September 30, 2004

Lockheed Martin UCAR Team Successfully Tests Candidate Sensor Technologies

"The Lockheed Martin Unmanned Combat Armed Rotorcraft (UCAR) team recently completed airborne and ground demonstrations of potential UCAR sensors.The goal of the UCAR program is to demonstrate the technical feasibility, military utility, and operational value of an unmanned rotorcraft system...
Posted by Darren

New Mexico State explores no-pilot plane uses

“Flight plan: Develop a structure of rules, regulations and technologies for an airplane industry in its infancy. Number of pilots and passengers in the air: None. Destination: New Mexico. The unmanned aerial vehicle - basically, a plane with no...
Posted by Darren

September 28, 2004

Bell Designs Helicopter Concept for Lockheed Martin UCAR Program

"Bell Helicopter, a key member of the Lockheed Martin Unmanned Combat Armed Rotorcraft (UCAR) team, has successfully completed its preliminary design of a novel air vehicle to conduct reconnaissance and combat missions that does not compromise aircrew safety.During a two-year,...
Posted by Darren

First UAV launched in Alaskan skies

"The first Unmanned Aerial Vehicle in Alaska flown by Army pilots took took to the air on an airfield southeast of Eielson Air Force Base Sept. 5. Soldiers from the UAV platoon of Troop D, 4th Squadron, 14th Cavalry...
Posted by Darren

Spy planes to keep watch over Australia's Oceans

"Ocean surveillance around Australia will increasingly be carried out by unmanned spy planes and long-range radar systems under a border protection plan the Government announced yesterday. The $39 million policy includes a trial of a small, unmanned aerial vehicle...
Posted by Darren

Sikorsky's Acquisition of Schweizer is Complete

"Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation today announced that the acquisition of Schweizer Aircraft Corporation is complete. Schweizer, based in Elmira, N.Y, is a U.S. company specializing in the light helicopter, reconnaissance aircraft, and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) markets. Effective immediately, Schweizer...
Posted by Darren

USSOCOM Buys SnowGoose UAV System

"Now designated as the CQ-10A SnowGoose, this propeller driven UAV is capable of carrying up to 600 pounds in six bays, which can include a combination of cargo, surveillance and sensor equipment, communications links or other devices, offering mission commanders...
Posted by Darren

September 24, 2004

Bateluer UAV - Denel Aerospace Systems

"The Bateleur (named for an African eagle) is an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) prototype designed and built by Denel Aerospace Systems (formerly Kentron). It has been designed as a MALE (Medium-Altitude - Long Endurance) UAV, with its primary role...
Posted by Darren

September 23, 2004

Russia Purchases UAVs

"Russia has made its first defense purchase from Israel, according to Yediot Ahronot Yavne-based Aeronautics Defense Systems signed a contract to sell unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) to Russia's Ministry of Civil Defense, Emergencies, & Natural Disasters, according to Globes,...
Posted by Darren

Drones have role in border surveillance

"Unmanned aerial vehicles have a place as a Border Patrol surveillance tool in helping agents seeking to control illegal immigration and drug-smuggling, two Homeland Security undersecretaries said Tuesday. But deciding exactly what capabilities the drones should have will be...
Posted by Darren

Free Swimmers

"The Experimental Autonomous Vehicle (EAVE) Program funded by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) produced two unmanned underwater vehicles in the early 1980s, EAVE-WEST and EAVE-EAST. The EAVE-WEST (later called Free Swimmer I) vehicle was developed by SSC San...
Posted by Darren

Advanced Unmanned Search System

"The Advanced Unmanned Search System (AUSS) (Figure 1, left) represents a major breakthrough in the Navy's ability to perform search in the deep ocean. AUSS is the product of twelve years of development by a small, dedicated team of...
Posted by Darren

Flying Plug

"The Flying Plug is a prototype underwater data connectivity device developed by SSC San Diego under the ONT Blue Sky Program and subsequently adopted by the ONR Surveillance Program. It is designed for deployment from submarines, aircraft and surface...
Posted by Darren

