The Skunk Works purpose-built MQ-25 unmanned tanker concept is designed to deliver robust refueling capability to support our combat strike fighters and extend the range of our aircraft carriers. Our offering builds on our unmanned systems legacy including the RQ-170 to bring proven, low-risk approaches to our design. Source: YouTube/Lockheed
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As part of a broader strategy to aggressively combat wildfires, the U.S. Department of the Interior has awarded a Call When Needed contract to four U.S. companies for small-unmanned aircraft systems services. The contract, which is Interior’s first of its kind, will allow the agency to obtain fully contractor-operated and
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The work on the Altius heavy unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) with a combat load of up to two tons is planned to be completed within a year, Russian Deputy Defense Minister Yuri Borisov said. The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed the information through its Facebook page. Borisov made this statement in
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Aurora’s Autonomous Aerial Cargo Utility System (AACUS) achieved a major milestone last week when it successfully delivered cargo to US Marines in the Integrated Training Exercise at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms in California. AACUS completed its first closed loop mission from takeoff to landing for
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A new report published by Drone Wars UK reveals that over the last five years the number of countries actively using armed drones has quadrupled. Drone Wars: The Next Generation demonstrates that from just three states (US, UK and Israel) in 2013, there
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The Air Force on Monday said an MQ-9A remotely piloted aircraft crashed a year ago in the Central Command area of responsibility because the ground control station lost its downlink on final approach. According to an Air Combat Command abbreviated accident investigation report, on May 6, 2017, the Reaper, from
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Last year in June (https://bit.ly/2JNdz16), following a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Indian government cleared a deal with the United States for the purchase of 22 MQ-9A Guardian surveillance drones, to be used for reconnaissance in the Indian Ocean (as both the
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The Ministry of Defence has revealed for the first time – seemingly accidentally – that British drones are firing thermobaric weapons in Syria. The disclosure comes in an Freedom of Information (FoI) response to Drone Wars detailing the use of Reaper drones over the previous three
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For the first time, the Ministry of Defence has admitted a civilian death in its air campaign against ISIS in Iraq and Syria. The strike, from an RAF Reaper drone, occurred on 26 March according to a written statement by the Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson.
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Check out this mission-ready drone from Aeryon Defense USA! Designed specifically for use in the field by small groups of soldiers operating in hostile combat environments, the R80D is designed to fulfill many different missions with interchangeable payloads that include visible-light and thermal cameras, as well as payload delivery options
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From initial design through development and manufacturing, Northwest UAV created the NW-44 multi-fuel single-cylinder UAV engine to fill a gap that owner and president Chris Harris recognised in the market – reliable, fuel-efficient engines for small, professional-grade UAV. As a proven engine with over 1,000 combat flight hours logged, the
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Airbus and Dassault Aviation have announced they had decided to join forces for the development and production of Europe’s Future Combat Air System (FCAS), which is slated to complement and eventually replace current generation of Eurofighter and Rafale fighter aircraft between 2035 and 2040. The partnership, sealed in Berlin by
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With over 1000 combat flight hours logged, purchase orders and deployments of Northwest UAV’s ingeniously designed NW-44 multi-fuel single-cylinder UAV engine have accelerated as of January 2018. The NW-44 engine fills an urgent need for an efficient UAV engine that performs reliably in extreme conditions and is combat proven. The
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M-AUDS MATV-HD Orbital ATK, with sub-contractors Liteye, Numerica, and Pratt & Miller, was awarded an $8,499,990 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract on November 1st, 2017 for integrating the mobile-anti unmanned aerial vehicle defense system with a networked low, slow, small, unmanned aerial system integrated defeat system into a mobile platform. One bid was
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Washington DC (UPI) Apr 18, 2018 –
Dynetics Inc. was awarded a contract for phase III of the Gremlins program, small unmanned aerial systems used for combat and non-combat roles.
The deal, announced by the Department of the Defense, is valued at more than $32.4 million under the terms of cost-plus-fixed-fee contract.
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British and French industry were disappointed after their offer to build a technology demonstrator for a combat drone was put on hold, mainly by the U.K., according to Eric Trappier, chairman of the Gifas trade body. “It’s true we were slightly disappointed, with our friend BAE, on the British issue,”
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Over the past few years States, international organisations and civil society groups have expressed concern about the increasing proliferation and use of armed drones. To illustrate what is happening, Drone Wars has compiled details of the use of armed drones in the first three months of
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As part of a broader initiative to invigorate its advanced science and technology work and promote increased partnerships with academia, the U.S. Air Force has released a short video depicting how it thinks aerial warfare might look by the end of the next decade. It’s a futuristic, but in many
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Forty-five unmanned aerial vehicles and drones fell out of the sky during a U.S. Army exercise after Raytheon’s advanced high-power microwave and laser dune buggy engaged and destroyed them. These common threats were knocked down during a Maneuver Fires Integrated Experiment at the U.S. Army Fires Center of Excellence.
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Forty-five unmanned aerial vehicles and drones fell out of the sky during a U.S. Army exercise after Raytheon’s (NYSE: RTN) advanced high-power microwave and laser dune buggy engaged and destroyed them. These common threats were knocked down during a Maneuver Fires Integrated Experiment at the U.S. Army Fires Center of
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Russia has started tests of a new unmanned helicopter that can perform both reconnaissance and combat functions for use by the Russian army in Syria and other hot zones, according to Rostec, one of Russia’s largest state and defense corporations (and the designer of the new model). Representatives of the
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The iconic MQ-1B Predator, which ushered in the age of drone warfare in the mid-1990s, flew into the sunset on Friday. The US Air Force held an official retirement ceremony at Creech AFB, Nevada, the headquarters of Air Force remotely piloted aircraft operations, on Friday, marking the end of the
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The U.S. Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory (MCWL) in Quantico, VA, identifies future challenges and opportunities, develops warfighting concepts, and comprehensively explores options in order to inform the combat development process and meet the challenges of the future operating environment. As such, it continuously seeks new concepts and technologies that can
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Securus Technologies, a leading provider of technology-enabled solutions for public safety, law enforcement, investigations, corrections and government payment services announced active pilot programs using drone detection technology to combat the threats in prisons and jails from drone devices. Drones are being used to deliver a variety of illegal contraband to
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Analysis of figures released in response to Freedom of Information requests by Drone Wars UK indicate that the UK has spent £1.75bn on armed air missions against ISIS in Iraq and Syria since August 2014. It should be noted that the overall cost of UK military operations in Iraq and
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DroneShield has received the ultimate stamp of approval in the form of a “stock number” from NATO for its DroneGun MKII. The issuing of the stock number by NATO opens up the opportunity for sales to potentially dozens of military units around the world for Droneshields unique drone combating device.
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After a lengthy delay in responding to our FoI requests, the MOD has now provided data on UK air operations in Iraq and Syria for the second half of 2017. For our updated complete set of figures for UK air operations in Iraq and Syria since
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