UCAV/UAV/UAS News and discussion 2015

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19 years 9 months

Posts: 12,109

Lt. General Heithold, was speaking just a few minutes ago at the AFA panel about a Non-Kinetic Directed energy system that the SOCOM is considering for the Future AC-130J. The plan is to replace the M102 so the weight class isn't too different from the system that it is replacing. This particular system developed by General Atomics is different from the Program development under Hellads which GA is the lead in as well. I think the AC-130J would be the platform of choice unless they want to fund 2 programs in which case the Avenger may be considered. If the SOCOM is seeking to take out an in-service aircraft and have it permanently mount the system then it would be a tactically significant capability, otherwise you could simply keep testing the thing and maintain the S&T effort until you get to those. The whole point of HELLADS is to deal with tactically relevant products for all three services and having the scalability option depending upon the platform.

He also btw, spoke of a Microwave weapon launcher for the AC-130J because he considers targets out there in the future they they do not necessarily want to kill but just shut off.

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17 years 6 months

Posts: 25,376

The export version of General Atomics' Predator UAV, the "XP" model, conducted a 40-hour test flight, the company announced Thursday. During the flight, Predator XP validated its long-endurance capability by flying at 10,000 feet for greater than 40 hours, the company said. The flight began Feb. 6 and ended Feb. 8, at the company's Castle Dome Flight Operations Facility at Yuma Proving Grounds, Arizona.

http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/828864f17315a220c3c8777f963db7b5b77a4333/c=0-16-640-497&r=x404&c=534x401/local/-/media/2015/02/05/DefenseNews/DefenseNews/635587456789655731-bilde.jpg

http://www.defensenews.com/story/defense/air-space/2015/02/13/predator-xp/23348947/

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17 years 6 months

Posts: 25,376

India is to begin manufacturing an indigenous derivative of AeroVironment’s family of small unmanned air systems, dubbed the “Cheel”.

The Cheel will be co-developed by AeroVironment and Indian company Dynamatic Technologies in a production facility in Bangalore that was inaugurated on 17 February

http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/india-to-develop-indigenous-variant-of-aerovironment-409142/

Member for

12 years 1 month

Posts: 4,168

India is to begin manufacturing an indigenous derivative of AeroVironment’s family of small unmanned air systems, dubbed the “Cheel”.

The Cheel will be co-developed by AeroVironment and Indian company Dynamatic Technologies in a production facility in Bangalore that was inaugurated on 17 February

http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/india-to-develop-indigenous-variant-of-aerovironment-409142/

Raven is a great drone. Only issue (to me) is that it doese not fit into a paratrooper bag.

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17 years 6 months

Posts: 25,376

The US government has opened the door to exporting armed unmanned air systems (UAS) to foreign governments in new policy announced by the State Department on 17 February.

The policy removes an outright ban on sales of weaponised UAS to foreign customers and places new controls on how such armed systems can be used.

http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/us-opens-door-to-armed-uas-exports-409156/

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18 years 9 months

Posts: 13,432

Outright ban? But the UK has armed Reapers! It's used them in Afghanistan.

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15 years 2 months

Posts: 2,619

Is that kinda vehicle able to give a warning if someting is really happening before land based radars ?

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17 years 6 months

Posts: 25,376

Lockheed Martin has tweaked the design of the flying wing-shaped Fury unmanned air vehicle (UAV) as it pursues contracts from US special operations forces and the international market.

The Block 10 update of the five-year-old Fury design adds a wider-chord and longer-span airfoil to increase endurance, especially when flying at low speeds, says Jay McConville, a Lockheed business development director.

http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/lockheed-unveils-longer-endurance-fury-uav-409285/

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12 years 3 months

Posts: 5,905

Le ridicule ne tue pas.... An unmanned with a frontal section sized to hold a... 6pax cabin.

What next in line... an A380 UAV ?

Don't take me wrong, I like the Avanti design (ant its fuselage with its application of Natural laminar flows fuselages NASA's theory) but... an UAV made out of it... Seriously ?

We made a compa earlier (range, payload, alt etc Vs the Pred)... and it's disastrous.

Money for nothing ... Again.

Member for

12 years 3 months

Posts: 5,905

The new trend in Paris nightlife ?

Five drones were reportedly seen flying over sensitive and well-known areas of Paris overnight -- sightings that authorities are investigating, the city prosecutor's office said Tuesday.

The unmanned aerial vehicles were spotted over the Eiffel Tower, the Bastille, Place de la Concorde, Les Invalides and the U.S. Embassy, according to Agnes Thibault-Lecuivre, a spokeswoman for the Paris prosecutor's office. The drones were seen between midnight and 6 a.m.

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Source:
CNN.com

Attachments

Member for

13 years 5 months

Posts: 593

DARPA's Persistent Close Air Support (PCAS) program aimed to make optionally manned A-10's controllable by soldiers in the field
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persistent_Close_Air_Support

the idea of making it optionally manned has since been dropped, but the program has survived as a way for soldiers to use modern technology to guide in air strikes, rather than use just voice radio and maps as it has been since WWII. first live fire tests are said to take place this month, operational fielding as soon as May

even if it's not optionally manned, it still brings the idea of unmanned legacy aircraft and JTACs controlling UCAVs a step closer

http://www.operatorchan.org/v/src/138022654266.jpg

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14 years 2 months

Posts: 4,619

I didn't think it would be possible to make the A10 looker scarier!!!!!!

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14 years 2 months

Posts: 4,619

That seems to be a broader problem. I was stunned at how noisy the Watchkeeper is and that is much smaller than the Hammerhead.

Member for

14 years 9 months

Posts: 699

Perhaps an issue with pusher propellers.

Regards