Distributed Surveillance Sensor Network

"The purpose of the Distributed Surveillance Sensor Network (DSSN) program is to investigate the applicability of small, inexpensive undersea vehicles to surveillance applications and submarine connectivity. It is based on the concept of a fleet of autonomous undersea vehicles which...
Posted by Darren

Multipurpose Security and Surveillance Mission Platform

"The Multipurpose Security and Surveillance Mission Platform (MSSMP), started in FY'92 as the Air-Mobile Ground Security and Surveillance System (AMGSSS), is designed to provide a rapidly deployable, extended-range surveillance capability for a variety of operations and missions, including: fire...
Posted by Darren

Autonomous UAV Mission System (AUMS)

"The Autonomous UAV Mission System (AUMS) project is working to develop technologies for automated launching, landing, refueling, and rearming of small Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs.) This effort is sponsored by the Office of the...
Posted by Darren

Segway Robotic Mobility Platform (RMP)

"The Segway RMP (Robotic Mobility Platform) is a new mobile platform based on a Segway Human Transporter (HT). It is faster, cheaper, and can carry a greater payload than existing comparable robotic platforms. DARPA IPTO initiated this effort, with...
Posted by Darren

R3V - Remote Robotic Reconnaissance Vehicle

"The Remote Robotic Reconnaissance Vehicle (R3V) project is a development effort to provide the soldier with an enhanced situational awareness capability using fused sensors on a robotic vehicle. The R3V project is part of the Night Vision Cave and...
Posted by Darren

Strikestar 2025: A Research Paper Presented To Air Force 2025

'The United States military of the year 2025 will need to deal with a wide variety of threats in diverse parts of the world. It will be faced with budgetary restraints that will dictate system trades favoring those military...
Posted by Darren

Robots with The Right Stuff

'As the US war machine develops a digital air force of “unmanned aerial vehicles,” it's only a matter of time before fighter planes without fighter jocks joust in some robot dogfight in the sky. “Tumbleweeds cleared” reads the sign...
Posted by Darren

Special Operations Forces and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles: Sooner or Later?

'This study analyzes whether Special Operations Forces should use Unmanned Aerial Vehicles to support intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, communications and re-supply capability deficiencies. The author’s objective is to review the missions and requirements of the United States Special Operations Command, examine...
Posted by Darren

The Pilotless Air Force?

'Today, there are several concepts that are threatening Billy Mitchell's vision of airmen. New technology and operational concepts are threatening the existence of the human aircraft operator. Looming on the horizon are unmanned aerial vehicles, spaced based weapons, and information...
Posted by Darren

UAV Technologies and Combat Operations

The UAV Technologies and Combat Operations is a detailed document from the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) which will make interesting ready for UAV hardcore fans. 'The Air Force has entered a new era, an era in which...
Posted by Darren

September 22, 2004

Next-generation UAV to be developed in Perth Australia

'A NEXT-GENERATION unmanned aerial vehicle, capable of high speeds and heavy payloads, was one of a number of advanced defence technology projects to be funded to the tune of $10 million, federal Defence Minister Robert Hill announced today. Perth-based...
Posted by Darren

VMU-1 Pioneer UAV provides 'birds eye' view of combat zone

"The fog of war clouding the modern battlefield is getting a whole lot thinner. Marines fighting an insurgency through the maze-like streets of Iraqi cities like Ar Ramadi and Fallujah are finding the enemy more easily thanks to Marine...
Posted by Darren

September 21, 2004

A160 Hummingbird Resumes Flight Testing as Boeing UAV

CHICAGO, Sept. 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The A160 Hummingbird unmanned aerial vehicle made its first test flight as a Boeing (NYSE: BA) aircraft Friday from an airfield near Victorville, Calif. The successful 80-minute test included both hovering and forward flight....
Posted by Darren

Global Hawk Drones to Protect Australian Gas

"Australia will start trials next year using unmanned aerial vehicles to protect the country's most valuable resource project, the North West Shelf. Defense Minister Robert Hill said Thursday the trials will be of two U.S.-made drones, the Northrop Grumman...
Posted by Darren

