Airbus Defence and Space has successfully tested a new type of aircraft that will aid the development of future unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for series production. The unmanned jet-propelled demonstrator with the project name SAGITTA flew completely autonomously for around seven minutes over the test site in Overberg, South Africa, on a pre-programmed course. The innovative flying-wing construc...
Facebook has completed its second test flight for its solar-powered, internet-beaming drone called Aquila. The flight was conducted on May 22 in Yuma, Arizona and lasted for one hour and 46 minutes. Facebook said that the drone "landed perfectly on our prepared landing site." An earlier version of Aquila was "substantially damaged" in a crash during its first test flight...
The M-40 provides medium-to-high performance at a cost comparable with entry-level competing target drones Leonardo’s Mirach-family drones are the standard threat simulators of Armed Forces around the world including France, Italy and the UK A number of design enhancements, such as the removal of all pyrotechnics, mean that the M-40 is readily exportable and benefits from low through-...
A sole virtual battlefield that provides the means for testing robots and drones has been developed for the Russian Army, Kronstadt Group CEO, Armen Isaakyan, told TASS in an interview. "We have developed a new version of the Combat virtual trainer that now includes drones and robots and is more flexible and able to integrate with other developers’ synthetic trainers," he said....
StandardAero's European Service Center (ESC), located in Tilburg, the Netherlands, has received EASA and FAA certifications for Honeywell HTF7000 turbofan MRO services and is now authorized to support business aviation operators within the EMEA region. In March of 2016, StandardAero was authorized by Honeywell Aerospace as the industry's only independent MRO heavy maintenance provider f...
“SafeDrone by Lufthansa Technik” is a new initiative for minimizing uncertainties and risks in unmanned aviation. The open and completely transparent platform allows collaboration between all interested market players and provides them with direct access to recognized standards for technology, quality and security in the use of drones. A basic package is availabl...
Germany's defense ministry has decided to buy high-altitude MQ-4C Triton unmanned surveillance planes built by U.S. weapons maker Northrop Grumman Corp for deliveries after 2025, ministry sources said on Tuesday. The new drones will replace the Euro Hawk program, which Berlin canceled in May 2013 after it became clear that it could cost up to 600 million euros to get the system approved for...
After raising two initial amounts for a total fund of €4.5 million in 2016, Azur Drones, a pioneer in the civilian drone sector, has raised an additional €2 million to accelerate its growth and confirm its leading position on the civilian drones market. Azur Drones is also confirming its desire to consolidate the market by conducting its first external growth operation with the acqui...
Amazon has been experimenting with drone deliveries for quite some time and now it seems that the e-commerce behemoth is keen to go beyond the hustle and bustle of land-based shipments to exploit the potential offered by the open skies. In the latest, Amazon plans to build a giant flying warehouse that will be used as a launchpad to deliver goods within a few minutes, according to a...
From high-street playthings to sophisticated commercial and military aircraft, drones are seen as being at the sharp end of technology. Yet, paradoxically, traditionally low-tech countries such as India and Pakistan are now churning out their own models. The commercial drone business is driven by advances in key components such as sensors, lenses and radio control devices – and manufactur...
Anyone who received a drone as a present this year has been reminded that they must register it with authorities. Saif Al Suwaidi, director general of the General Civil Aviation Authority, said it was important people know the regulations that govern drone ownership. "Whether it is received as a gift or bought by the person, it doesn’t matter. People need to register their drones...
If you ordered something from Amazon recently, it was probably delivered by a person dressed in black and wearing a reflective vest. Chances are, that person woke up at 5 o’clock in the morning and reported for duty at a distribution warehouse in some unseemly industrial area somewhere in your city, and then set out in a van with some 150 packages. For a long time, that’s pretty much h...
