All Military UAVs articles – Page 329
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Silver Arrow unveils long endurance UAV
Israeli unmanned air vehicle (UAV) manufacturer Silver Arrow has rolled out the very long endurance Hermes-1500. The UAV, powered by two Rotax-914s, is to begin flight tests shortly. The vehicle is capable of flying for up to 40h at altitudes of up to 30,000ft (9,000m). Source: Flight International
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DARPA puts limits on UCAV competitors
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC The competition to demonstrate an unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV) is to be limited to four companies - Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Raytheon Systems - says the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). A request for proposals is to be released on ...
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Small TESAR
Northrop Grumman is to propose a scaled-down version of its Tactical Endurance Synthetic Aperture Radar (TESAR) for the US Army's Alliant Techsystems Outrider unmanned air vehicle (UAV). The TESAR is in production for the US Air Force's General Atomics Predator UAV, the company having received a $21 million contract for ...
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The judges
The Flight International Aerospace Industry Awards are recognised within the industry as the leading indicator of excellence. Much of this is to do with the high calibre of judges enlisted to study the entries for the awards. This year there was once again a top-line panel at work. Sir ...
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Robo vehicle
Schweizer Aircraft is marketing an unmanned helicopter developed in Japan by Kawada Industries. The company is pursuing US Coast Guard and Navy requirements for vertical take-off and landing unmanned air vehicles with the RoboCopter 300, a 795kg piston-powered aircraft with a 295kg useful load. Two prototypes of the aircraft could ...
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Israelis arrow in on a new image for uavs
Israeli manufacturers Silver Arrow and Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) are displaying new and improved-performance unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) at the show. Silver Arrow has unveiled the medium-altitude endurance (MAE) Hermes 1500 UAV, and the Sniper advanced close range UAV System. From IAI comes the upgraded Searcher II UAV. The Hermes ...
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UAVs go to SEAD
The US Air Force has carried out flight tests of the TRW/Israel Aircraft Industries Hunter unmanned air vehicle (UAV) in the suppression of enemy air defence (SEAD) role. The UAV was used to pinpoint a simulated enemy air defence system for attack by two Lockheed Martin F-16 fighters. The USAF ...
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Pathfinder quest
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC The US military may have cooled to the concept of solar electric powered unmanned air vehicles (UAVs), but NASA has set new lofty goals for the emerging long endurance UAV. In 1993, the US Ballistic Missile Defense Organization (BMDO) envisioned deploying Raptor (Responsive Aircraft Programme for Theatre ...
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A smarter attacker
Allan Winn/DUBAI Ever since the then-Hughes AH-64 Apache entered service with the US Army in 1984, it has been the benchmark against which other combat helicopters are measured. Since then, it has undergone two marque-name changes (first to McDonnell Douglas, then, more recently, to Boeing) and become the most prolific ...
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Global Hawk eyed for missile defences
The US Department of Defense is considering using the Teledyne Ryan Aeronautical Global Hawk long-endurance unmanned air vehicle to shoot down theatre ballistic missiles in their boost phases. The Global Hawk, being prepared for its first flight, is among several options under study. A modified Global Hawk mounting an ...
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Giant leaps for Deltas
Tim Furniss/CAPE CANAVERAL Boeing is preparing launch pad 17B at Cape Canaveral, Florida, for the first launch of the Delta III booster in June. The company is also expecting an Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) contract from the US Air Force in June to start development of the new ...
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US Navy launches study to look into P-3 replacement aircraft
The US Navy has launched studies into a replacement for its Lockheed P-3 maritime-patrol aircraft. Industry was briefed in late January on plans to field a Multi-Mission Maritime Aircraft (MMMA) by 2015, to replace the Navy's land-based P-3s, electronic-intelligence EP-3Es, submarine-communications Boeing E-6s and tanker/transport Lockheed Martin C-130s. The ...
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USA makes last-ditch ASTOR effort
Douglas Barrie/LONDON A high-level US delegation visited the UK in early January in an eleventh-hour attempt to persuade the Government to procure a variant of the Northrop Grumman Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (JSTARS) to meet its Airborne Stand-Off Radar (ASTOR ) requirement. The delegation, say US sources, ...
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Turbine-helicopter deliveries increase
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC Deliveries of turbine-powered helicopters increased in 1997, buoyed by sales of new light single- and twin-engined aircraft. Bell shipped no fewer than 140 of its new single-turbine Model 407s in 1997, while Eurocopter delivered 28 of its new EC135 light twins. Bell led deliveries in 1997, shipping ...
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Dragon goes to sea with USMC
The US Marine Corps (USMC) is to test a maritime variant of the BAI Aerosystems Exdrone unmanned air vehicle (UAV) following positive results during a recent series of exercises. The USMC Warfighting Laboratory is upgrading ten BQM-147A Exdrones to Dragon drones with a shipboard launch and recovery capability, heavy-fuel ...
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Launching forward
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC Lockheed Martin/Boeing's F-22 represents the pinnacle of US military-avionics development, but the air-superiority fighter is not scheduled to become operational until 2005. Meanwhile, manufacturers have begun development of the next generation of avionics, for the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), which, probably optimistically, is scheduled to enter service ...
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USA and France plan joint UCAV testing
Bids are being sought for a 48-month US/French programme to demonstrate flight-control and flight-management technologies enabling combined strike operations by manned aircraft and unmanned combat air-vehicles (UCAVs). The Integrated Tactical Aircraft Control research programme will flight-test two concepts for the control of UCAVs: by aircrew in manned strike aircraft ...
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US Army has to slow mine detector work
A substantial budget cut, along with poor test results, has forced the US Army to slow development of the Airborne Stand-off Mine Detection System (ASTAMIDS). The US Army had planned to pick one of four contenders in January to begin 33 months of ASTAMIDS engineering and manufacturing development (EMD). ...
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USN picks UAVs for VTOL demonstration
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC The US Navy will test three entirely different unmanned-air-vehicle (UAV) designs in its forthcoming vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) demonstration, which the contractors hope will lead to the deployment of an operational system. In late 1997, the UAV Joint Project Office chose Bell Helicopter, Bombardier and Science ...
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AsiaSat 3 drifts in space after failure of Proton upper stage
Tim Furniss/LONDON The Hughes-built AsiaSat 3 communications satellite was left drifting in a useless orbit after the the failure of the fourth stage of the Russian Proton K booster which launched it from Baikonur on 24 December. It was the first failure suffered by the US/Russian ILS International ...