September 18, 2004

Army launches first UAV in Alaska Skies

'The first Unmanned Aerial Vehicle in Alaska flown by Army pilots took took to the air on an airfield southeast of Eielson Air Force Base Sept. 5. Soldiers from the UAV platoon of Troop D, 4th Squadron, 14th Cavalry...
Posted by Darren

September 17, 2004

Key Risk-Reduction Milestone Achieved For Unmanned Rotorcraft Program

"During recent flight tests, Northrop Grumman successfully demonstrated key elements of the Unmanned Combat Armed Rotorcraft (UCAR)'s autonomous vehicle management system, evaluating hardware and software that will allow the UCAR system to operate autonomously but in cooperation with manned and...
Posted by Darren

Robot spy planes to guard our borders

" A SQUADRON of robot spy planes will throw an anti-terror screen around Australia's rich oil and natural gas reserves. The unmanned drones, similar to those used by US forces in Afghanistan and Iraq, will also become the new front...
Posted by Darren

MSU using grant to help design surveillance craft

"Mississippi State University's Raspet Research Flight Laboratory will use an initial $3 million federal defense grant to help design a new-generation unmanned aerial vehicle that could strengthen U.S. battlefield surveillance capabilities. The money will flow through the Advanced Technology Directorate...
Posted by Darren

September 16, 2004

US Army: MH-6 Could Be Manned-Unmanned 'Convertible' Option

"Boeing is studying a plan to offer a dual-mode version of the MH-6 MELB 'Little Bird' - manned and unmanned - following a test program set to begin later this year. The aircraft - a modified MD-530F - is currently...
Posted by Darren

Israel surveillance drones are thought to be armed

'Recent Israeli airstrikes against militants in the West Bank and Gaza Strip have raised Palestinian speculation that it is arming its surveillance drones with missiles for track-and-kill missions. “I saw a small plane and then a flash of light, then...
Posted by Darren

September 15, 2004

Australia Eyes UAV Fleet

In another move, Hill announced that a request for proposal (RfP) for a fleet of tactical unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) worth $73 million to $110 million would be issued by the end of July. The responses are due in November...
Posted by Darren

September 10, 2004

Creating an army of none

“A growing number of unmanned vehicles, such as surveillance drones and bomb-disposal robots, is reporting for duty, and Canadian companies are hoping to pull the strings. Unmanned aerial vehicles such as the Predator drone have been used extensively by...
Posted by Darren

The Whirl - Spinning spy plane could hover for days

“An unmanned spinning spy plane that could hover above a location for days gathering intelligence has been developed by US researchers. The prototype vehicle, known as ”the Whirl“, was constructed by researchers at US defence and aerospace company Raytheon...
Posted by Darren

September 09, 2004

Unmanned Vehicle Systems National Conference - Canada

Press Release "OTTAWA, Sept. 7 /CNW Telbec/ - Unmanned Vehicle Systems Canada will hold it's second annual national conference "Challenges and Opportunities", 7-9 September, featuring: Mr. Ian Glenn, President UVS Canada; Mr. Bob Macdougall, Director General Emergency Management and...
Posted by Darren

U.N. Inspectors Dispute U.S. Theories on Iraqi Drones

"U.N. inspectors said they had no evidence that Iraq had developed drones capable of delivering chemical or biological weapons, as the Bush administration contended in making its case for war, according a report obtained Tuesday. The existence of the...
Posted by Darren

MP-RTIP: Rutan To Get First Crack At Flight Test

"Burt Rutan's Protreus design will be the first airborne platform to test Northrop Grumman/Raytheon's new multi platform, radar technology insertion program (MP-RTIP) system when it begins a flight test program set for October 2006. Northrop officials, speaking prior to...
Posted by Darren

IntelliTech Microsystems Delivers Unmanned Aerial Vehicle to the University of South Australia

"IntelliTech Microsystems, Inc. (IMI) has delivered a Vector P Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) to The University of South Australia, it was announced today by Steve Fujikawa, President of IMI. The Vector P will be used by the University's School...
Posted by Darren

September 07, 2004

Unmanned U.S. spy aircraft crashes in Iraq

"An unmanned U.S. spy aircraft crashed Monday in Fallujah, spreading debris over the southern corner of the city, witnesses said. Jubilant residents picked up pieces of the drone and danced in the streets, displaying pieces of the aircraft to...
Posted by Darren

