Liberty University’s School of Aeronautics now offers an on-campus training program for pilots of fixed-wing and multi-rotor small unmanned aircraft systems. The Federal Aviation Administration‘s regulations on the commercial use of drones work to allow the training program’s students to fly small UAS weighing less than 55 pounds on campus, the university said Tuesday. The […] More

Google‘s parent company Alphabet will test an autonomous delivery service at one of six Federal Aviation Administration-approved unmanned aircraft system test sites in the U.S., Bloomberg reported Tuesday. Alan Levin writes the White House said Tuesday that Alphabet’s Project Wing drone delivery demonstration aims to lay the groundwork for the approval of the use of UAS to safely deliver packages. Dave […] More

Amazon has partnered with the U.K. government to study the potential use of small unmanned aerial systems in package deliveries across the country with permission from a British Civil Aviation Authority-backed cross-government team. The shipping giant aims to explore beyond line of sight operations in rural and suburban areas, assess sensor performance to help drones detect obstacles […] More

Boeing’s Insitu subsidiary has received a potential four-year, $12.3 million task order to provide support services for the ScanEagle unmanned aerial system to use onboard the U.S. Coast Guard’s National Security Cutter ship. The Coast Guard awarded the task order under a Naval Air Systems Command multiple-award contract, Insitu said Monday. The contract has a base period of one year worth $4.5 […] More

The Federal Aviation Administration has chosen Liteye Systems to provide a counter unmanned aerial vehicle technology for evaluation at domestic airports as part of the agency’s Pathfinder Program. FAA and Liteye signed a cooperative agreement to test the Anti-UAV Defense System developed by British companies Blighter Surveillance Systems, Chess Dynamics and Enterprise Control Systems, Blighter said Tuesday. Liteye acts as the North American manufacturing […] More

The Federal Aviation Administration has teamed up with Sensofusion, Gryphon Sensors and Liteye Systems to perform research and develop platforms that work to detect and track unmanned aerial systems near airports as part of the Pathfinder program. FAA said Monday the initiative aims to detect unauthorized operations of drones at airports and facilitate the integration of UAS […] More

Insitu has formed a strategic alliance with PrecisionHawk in an effort to develop unmanned aircraft system services that work to help commercial enterprises meet safety requirements for unmanned flights. Boeing subsidiary Insitu said Wednesday the alliance will utilize the UAS research and testing capacity of the companies, which are both Federal Aviation Administration Pathfinder program participants. Ryan Hartman, Insitu president and CEO, said the alliance […] More

A Northrop Grumman subsidiary based in Germany has worked with Saab Aerosystems to develop a navigation, flight guidance and control system for an unmanned combat air vehicle prototype that flew over France, Italy and Sweden in flight tests. Northrop Grumman LITEF helped build the Attitude and Heading Reference System for the nEUROn drone that a six-country cooperative developed as an experimental, stealth platform to help build and test […] More

CACI International, the Federal Aviation Administration and the Department of Homeland Security have conducted research on technologies that work to detect unmanned aircraft systems in commercial airports. FAA said Thursday the program seeks to address safety and security concerns regarding unauthorized UAS flown near airports and manned airplanes. The agency noted that it receives more than 100 reports a month […] More

NASA has partnered with a Strat Aero affiliate to research and build a system for monitoring of civilian unmanned aerial vehicles that fly at a low altitude. Emerging Technology Ventures joined the agency’s Unmanned Aerial Systems Traffic Management project with the goal of helping to ensure safe drone flight operations with ATM technology, Strat Aero […] More

CACI CEO Ken Asbury said the company has developed sensor technology that he believes U.S. law enforcement personnel can use to track unauthorized use of unmanned aerial vehicles within the domestic airspace, the Washington Post reported Thursday. Christian Davenport writes the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration wants to evaluate the potential of CACI’s technology to monitor illegal drone flights near airports […] More

CACI International and the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration will collaborate to test a company-designed sensor technology meant to help authorities to locate unmanned aircraft systems. Deputy Administrator Mike Whitaker told House aviation subcommittee members during a hearing Wednesday that FAA wants to examine the safety and security functions of CACI’s technology and if the platform […] More