Northrop Grumman has begun its search for three pilots to operate the Northrop-built X-47B unmanned aerial vehicle. Northrop said in a job notice the selected candidates will work to determine the UAV’s compliance with operational suitability and specification requirements during flight tests. Northrop developed X-47B under the U.S. Navy‘s Unmanned Combat Air System Carrier Demonstration initiative. The drone is […] More

Thales has unveiled a new small drone technology intended to support intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance operations of military and security organizations. The company built Spy’Ranger with Aviation Design and is demonstrating the mini-drone at the ongoing Milipol Paris trade show, Thales said Wednesday. The unmanned aircraft is designed with a gimbal that works to stabilize the drone’s camera and sensor equipment if […] More

DigitalGlobe, Harris, PrecisionHawk and Verizon have combined their technologies to demonstrate airspace services the companies intend for use in unmanned aerial vehicle operations. PrecisionHawk said Monday the test incorporated Verizon’s LTE network, Harris’ Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast and aircraft surveillance network, DigitalGlobe’s geospatial big data platform and PrecisionHawk’s Low Altitude Traffic and Airspace Safety platform. “We are leveraging […] More

Northrop Grumman has broken ground on a new $10 million facility in Grand Forks, North Dakota, to carry out research and development work on unmanned aerial systems. The 36,000-square-foot building will be built at Grand Sky UAS Business and Aviation Park and will also perform mission analysis, aircrew training and aircraft maintenance operations related to drones, […] More

Research and Markets predicts in a report that the global market for unmanned aerial vehicles will climb in value to $5.59 billion by 2020 at a compound annual growth rate of 32.22 percent. The company said Monday its report identifies the Federal Aviation Administration‘s relaxed regulation of commercial UAV drone operations after 2014 as the factor […] More

The U.S. Air Force has fielded a General Atomics-built unmanned Predator B/MQ-9 Reaper Extended Range remotely piloted aircraft in support of the service’s Quick Reaction Capability requirement for the company. General Atomics said Tuesday the modified Reaper includes two wing-mounted fuel tanks, an alcohol/water injection system, a four-bladed propeller and a trailing arm landing gear system. Frank Pace, president of aircraft […] More

Lockheed Martin has introduced a traffic management platform designed to help operators of unmanned aerial systems share flight information with other pilots. Lockheed is working with NASA and other institutions to develop additional functions for the UTM system under the Space Act data sharing agreement, the company said Monday. “Our objective is an open, standards-based system […] More

General Atomics, Honeywell, NASA and the Federal Aviation Administration are conducting field tests on a sense-and-avoid system to support unmanned aircraft operations in the National Airspace System, Aviation Today reported Monday. Juliet VanWagenen writes that the government-industry team began the third series of flight tests this summer through the use of live and virtual environments to […] More

General Atomics is modifying its Predator B/MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aircraft system to meet NATO regulations as the company aims to fly the drone in European airspace by 2019, DoD Buzz reported Thursday. Brendan McGarry writes that the company is adding new features to drive fuel economy and comply with air worthiness requirements in the NATO Standardization Agreement 4671 and […] More

NASA and its partners General Atomics, Honeywell International and the Federal Aviation Administration are conducting a series of tests under the Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration in the National Airspace System program. The space agency said Tuesday the team will perform tests on several UAS at the Armstrong Flight Research Center through July. Previous tests under the first phase have […] More

The U.S. Army has used a new remote system to demonstrate a General Atomics-built MQ-1C Gray Eagle drone at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, California, the Army News Service reported Wednesday. David Vergun writes F Company/227th Aviation soldiers managed the unmanned aircraft system’s payload with the One System Remote Video Terminal during a […] More

The Federal Aviation Administration has teamed up with PrecisionHawk, BNSF Railway and CNN to expand the use of unmanned aircraft systems for operations in populated, rural and remote areas. The FAA will work with CNN to test if drones can be used in newsgathering activities in urban areas, the agency announced Wednesday at the Unmanned Systems […] More