US Army Shadow Tactical UAV's Pass 10,000 Flight Hours And 2,500 Sorties In Iraq

"US Army RQ-7A Shadow Tactical Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (TUAV) systems have achieved new, major milestones of flight, surpassing 10,000 flight hours and 2,500 sorties while performing surveillance and reconnaissance for coalition warfighters in Operation Iraqi Freedom. The record marks...
Posted by Darren

CUV Develop New Blimp System - HEP-TR

"HEP-TR for the Air Force consists of a missile communications relay payload suspended from a new type of small tethered blimp, called a Helikite, and a carrier that stores the Helikite and the winch, sensors and helium tanks.  It...
Posted by Darren

Australasian Unmanne Air Vehicle Conference

"The ‘1st Australasian Unmanned Air Vehicle Conference’ affiliated with the Bristol UAV Conference series will be held in Melbourne, Australia from 13-17 March 2005, as part of the 11th Australian International Aerospace Congress. The forum will be held during...
Posted by Darren

September 02, 2004

Bluetooth UAV Bots

Bluetooth is finally taking off. Literally. A small robotic blimp floats gently through the Autonomous Systems Laboratory at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, wirelessly interacting with a desktop computer to literally evolve its own navigation software without human...
Posted by Darren

September 01, 2004

Saab To Join Dassault on Neuron UCAV Demonstrator Project

"Saab AB, Stockholm, expects to sign a development contract with Dassault Aviation, St. Cloud, France, in December or early next year on France’s program for a technology demonstrator for an unmanned combat aerial vehicle, a Saab executive said Aug....
Posted by Darren

Flying From the Ground

"Flying planes from the ground. That's what National Guardsmen from Maryland and Pennsylvania are learning at Redstone Arsenal. And it's a small plane with a big job. "These are unmanned aerial vehicles and they do the dirty dull and...
Posted by Darren

UAV Market to Double by 2014

"The study suggests that the US will account for about 90% of the worldwide RDT&E spending on UAV technology over the next decade, and about 70% of the procurement. These represent higher shares of the aerospace market than for...
Posted by Darren

Steadicopter Project Complete

"Steadicopter, based in Israel, reports that its vertical take-off and landing unmanned aerial vehicle (VUAV) has performed fully autonomously through all fight aspects: take-off, hover, waypoints flight and landing while transmitting video images in real time. This Steadicopter product...
Posted by Darren

US throws $1bn at unmanned attack aircraft

"The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has awarded Northrop Grumman a healthy $1.03bn to develop its X-47B unmanned combat aircraft. The project forms part of the Joint Unmanned Combat Air Systems (J-UCAS) demonstration program - in which Boeing...
Posted by Darren

Sikorsky plans to buy maker of unmanned craft

"After decades of almost exclusively manufacturing large, rugged military helicopters, Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. wants to be in the small aircraft business as well. The planned acquisition of Schweizer Aircraft Co. announced Thursday by Sikorsky will give it entry into...
Posted by Darren

Helicopter for sale, no pilot necessary

"After years of development and a setback caused by the theft of its prototype, an un-piloted helicopter was declared ready for the world's market this weekend. Called the Steadicopter, company officials said it has both security and civilian uses....
Posted by Darren

Boeing's unmanned eye in the sky may be used at home

"Discussions are under way to see if Boeing Co.'s unmanned aerial vehicle program can be applied to homeland security, the chief executive of the St. Louis-based defense unit said Wednesday. Boeing's unmanned program is mostly known for the combat...
Posted by Darren

Remote Control Readiness

"When it comes to scoping out potentially hostile situations from the air, the U.S. military has plans to use unmanned aerial vehicles in a big way - and is using such machines in Iraq and Afghanistan. Outfitted with video...
Posted by Darren

Army will add $6.4 billion for Boeing system

"The U.S. Army has agreed to provide up to an additional $6.4 billion to fund the development phase of Boeing Co.'s Future Combat Systems, a St. Louis-based program designed to create a network that links soldiers to unmanned ground...
Posted by Darren