Unmanned Systems Technology reports, “General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) has flown U.S. government-provided autonomy software onboard a company-owned MQ-20 Avenger® unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) during the Air Force Test Center’s Orange Flag 25-1 all-domain test series. A government-provided Pilot Vehicle Interface (PVI) was fitted aboard an Avenger jet-powered UCAV in the demonstration which took place February 19-21 at Edwards Air Force Base, California. GA-ASI also demonstrated the ability to rapidly swap between autonomy systems midflight over Proliferated Low Earth Orbit (PLEO) satellites utilizing an autonomy product from Shield AI.”
Full Story (Unmanned Systems Technology)
Tag: November 2024
Airbus Deliveries Exceed 80 Aircraft in November
AJOT.com reports, “Airbus deliveries rose sharply in November to more than 80 jets as the planemaker recovered from a downturn and made progress towards year-end targets, industry sources said.”
Full Story (AJOT.com)
Sikorsky and Rain Successfully Demonstrate Wildfire Mission Autonomy
Unmanned Systems Technology reports, “Sikorsky and Rain have successfully demonstrated how an autonomous Black Hawk helicopter can be commanded to take off, identify the location and size of a small fire, and then accurately drop water to suppress the flames. Carried out on October 29 at Sikorsky headquarters in Stratford, the Rapid Wildfire Response Demonstration showed the effective fusion of Sikorsky’s MATRIX flight autonomy with Rain’s wildfire mission autonomy system to suppress a fire in its incipient stage using this innovative firefighting UAV.”
Full Story (Unmanned Systems Technology)
NASA’s Europa Clipper Mission Performing Well
Aviation Week reports, “The largest spacecraft ever launched on a planetary mission, NASA’s Europa Clipper is doing well and speeding along toward the first of two gravity assists intended to achieve a 2030 arrival at Jupiter, a NASA update says.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)
Rocket Lab Successfully Conducts Two Launches Within 24 Hours
TechCrunch reports, “Rocket Lab set a new speed record for launch turnaround time, successfully executing two Electron missions in 24 hours. The company added in a statement that this is also the first time any launch operator has completed a mission from each hemisphere within that time frame. Rocket Lab, which was founded in New Zealand, maintains a launch pad there and at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport in Virginia.”
Full Story (TechCrunch)
U.S. Army Receives First Bombardier Global 6500 for its HADES Program
Aviation International News reports, “Bombardier Defense is celebrating the delivery of the first Global 6500 to the U.S. Army for the High Accuracy Detection and Exploitation System (HADES) aerial military intelligence program. … This aircraft is the first prototype airframe for the HADES program and is ‘the beginning of the next stage of the program to integrate systems,’ according to Bombardier.”
Full Story (Aviation International News)
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Rotor Demos World’s Largest Crop-Spraying Drone During Ag Aviation Expo
Flying Magazine reports, “Manufacturer Rotor Technologies this week flew its R550 Sprayhawk—which it calls the largest spray drone in the world—at Perot Field Fort Worth Alliance Airport (KAFW) during the National Agricultural Aviation Association’s (NAAA) Ag Aviation Expo in Fort Worth, Texas. FLYING was on the scene to capture the remotely piloted demonstration, part of the launch of the 2025 model Sprayhawk.”
Full Story (Flying Magazine)
Video
Rotor Technologies’ Sprayhawk
(Farms.com; YouTube)
Boeing to Build 15 Additional KC-46A Tankers for U.S. Air Force
Reuters reports, “Boeing said on Thursday it has secured a $2.38 billion contract from the U.S. Air Force to build 15 additional KC-46A Pegasus aerial refueling tankers under the Lot 11 procurement. Boeing now has 168 KC-46A tankers on contract globally. Since 2019, Boeing has delivered 89 KC-46As to the U.S. Air Force and four to the Japan Air Self-Defense Force.”
Full Story (Reuters)
Textron to Provide Drone-Enabled ISR Support for US Navy’s 5th and 6th Fleets
The Defense Post reports, “The US Navy has awarded Textron Systems $64 million in contracts to provide drone-based intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) services for ships of the 5th and 6th fleets. The contractor-owned, contractor-operated (COCO) deals stipulate the deployment of the firm’s Aerosonde small expeditionary unmanned aerial system (UAS) with enhanced mission payloads as well as skilled personnel to aid a variety of the vessels’ maritime ISR tasks.”
Full Story (The Defense Post)