Lockheed Martin has announced three industry partners for its proposed offering for the U.S. Navy’s MQ-25 carrier-based aerial tanker drone program, Defense News reported Monday. Lockheed officials announced Monday that General Electric and United Technologies Corp. will respectively supply the F404 turbofan engine and the F-35C landing gear, while Triumph Aerostructures will produce the drone’s internal structure. Lockheed’s Skunk […] More

Boeing has already conducted several tests of its proposed unmanned aircraft system for the U.S. Navy’s MQ-25 Stingray carrier-based aerial refueling tanker drone program ahead of the service’s contract award decision, National Defense reported Friday. “We have already demonstrated a lot of the functionality… We have done almost everything short of flying,” Donald “BD” Gaddis, Boeing’s […] More

Lockheed Martin has launched its proposed concept for the U.S. Navy’s MQ-25A Stingray carrier-based aerial tanker drone program, USNI News reported Monday. The drone concept from Lockheed’s Skunk Works business has a flying wing design equipped with a set of sensors in the aircraft’s nose and a single D-704 buddy tank. Boeing and General Atomics […] More

The U.K. Royal Air Force has coordinated with the U.S. Air Force and industry partners to test and evaluate a remotely piloted air system built by General Atomics‘ aeronautical systems business. RAF said Tuesday it intends to procure 16 MQ-9B Protector RPAs from General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. to replace the service branch’s current MQ-9 Reaper platform. A […] More

Italy’s air force has received a CAE-built Predator Mission Trainer that is designed to train military operators of General Atomics‘ remotely piloted aircraft. CAE said Sunday it worked with General Atomics’ aeronautical systems business to develop the trainer that represents the Italian Predator A RPA during phase one of delivery. Gene Colabatistto, president of CAE’s defense and security group, the company applied its decades […] More

A United Technologies Corp. subsidiary and the Air National Guard have wrapped up an operational evaluation of an airborne reconnaissance platform aboard the General Atomics-built MQ-9 Reaper drone. The 174th attack wing of the New York Air National Guard conducted the assessment of UTC Aerospace Systems’ DB-110 aerial sensor in fall 2017 to evaluate the platform’s use in delivering […] More

The Defense Advanced Research Project Agency plans to use a C-130 aircraft to demonstrate in 2019 the launch and recovery of unmanned aircraft systems in mid-air, Fire Aviation reported Thursday. DARPA plans to equip the drones with several payloads designed to perform intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, signals intelligence and electronic warfare missions once deployed, according to […] More

The U.S. Navy may take on some of the U.S. Air Force’s General Atomics-built MQ-1 Predator unmanned aerial vehicles as the latter prepares to transition to the MQ-9 Reaper drone by the end of 2018, The War Zone reported Monday. “There are a number of possibilities as to where they could go, including Air Force museums,” […] More

Research and Markets has projected that technological advancements in the production of military and commercial drones will help fuel the worldwide drone market’s growth to $16.7 billion in value by 2022. The company said Wednesday that efforts by the Federal Aviation Administration and other regulatory agencies to formulate policies that support use of military unmanned aerial […] More

Reportlinker has released a forecast study that the global drone market will grow to reach $16.7 billion in 2022. The predicted growth stems from the increase of drone demand for military and commercial use, and the continuing regulatory efforts on drones, the research firm said Thursday. Drone-producing firms are continuously making technological advancement efforts that may […] More

Boeing has secured a registration number from the Federal Aviation Administration for its proposed unmanned aircraft system for the U.S. Navy’s MQ-25 Stingray carrier-based tanker drone program, FlightGlobal reported Thursday. The company received Dec. 26 the FAA registration number N234MQ for its proposed “T1” drone prototype. Boeing previewed its demonstrator for the MQ-25 unmanned aerial refueling tanker program […] More

Boeing has won a nine-month, $9 million contract from the Missile Defense Agency to integrate and test a low power laser technology on an unmanned aerial vehicle. The Defense Department said Friday Boeing will aim to help MDA address laser power and aperture size under the first phase of the agency’s Low Power Laser Demonstrator program. Contract work […] More