DefenceTalkAustralia’s Heron Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) detachment in Afghanistan flew its final mission for Operation SLIPPER from Kandahar Air Field on 30 November 2014. Heron aircraft have completed more than 27,000 mission hours during Operation SLIPPER providing high resolution intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance support to Australian forces and our International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) partners […]https://www.defencetalk.com/australias-heron-mission-ends-in-afghanistan-61108/

DefenceTalkIran said Monday that a copy of an American drone downed over its territory in 2011 had successfully completed its first test flight, promising to release footage of the experiment. Tehran captured the US RQ-170 Sentinel in December 2011 while it was in its airspace, apparently on a mission to spy on the country’s nuclear […]https://www.defencetalk.com/iran-claims-successful-test-flight-of-replica-us-drone-60984/

DefenceTalkBritain and France Wednesday tasked two major defence contractors with a two-year feasibility study over a joint military drone project, with the aim of getting it off the ground by 2030. The British and French government tasked BAE Systems and Dassault Aviation with the study following a political agreement reached at the Farnborough air show […]https://www.defencetalk.com/britain-france-launch-feasibility-study-for-joint-military-drones-60964/

DefenceTalkNATO member Poland said Tuesday it will acquire combat drones as part of a multi-billion-euro revamp of its armed forces amid heightened tensions with Russia over its role in the Ukraine crisis. “We will use these drones to defend our territory,” Deputy Defence Minister Czeslaw Mroczek told AFP. “My Ukrainian counterpart informed me that one […]https://www.defencetalk.com/poland-to-buy-armed-drones-amid-ukraine-crisis-60956/

DefenceTalkIt’s more an engineer’s dream than nightmare – to rapidly prototype and redesign aircraft using 3-D printed parts. That’s just what a team of student interns and engineers at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California, got to do: custom-build aircraft by repurposing surplus Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). Grafting fuselages side-by-side adds more motors, […]https://www.defencetalk.com/engineers-harvest-and-print-parts-for-new-breed-of-aircraft-60899/

DefenceTalkAt Euronaval 2014, DCNS is unveiling the SMX-Océan conventionally powered attack submarine. The new vessel draws extensively on the design of a state-of-the-art nuclear-powered submarine, with a number of key innovations that give this diesel-electric adaptation truly outstanding performance. Exceptional performance This innovative concept ship promises submerged endurance and deployment capabilities that are unprecedented for […]https://www.defencetalk.com/dcns-unveils-smx-ocean-a-new-blue-water-ssk-with-expanded-capabilities-60889/

DefenceTalkFrom 19 to 31 October 2014 CMRE research vessels are conducting a Collaborative Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) scientific experiment to advance autonomous ASW network technologies. The COLLaborative Asw Behaviours-Next Generation Autonomous Systems 2014 (COLLAB-NGAS14) experiment, which includes the two research vessels owned by the NATO Centre for Maritime Research and Experimentation, the NATO Research Vessel Alliance […]https://www.defencetalk.com/natos-next-generation-autonomous-systems-in-action-in-the-ligurian-sea-60852/

DefenceTalkBritain will shortly begin re-deploying its unmanned armed drones from Afghanistan to counter Islamic State jihadists in Iraq, Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond told parliament on Thursday. The remotely-piloted Reaper aircraft will provide surveillance, reconnaissance and intelligence support to the Iraqi troops and international coalition forces taking on the IS group in northern Iraq. The drones […]https://www.defencetalk.com/britain-to-re-deploy-drones-from-afghanistan-to-iraq-60775/

DefenceTalkIn a climate of deep fiscal cuts, the Army’s Aviation Restructure Initiative has some good news for its Unmanned Aircraft Systems. With the Army still in the infancy of Unmanned Aircraft Systems, known as UAS, integration into the force, the initiative allows the Army to keep its inventory of Shadow/tactical UAS workhorses aloft, and the […]https://www.defencetalk.com/aviation-restructure-initiative-allows-uas-workhorses-to-remain-aloft-60696/

DefenceTalkIran on Tuesday unveiled a new missile-equipped drone to boost its military arsenal, as part of events marking the end of its 1980-1988 war against Iraq. Iranian engineers working for the armed forces have “built the drones to carry air defence missiles”, deputy defence minister General Amir Hatami said, quoted by Fars news agency. “The […]https://www.defencetalk.com/iran-unveils-new-missile-equipped-drone-60635/