According to a new study by Washington's Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA), the fleet of high-flying, long-endurance unmanned aircraft operated by the United States and its allies could be a vital hedge against efforts by Russia and China to expand their borders and influence.
The report, "Deterrence by Detection: A Key Role for Unmanned Aircraft Systems in Great Power Detection," says Russia and China can conduct rapid strikes on neighboring countries on their peripheries, often before the United States or its allies could react.
UAS
UAS
Weekend Roundup: May 8, 2020
This Week in the Unmanned Systems and Robotics World
The FAA recently awarded a $1.6 million contract to advance unmanned traffic management (UTM) at the New York UAS Test Site. A team of five commercial companies—led by CAL Analytics—will develop a single, integrated contingency management platform (CMP) for UAS integration. (NUAIR)
FLIR Systems wins contract from U.S. Army to deliver its FLIR Black Hornet 3 PRS
FLIR Systems Inc. has won an additional $20.6 million contract from the U.S. Army to deliver its FLIR Black Hornet 3 Personal Reconnaissance Systems (PRS).
As part of the Army’s Soldier Borne Sensor (SBS) program, FLIR's advanced nano-UAS will support platoon- and small unit-level surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities.
“Black Hornet has proven to be a game-changing technology – a small package that can deliver a big edge on the battlefield,” says VP and General Manager of the Unmanned Systems & Integrated Solutions business line at FLIR, Roger Wells.
Eight companies selected to help establish requirements for future Remote ID suppliers
On Tuesday, May 5, the FAA announced the eight companies that will help the Federal government establish requirements for future suppliers of Remote Identification (Remote ID). With Remote ID, UAS will be able to provide identification and location information while operating in the nation’s airspace.
Through a Request for Information process in Dec. 2018, Airbus, AirMap, Amazon, Intel, One Sky, Skyward, T-Mobile, and Wing have been selected to develop technology requirements for future Remote ID UAS Service Suppliers (USS).
Wingcopter showcases emergency delivery capabilities during Lake Kivu Challenge
On Tuesday, May 5, the organizing committee of the Lake Kivu Challenge announced that Wingcopter was the winner of the Emergency Delivery category of the Flying Competition, which was part of the 2020 African Drone Forum that took place in February in Rwanda.
Also the recipient of a special award for its safety procedures, Wingcopter will receive prize money of GBP 65,000.
“We are very proud to be winners of the Lake Kivu Challenge, as this challenge and the African Drone Forum embody the innovative spirit of humanitarian aid and the African drone community as well as the great potential for sustainable drone deployments,” says Tom Plümmer, CEO and co-founder of Wingcopter.
Auterion introduces Skynode for UAS manufacturers
Auterion has introduced Skynode, a first-of-its-kind reference design of a fully integrated and connected family of drone avionics modules that offers manufacturers a variety of benefits.
By helping to lower costs, save time, and reduce overall risk, Skynode streamlines the process of bringing enterprise-ready drones to market or retrofitting existing products, the company says. It also breaks through the complexity of integrating drone hardware and software while leveraging the full capabilities and features of the company’s enterprise software platform.
Volansi introduces VOLY M20 UAS
During the United States Air Force’s Agility Prime Virtual Trade Show, autonomous VTOL UAS design, manufacturing and service provider Volansi Inc. announced the launch of its newest UAS, the VOLY M20.
Described as a new generation of dual role aircraft, the UAS provides customers with the ability to simultaneously carry 20 pounds of cargo and a 10-pound ISR or sensor payload. According to Volansi, the UAS was designed to meet the exacting requirements of commercial customers that operate in remote maritime locations, as well as military customers who require a flexible vehicle for resupply and ISR applications.
The American-made VOLY M20 has a 350-mile range, cruising at 75 miles per hour, and more than eight hours of endurance for sensor operations.
Parrot providing Human Rights Watch with UAS and technical support
In support of Human Rights Watch’s mission of investigating human rights abuses around the world, Parrot has announced that it will provide the organization with its ANAFI drones and advanced software and technical support to help it accomplish its goals.
As part of a Human Rights Watch investigation into ISIS atrocities in northern Syria, Parrot recently provided its ANAFI drones and on-call support for piloting and technical assistance. The UAS helped capture aerial imagery and 3D data of the al-Hota gorge near Raqqa, which is a suspected mass grave site used by ISIS. Due to the dangerous terrain and steep cliffs of al-Hota, drones were the safest way to capture imagery at the bottom of the gorge.
Weekend Roundup: May 1, 2020
This Week in the Unmanned Systems and Robotics World
The Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI) is working with stakeholders across various communities to study challenging, dynamic scenarios involving automated driving systems. The collaborative team is also examining ways to facilitate communications between these systems and their supporting physical infrastructure. (Virginia Tech Daily)
Sierra-Olympic Technologies releases new Vayu HD camera
Sierra-Olympic Technologies Inc. has released its new Vayu HD camera.
Compact enough to fit into the palm of someone’s hand and weighing just over one pound, the camera is the world’s first Full HD 1920 x 1200 x 12μm uncooled VOX Microbolometer Array, according to Sierra-Olympics. The company adds that it is the highest resolution uncooled Long Wave Infrared (LWIR) camera on the market, as it exceeds the current 640 x 480 resolution benchmark with 7.5 times the pixel count.
Sierra-Olympic describes the camera as a “major evolution in low SWaP-optimized thermal imagery,” thanks to its combination of reduced size and weight, superior image quality and the reliability of an uncooled LWIR platform.
