Boeing has tested combined operations with an E-8 Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar system (JSTARS) battlefield surveillance aircraft and a Predator unmanned air vehicle (UAV) using the company's Aviation Information Service antenna. The system fed the video information from the UAV via a satellite to the E-8 to enhance JSTARS tracking and targeting. AIS is based on Boeing phased array antenna technology.
Source: Flight International
Leonardo is confident that by the autumn it will have created a UK team through which it can drive the development of air-launched effects (ALE) – collaborative drone swarms that could be deployed from a helicopter or fixed-wing aircraft.
The US government has cleared a possible Czech Republic purchase of air-to-surface missiles for attack helicopters.
Half a century ago, a prototype example of the YUH-60A Utility Tactical Transport Aircraft System lifted off from Sikorsky’s Stratford, Connecticut site, marking the first flight of a rotorcraft that has since become one of the most prolific military aircraft of all time.
