Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
News and issues relating to civil and military unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS) of all kinds and sizes, including those used for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR), combat (unmanned combat air vehicles, or UCAVs), law enforcement, research and other applications. Of particular focus is the FAA's planned integration of UAS into the U.S. national airspace system.
Rotorcraft
Noise Critical Issue for eVTOL Acceptance
Uniform noise standards could speed eVTOL market.
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
Helicopters on Mars Is Rocket Science
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory scientists gave Heli-Expo 2020 attendees a full breifing on the Mars Helicopter Scout.
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
DJI Blasts Interior Department's Grounding Order
Cinese drone-maker DJI says decision to ground its drones is "politically motivated."
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
Germany Opts for Manned Pegasus Platform
For the second time Germany has canceled plans to use a Global Hawk derivative to answer its Sigint requirements, and is now looking at the Global 6000.
Rotorcraft
Hirschberg: eVTOL Is Urban Moonshot
Vertical Flight Society's executive director sees big potential for urban air mobility—eventually.
Maintenance and Modifications
Erickson Bringing Sikorsky’s Matrix Tech to Firefighting Fleet
Erickson and Sikorsky team to bring Matrix autonomous technology to Erickson’s firefighting S64 fleet.
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
Schiebel Camcopter Supports River Pollution Emergency
The Camcopter has found myriad uses as a surveillance UAV, and has added emergency response to its repertoire.
Rotorcraft
Kaman Advances UAS K-Max for Military, Commercial Ops
Proved in combat, Kamen touts at Heli-Expo progress on UAS K-Max for military and commercial ops.
Aircraft
Bell Revamps Nexus as Four-rotor eVTOL
Bell is moving full-speed-ahead on its Nexus electrically powered passenger-carrying urban air mobility vehicle.
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
Draganfly Develops New Drone Sensor Packages
UAV maker Draganfly has developed three new drone camera packages for agricultural research and environmental monitoring missions.
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
Bell Joins Choctaw's UAS Integration Pilot Program
Bell will begin testing UAS systems on land belonging to the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma.
Rotorcraft
R22 Converted To Long-Range Drone
Unmanned systems developer UAVOS has converted a Robinson R-22 helicopter into a long-range drone.
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
Drones Used To Track Cargo Trailers at Danish Ports
Using drones to identify cargo trailers significantly reduces CO2 emissions, manpower, and costs.
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
AiRXOS, Syniverse Team On Secure Drone Communications
GE Aviation unit AiRXOS and Syniverse are working together to make in harder to hack drones .
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
eVTOL Maker Volocopter Gains EASA DOA
EASA has granted urban air mobility OEM Volocopter Design Organization Approval (DOA).
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
First Flight for Leonardo's Falco Xplorer UAV
At around twice the size of earlier Falco platforms, the Xplorer is a high-end tactical ISR system with all its major elements created in-house.
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
Gremlins Air Vehicle Takes Flight
Dynetics performed the first free flight test of its X-61A Gremlins air-launched, air-recoverable UAS in November 2019.
Safety
Proposed FAA Remote ID Rules Offer Framework for UAS Airspace Integration
New FAA rules would require most unmanned aircraft to share their position and identity with other airspace users.
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
Swift Awarded $17 Million Bahamas UAS Contract
Swift Tactical Systems has won a $17 Million contract to provide Bahamas government agencies with an unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) program.
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
Silent Falcon Solar Electric E1 Completes 500 Flight Hours
UAS manufacturer Silent Falcon’s solar electric E1 UAV has completed 500 hours of flight testing.
Rotorcraft
Bell AerOS Shows How Urban Air Mobility Flies
Bell is demonstrating how a smart city of the future could incorporate urban air mobility vehicles running under autonomous control.
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
Indonesia Launches Domestically-built Armed UAV Program
Indonesia’s first large UAV is due to fly for the first time this year, with production planned to get under way in 2024.
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
Lockheed Martin Teaming On UAS Airspace Tools
Lockheed Martin is teaming with Canadian UAVs to provide real-time situational awareness for beyond visual line of sight flights.
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
Terra Drone Expands Into Mining
Japan's Terra Drone is forming a Canadian arm to serve the mining industry with UAS inspection and mapping services.
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
EASA Drone Conference Focuses on Societal Concerns
Safety, noise, and privacy issues must be solved before realizing a vision where drones provide urban transportation and package deliveries.
Rotorcraft
Study: 430,000 Urban Air Taxis By 2040
A new Frost & Sullivan study predicts urban air taxis will begin operations in 2022 and grow to a worldwide fleet of 430,000 by 2040.
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
PrecisionHawk Raises $32 Million More
Drone services and analytics company PrecisionHawk has raised $32 million of new investment to finance new artificial intelligence tool.
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
Turkey’s New Raider Takes to the Air
Baykar has built on the success of its Bayraktar TB2 tactical UAV to develop a much larger, armed platform to answer a Turkish forces requirement.
Rotorcraft
Drone Hits Newscopter over L.A.
Los Angeles ENG A-Star lands safely after drone hits vertical stabilizer.
Airports
Wichita Airport To Train Ops Officers As Drone Pilots
The decision to train Wichita Eisenhower National Airport staff as drone operators comes after successful proof-of-concept flights this summer.
