DefenceTalkThe United Instrument Manufacturing Corporation (UIMC, part of Russia’s state technology corporation Rostec) will present at the MAKS-2015 air show its latest Chirok reconnaissance and strike drone, the Rostec’s deputy CEO said Thursday. Dmitry Shugaev said that completely new materials had been used to construct the air-cushion, representing the “super know-how” of the Russian aviation […]https://www.defencetalk.com/russian-recon-strike-drone-to-be-unveiled-at-maks-airshow-64996/

DefenceTalkPARIS AIR SHOW 2015: Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) recently completed a series of flight demonstrations of its HAROP Loitering Munitions in Israel for a foreign customer. These demonstrations follow various other successful operational exercises performed in the last few months for different customers. The HAROP demonstrated augmented capabilities in the field of observation, flight altitude […]https://www.defencetalk.com/iai-demos-harop-loitering-attack-drone-paris-airshow-64427/

DefenceTalkPresident Barack Obama’s admission that a US drone strike accidentally took the lives of two hostages has raised fresh questions about the limits and the risks of the country’s “targeted killing” campaign. Since taking office in 2009, Obama has relied heavily on drone raids to hunt down Al-Qaeda leaders and other Islamist extremists from Pakistan’s […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-drone-war-under-scrutiny-after-botched-strike-63974/

DefenceTalkThe X-47B test UAV has completed the first-ever autonomous aerial refueling. Developed by Northrop Grumman, the drone received over 4,000 pounds of fuel from a tanker jet just off the coast of Virginia. “What we accomplished today demonstrates a significant, groundbreaking step forward for the Navy,” Captain Beau Duarte, program manager for the Navy’s unmanned […]https://www.defencetalk.com/for-the-first-time-ever-us-navy-drone-refueled-mid-flight-63926/

DefenceTalkAn MQ-9 Reaper successfully hit a sea-going target with an AGM-114 Hellfire missile during a joint service training exercise over the Gulf of Mexico on March 17. This was the first time a remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) hit a maritime target. “It was the first time we had put live weapons into boats and participated […]https://www.defencetalk.com/reaper-deploys-live-weapons-on-maritime-training-target-63726/

DefenceTalkManned-unmanned operations using helicopters linked with unmanned aircraft systems, or UAS, have been used by the Army for a number of years. However, no single unit has ever actually been assigned to both assets until now, said Lt. Col. Tory Burgess, product manager for Shadow Tactical UAS. Burgess and others spoke during a media roundtable […]https://www.defencetalk.com/first-unit-fields-apache-shadow-combo-63620/

DefenceTalkSyria’s military has shot down a US drone over the coastal province of Latakia, a stronghold of President Bashar al-Assad, state media said on Tuesday. “Syrian air defences brought down a hostile US surveillance aircraft over north Latakia,” the official SANA news agency said in a breaking news alert. The agency gave no further details […]https://www.defencetalk.com/syria-air-defence-shoots-down-us-drone-state-media-63567/

DefenceTalkThe United States is the world’s technological leader in the development and deployment of military Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS). As other nations begin to employ military UAS more regularly and as the nascent commercial UAS market emerges, the United States has a responsibility to ensure that sales, transfers, and subsequent use of all U.S.-origin UAS […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-export-policy-military-unmanned-aerial-systems-uas-63140/

DefenceTalkUS drone aircraft targeted a senior figure in Somalia’s Shebab militia, the Pentagon said Tuesday, in the latest bid to take out leaders of the al-Qaida-linked group. US special operations forces “using unmanned aircraft and several Hellfire missiles” carried out the strike on Saturday against Shebab’s chief of external operations and planning, spokesman Rear Adm. […]https://www.defencetalk.com/pentagon-drone-targets-senior-shebab-militant-in-somalia-62603/

DefenceTalkA Chinese drone maker which created the small quadcopter that recently crashed on White House grounds said Wednesday it is updating its drones to prohibit flight over the US capital. The Shenzhen-based company DJI announced a software update for its “Phantom” series drone that will stop flight over all of the Washington area, spokesman Michael […]https://www.defencetalk.com/chinese-company-limits-us-drone-use-after-white-house-crash-62554/