of vessels within a 50nm (90km) radius of the launch ship.
A Global Hawk based in Guam, is currently flying above Japan gathering imagery to help the Japanese Government direct its aid programme.
The US 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit deployed in late February with the ScanEagle unmanned aircraft, marking the first time any MEU has taken the combat-proven UAS out to sea for an operational assignment.
Aeryon Labs in Canada has announced it has been awarded a contract to supply its Aeryon Scout UAS to Halton Regional Police.
South Korea’s military will bring forward its planned deployment of high-altitude UAS and stealth fighter jets to increase its surveillance capability and bolster its deterrence toward North Korea.
Northrop Grumman’s Broad Area Maritime Surveillance Unmanned Aircraft System has completed a critical design review with the U.S. Navy.
A recent breakthrough in precise aircraft control with implications for both manned and unmanned flight is highlighted in a brief video which can be viewed below. The full paper describing this Apprenticeship Learning control method and its integration into a comprehensive design and analysis suite is available here.
Abstract of Paper: