Aerovel, manufacturer of Flexrotor, an advanced Group 2 vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) unmanned aircraft, announced that it has raised $2.5 million in Series B capital. The investment is from undisclosed leaders in aviation. Continue reading
Kenyan Parliament Approves Drone Registration Fee
The Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) has received the go-ahead to operationalise the Civil Aviation (Regulatory Fees and Charges for Unmanned Aircraft Systems) Regulations, 2020 after they were acceded to by the National Assembly on 6 March 2021. Continue reading
Gas Pipeline Inspections Simulated in Final NASA SIO Demonstration
Aerial inspections of gas and petroleum pipelines were simulated during NASA’s final Systems Integration and Operationalization (SIO) demonstration flight with partner American Aerospace Technologies Inc. (AATI) on Feb. 25, 2021. Continue reading
AeroViroment Gets $45M Switchblade Contract for UK
AeroViroment Inc., Simi Valley, California, was awarded a $44,961,750 modification (P00007) to contract W31P4Q-20-C-0024 for the Switchblade Weapon System. Continue reading
Estonian Startup Raises €2M for Drone-Based Power Line Inspections
Hepta Airborne , a Talinn, Estonia-based provider of end-to-end inspection and analysis tools for energy asset managers, announced completing a funding round of €2 million ($2.4M). Continue reading
LEMUR Drone Designed for SWAT Teams
Drone Nerds, a North American drone distributor, has partnered with American drone company, BRINC Drones, to help bring to market one of the most revolutionary tactical tools ever built. Continue reading
Drone Propellers to Get Quieter
The anechoic, or ‘echo-free’, test chamber at CSIRO
Researchers at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) in Australia have published a study revealing their successful approach to designing much quieter propellers.
Royal Malaysian Navy Launches ScanEagle Squadron
The Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) established the 601st Unmanned Aerial System Squadron on March 4, 2021, operating the Boeing Insitu ScanEagle UAS from its base at Kota Kinabalu in Sabah. It is the RMN’s first unit dedicated to unmanned aerial systems. Continue reading