Unmanned Vehicles

The Solar Impulse team sent their solar aircraft out from Moffett Airfield near San Jose, Calif., Friday at 6:12 a.m. Pacific time, for Phoenix, Ariz., on the first leg of a transcontinental U.S. flight. It landed in Phoenix at 12:30 a.m. Saturday. The aircraft is powered by four 10-horsepower electric motors that draw energy from […]

The Navy’s Laser Weapon System (LaWS) recently targeted and shot down an aerial drone in testing; meanwhile another aircraft-mounted laser system (this one for self-defense) may commence testing in 2014. The Navy’s test involved a destroyer-mounted laser that successfully tracked and engaged a flying drone. The aerial vehicle caught fire in flight and crashed into […]

A French newspaper celebrated April Fool’s Day with a story about a plan to deliver its papers by drone, and the idea was also adopted by The Daily Sentinel, in Colorado. The story was picked up and repeated across the blogosphere, but late in the day on Monday, NBC News confirmed that the post was […]

Integration of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) into the U.S. national airspace system is scheduled for 2015 and, according to the UAS industry itself, that will create more than 70,000 jobs and have a broader economic impact of more than $13.6 billion by 2019. The numbers are not from an independent study but from a study […]

The NASA/JPL Mars Science Laboratory/Curiosity Project Team will receive the 2012 Robert J. Collier Trophy, the National Aeronautic Association announced on Tuesday. In choosing the project from a field of seven nominees, the committee cited the”extraordinary achievements of successfully landing Curiosity on Mars, advancing the nation’s technological and engineering capabilities, and significantly improving humanity’s understanding […]

A small hovering drone was reported by an Alitalia pilot near New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport about 1 p.m. on Monday, officials said on Tuesday. “The FAA is investigating a report … [the pilot] saw a small, unmanned or remote-controlled aircraft while on final approach to Runway 31 Right,” FAA spokeswoman Laura Brown told […]

In addition to being the summer of the portable ADS-B receiver, it seems to be the summer of portable and backup EFIS. Sagetech develops avionics for military drones, but made a debut appearance at Oshkosh with their Clarity portable ADS-B receivers including built-in AHRS (digital gyros). The Clarity SV systems cost about $1000. When paired […]