Northrop Grumman demonstrated almost 9,000 miles of flight to showcase the operational flexibility of an optionally-manned autonomous aircraft designed for medium-altitude, long-endurance missions. Northrop said Tuesday the Firebird aircraft flew over and stopped by Dayton, Ohio; Washington DC; Patuxent River, Maryland; and Tampa, Miami and Key West, Florida, demonstrating both manned and unmanned flight, as well as the transition in between.
Read More »Martin UAV Intros V-BAT 128 Unmanned VTOL Aircraft
Unmanned aircraft system manufacturer Martin UAV has publicly unveiled a new vertical takeoff and landing platform intended to support applications such as logistics, search-and-rescue, firefighting and energy operations. Martin UAV said Tuesday that the V-BAT 128 UAS has the capacity for rapid assembly, vertical hover and flights of up to 20,000 feet.
Read More »General Atomics, Army Use New C2 Software for Gray Eagle Drone Test; J.R. Reid Quoted
General Atomics' aeronautical systems business used a new command and control software to help the U.S. Army test an extended-range unmanned aircraft system. The Gray Eagle Extended Range UAS flew on Jan. 28 for acceptance testing under the control of General Atomics' Scalable C2 software that was operated via an Army laptop, the company said Wednesday.
Read More »Self-Driving Software Developer Shield AI Raises $90M in Funding Round
Defense technology company Shield AI has secured $90 million in a round of Series C equity and debt financing led by venture capital firm Point72 Ventures. The company will use the funds to further integrate into additional defense platforms its self-driving software, called Hivemind.
Read More »Army Taps Skydio for Final Integration of Short-Range Reconnaissance sUAS Prototype
The U.S. Army has selected Redwood City, California-based drone maker Skydio to commence final integration activities for the company's X2D short-range reconnaissance unmanned platform.
Read More »Citadel Defense to Supply ‘Titan’ Counter-Small UAS Tech to Gov’t Client
Citadel Defense has entered into an agreement with an undisclosed U.S. government customer to provide the company's Titan counter-drone platform to help defend assets such as military installations, ships and vehicles.
Read More »General Atomics Demos Anti-Submarine Sonobuoy Tech for Navy’s MQ-9 UAS
A General Atomics affiliate has demonstrated the use of A-size sonobuoys to remotely process acoustic and bathythermal data when deployed from an unmanned aircraft system to support U.S. Navy's anti-submarine warfare operations.
Read More »Northrop Secures $54M Air Force UAS Repair, Engineering Contract
Northrop Grumman's aerospace systems business has received a potential seven-year, $53.7M indefinite-delivery requirements contract to provide component repair services for the U.S. Air Force's high-altitude remotely piloted aircraft.
Read More »Aevum Unveils Autonomous Launch Vehicle ‘Ravn X’
Aevum has introduced an autonomous launch vehicle designed to bring satellites to low-Earth orbit. Ravn X is an 80-foot-long unmanned aircraft system with a wingspan of 60 feet and can take off with a gross weight of 55K pounds.
Read More »General Atomics Lands $71M Army Modification for UAS Engineering, Technical Support
General Atomics' aeronautical systems business has secured a $70.7M contract modification from the U.S. Army to perform engineering and technical work on unmanned aircraft systems.
Read More »General Atomics Demos Potential of Extended-Range Gray Eagle UAS for Multidomain Ops
General Atomics' aeronautical systems unit has conducted a third demonstration of how the extended-range Gray Eagle unmanned aircraft system could support the U.S. Army in multidomain operations. The company said Monday it used intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance payloads, long-range sensors, command and control systems and air-launched effects from industry partners during monthlong demo event.
Read More »Citadel Defense Releases Antispoofing Software for Counter-UAS Platforms
Citadel Defense has launched a software offering designed to help government customers avoid adversarial attempts to spoof counter-unmanned aerial system platforms and enter protected airspace.
Read More »AeroVironment Introduces Quantix Recon UAS
AeroVironment has unveiled an automated lightweight unmanned aircraft system designed to deliver georeferenced aerial imagery for on-site mission and verification purposes.
Read More »GA-ASI, Marine Corps Conclude MQ-9A Reaper UAS First Flight in Middle East; David Alexander Quoted
General Atomics' aeronautical systems business and the U.S. Marine Corps have completed the first operational flight of the company's MQ-9A Reaper unmanned aerial system in the Middle East.
Read More »AeroVironment to Deliver Puma 3 AE Drone Under Navy, Marine Corps Contract
AeroVironment won a $10.6M contract to deliver a portable unmanned aircraft system and associated spares in support of the U.S. Marine Corps and Navy's Small Tactical Unmanned Aircraft Systems program.
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