Thanks to receiving a “production contract for multiple awards totaling $97 million,” L3 Technologies will support the U.S. Army’s Apache Manned/Unmanned Teaming – eXpanded Capabilities (MUMT-X) helicopter program.
L3 Technologies is a provider of a wide range of communication, electronic and sensor systems used on military, homeland security and commercial platforms.
MUMT-X facilitates communications and data teaming between manned and unmanned aircraft, which gives the Apache AH-64E helicopter a “transformational warfighting capability” that is notably more robust, lighter and less expensive than the original UAS control system.
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Lockheed Martin to design U.S. Navy's XLUUV Orca
Under a design phase contract valued at $43.2 million, Lockheed Martin will design the U.S. Navy’s Extra Large Unmanned Undersea Vehicle (XLUUV) known as Orca, in an effort to “support the growth of the U.S. Navy’s family of unmanned undersea systems.”
Including the currently awarded design phase, XLUUV Orca is a two-phase competition, as it also includes a “competitive production phase for up to nine vehicles,” to meet the growing need for undersea operational awareness and payload delivery.
SunPower becomes first company to receive LAANC authorization through Skyward
Solar energy company SunPower Corp. has become the first company to receive approval from the FAA for “automatic access to operate a drone in regulated airspace over controlled airports.”
The new access category is called Low Altitude Authorization Capability (LAANC), and it was released a few weeks ago in a beta test at four airports, including San Jose (SJC), Cincinnati International Airport (CVG), Reno (RNO), and Lincoln (LNK).
SunPower received LAANC authorization through FAA-approved vendor Skyward.
“Digital, automated, free access to controlled airspace, in the form of LAANC, is one of the greatest moment(s) we've experienced in the U.S. commercial drone industry so far,” says Skyward Co-President Jonathan Evans.
Robonic Ltd Oy to deliver KONTIO launcher to Swedish Defence Materiel Administration
Tampere, Finland-based Robonic Ltd Oy has signed a contract that will result in the company delivering a third-generation KONTIO pneumatic launcher to the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (FMV), which is expected to happen before the end of 2017.
The “high pressure pneumatic launcher” is designed to launch tactical UAS and target drones, and it is capable of catapulting different types of aerial target UAS. It is designed to launch air vehicles of up to “140 kg with a 70 m/s exit velocity or alternatively 500 kg at 37 m/s.”
Thanks to its large mass and speed envelope, the highly transportable universal launcher is “highly suitable” for various types of “targets or tactical unmanned aerial vehicle,” Robonic says.
Black & Veatch and Aeryon Labs utilize UAS to enhance utility asset data
Black & Veatch and Aeryon Labs have collaborated to launch an end-to-end asset management inspection system that uses UAS technology for global energy clients.
Using Aeryon’s commercial UAS hardware, software and services, crucial infrastructure condition data can be captured, and that data is integrated by Black & Veatch into the existing enterprise asset management (EAM) systems of a utility.
This streamlined system by Black & Veatch and Aeryon Labs expedites inspection times, lowers inspection costs, and speeds up the integration of data into EAM systems.
HAZON Solutions and PrecisionHawk to integrate technologies through new partnership
Through a new partnership announced on Oct. 25, HAZON Solutions and PrecisionHawk will look to provide better UAS safety for commercial UAS operations, by integrating their respective technologies.
Beginning in early November, PrecisionHawk’s Low Altitude Traffic and Airspace Safety (LATAS) platform will be accessible within the HAZON Drone Management System (DMS), which is HAZON’s UAS fleet management software.
Drone pilot program to help state, local governments weigh in on UAS integration
On Oct. 25, President Trump directed U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine L. Chao to launch the Innovative Drone Integration Pilot Program, an initiative which will “safely test and validate advanced operations” for UAS in partnership with state and local governments in select jurisdictions.
The move is seen as a way to give state and local governments some say in regulating UAS use, while not pre-empting the authority of the Federal Aviation Administration to oversee the nation’s airspace.
AVIDRONE Aerospace and PRODRONE announce partnership
Canadian UAS technology company AVIDRONE Aerospace Incorporated has secured an investment and formed a business alliance with a Japanese professional UAS manufacturer called PRODRONE Co. Ltd.
In an effort to revolutionize the commercial and industrial markets with “new ways to gather data, increase security, and deliver goods,” the two companies will combine their decades of UAS research and development to manufacture UAS that are innovative, as well as custom autopilot systems.
The companies say that their products will be able to transport items weighing between 0.5 kilograms to over 250 kilograms at speeds approaching 200 kilometers per hour, thanks to a “specially developed industrial autopilot system and drone designs.”
Measure to provide UAS services for arts and entertainment industry through new division
Measure, which provides UAS services for enterprise customers, has announced its new division called Measure Media (M2), which will be used to service the arts and entertainment industry.
M2 operates the first nationwide network of full-time UAS pilots that specialize in fulfilling the airborne storytelling needs of small screen and big screen projects alike.
During its first two months, M2 operated in stealth mode, but it has already worked with a wide range of customers, including pop star Rihanna, and television networks ABC and CBS.