Military UAVs – Page 309
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UK carrier concept awaits fighter decision
Howard Gethin/LONDON The UK Ministry of Defence has opened a contest for the contract worth up to £1.48 billion ($2.44 billion) to build two aircraft carriers for the Royal Navy. Invitations to tender have been issued to six potential prime contractors: British Aerospace Defence Systems, Marconi Electronic Systems, Boeing, Lockheed ...
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Darkstar trials
The second Tier III Minus Dark Star unmanned air vehicle (UAV) has completed its first high altitude flight, to 25,000ft (7,600m). The 2h 37m flight, from Edwards AFB, California, included an automated take-off and landing using global positioning navigational data. The mission demonstrated the UAV's ability to update preplanned mission ...
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Bidders must offer new design
Bidders in the US Department of Defense's vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) unmanned air vehicle (UAV) competition will be required to submit new drone designs, since no existing models can meet the required operational requirements. Meanwhile, the US Navy UAV Programme Office is reviewing the concepts of operation for ...
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F-A-18E/F: Starting block
When it comes to the US Navy's plans for the Boeing F/A-18, the E/F upgrade is only the start. Having tackled the original airframe's deficiencies, the navy is now keen to get to grips with the limitations of the current avionics. "We used around 90% of the C/D's avionics ...
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UK eyes new Phoenix partners
Tim Ripley/LONDON The British Army is reassessing its operational requirements for unmanned air vehicles (UAVs), including enhancements to the Marconi Phoenix and a possible purchase of new unmanned systems, after its first Phoenix exercises in Canada. The army is carrying out an operational requirements study for two additional UAV ...
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USAF moves towards 'electric' aircraft
The US Air Force is planning to flight test a power-by-wire controlled aircraft following the successful test of advanced electrically powered actuators on NASA Dryden's Systems Research Aircraft (SRA) Boeing F-18. The tests were part of the electrically powered actuation design (EPAD) programme, a jointly funded development effort conducted ...
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Predator UAV prowls through comms testing
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC General Atomics has demonstrated the ability of the Predator unmanned air vehicle (UAV) to communicate directly to air traffic control centres over a voice-radio relay link through a digital line of sight datalink. The trial is part of an effort to enable UAVs to fly in ...
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Israel clears Silver Arrow unmanned air vehicle for export
Israel has released for export the Silver Arrow-developed Hermes series of long-endurance unmanned air vehicles (UAVs). The systems have previously been classified. Silver Arrow UAVs are operated by the Israeli Defence Forces in long-range intelligence missions complementing data gathered by the Offeq-3 spy satellite. The firm is considered to be ...
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Next-X ?
From the highs of the X-15's flights at over six times the speed of sound to the lows of the early-1990s' cancellation of the over-ambitious X-30 single-stage-to-orbit aerospace plane, the USA's "X-" series of experimental vehicles has exemplified the country's drive for dominance in the aeronautical and space technology arenas. ...
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X directory
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC X is for experimental, and the USA's famous X-planes have played a key role in advancing aerospace technology over the more than 50 years since the Bell X-1 first flew. The nature of the X-series is changing, however. There is greater emphasis on ...
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Hostilities resume with Iraqi SAM attacks
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC Sporadic hostilities continued after US and UK forces ended four nights of attacks on targets in Iraq under Operation Desert Fox. On 28 December, the US Air Force attacked an SA-3 surface-to-air missile (SAM) site near Mosul which it says fired on aircraft enforcing the ...
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Marconi's Phoenix has landed - six years late
The British Army has accepted the Marconi Avionics-developed Phoenix unmanned air vehicle into service - six years later than scheduled. The company has also embarked on a study of potential upgrades to the system. Deliveries of 50 air vehicles and eight ground stations to two Royal Artillery regiments ...
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Turning peanuts into gold
Ramon Lopez/MONTREAL Bombardier Services hopes that participation in the second phase of the US Navy's (USN) vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) unmanned air vehicle (UAV) demonstration will highlight the CL-327 Guardian's capabilities in satisfying the US military's VTOL Tactical UAV (VTUAV)requirement. The Canadian aerospace firm also seeks a ...
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Belgian Government orders Israeli UAV
Belgian Government orders Israeli UAV The Belgian government has selected Israel Aircraft Industries Hunter unmanned air vehicle (UAV) as a replacement for the army's Epervier UAV used for battlefield surveillance. The Epervier, based on a Northrop design, was developed in the 1960s by SABCA, the local aerospace company. ...
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Canadian Aerospace aims to convert trainer
Canadian Aerospace Group, a unit of SL Ventures, has hired Florida-based Micro Systems to design and install a guidance and flight control system for its Monitor military jet trainer, modifying it for unmanned surveillance and strike missions. Ontario-based Canadian Aerospace and Micro Systems plan to jointly develop unmanned air ...
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Boeing to build next X-aircraft for NASA
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC NASA has selected Boeing to build the next X-series experimental vehicle, under its Future-X programme to demonstrate technologies for low-cost access to space. The unpiloted, reusable Advanced Technology Vehicle (ATV) - likely to be designated the X-37 - will be released by theSpace Shuttle to demonstrate autonomous ...
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Stretching out in the Enstrom 480 Turbine
Peter Gray/SHOREHAM The Enstrom 480 Turbine is a classic example of how a good original design can be adapted and modified for the demanding modern operating environment. It is also remarkably flexible for its size. At its maximum capacity, one passenger occupies the front right-hand seat next to ...
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Boeing cuts production as Far East orders dive
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES Boeing plans to make dramatic cuts to commercial aircraft production and numbers of workers in 1999 and 2000 as a result of the Asian economic crisis. "It's not a pretty picture," admits Boeing president Harry Stonecipher, who says the cuts are being made because "the ...
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Lockheed Martin in UCAV shift
Lockheed Martin says it will continue to work on unmanned combat air vehicles (UCAVs) with the US Air Force and Navy despite withdrawing from the US Defence Advanced Research Project Agency's (DARPA) technology demonstration programme. The move leaves Boeing, Northrop Grumman and Raytheon Systems competing for a $110 million ...
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RoboCopter 300
Northrop Grumman and Schweizer have teamed up to offer an unmanned derivative of the Schweizer 300 helicopter, known as the RoboCopter 300, in a contest to meet a US Navy VTOL UAV requirement. Source: Flight International