DefenceTalkTEL AVIV, Israel: 2015 was a challenging year that included a ground incident that damaged our AirMule demonstrator. While the repair of the aircraft imposed a delay of several months on our development schedule, it also gave us an opportunity to make significant upgrades to the aircraft systems. We installed new equipment and integrated new […]https://www.defencetalk.com/airmule-successfully-completed-its-first-autonomous-untethered-flight-66253/

DefenceTalkWith Phase 3 award, program aims to deliver embedded capabilities that have been on the U.S. Navy’s wish list since World War II Small-deck ships such as destroyers and frigates could greatly increase their effectiveness if they had their own unmanned air systems (UASs) to provide intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) and other capabilities at […]https://www.defencetalk.com/darpa-northrop-develop-unmanned-vtol-flying-wing-small-us-navy-ships-66208/

DefenceTalkNorthrop Grumman Corporation and members of NATO’s Alliance Ground Surveillance Management Agency (NAGSMA) celebrated an important and much anticipated milestone today. Leaving from Palmdale, NATO’s first Alliance Ground Surveillance (AGS) aircraft successfully executed a comprehensive range of test points before landing at Edwards Air Force Base. “The NATO AGS aircraft is part of a system […]https://www.defencetalk.com/nato-alliance-ground-surveillance-aircraft-successfully-takes-flight-66166/

DefenceTalkKANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan: The U.S. Air Force Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance enterprise is vital to the national security of the United States and its allies, providing an unrivaled capability; focused, integrated ISR is inseparable from operations and enables mission execution. For the 62nd Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, efforts to increase those capabilities […]https://www.defencetalk.com/reaper-uav-extends-range-in-afghanistan-66054/

DefenceTalkSEOUL: South Korea will develop a stealth unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to counter North Korea’s long-range artillery and mobile missile systems, a South Korean defense official said Sunday. The development is part of the 31 research projects to be conducted by the South Korean military by the end of next year, the official, who spoke […]https://www.defencetalk.com/south-korea-to-develop-unmanned-stealth-aircraft-to-counter-north-65994/

DefenceTalkThe MQ-8C Fire Scout completed a three week operational assessment period Nov. 20 at Naval Base Ventura County at Point Mugu, California. The OA included 11 flights totaling 83.4 flight hours where Fire Scout was tested against maritime and surveyed land targets to assess system performance, endurance and reliability of the unmanned helicopter. “MQ-8C is […]https://www.defencetalk.com/mq-8c-fire-scout-completes-operational-assessment-65946/

DefenceTalkElbit Systems has been awarded a $200 million contract from the Swiss Federal Department of Defense, Civil Protection and Sport (“DDPS”), for the supply of Hermes 900 HFE (Heavy Fuel Engine) Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) and an advanced ground segment for command, control and communications. The contract, to be performed over a four-year period, follows […]https://www.defencetalk.com/elbit-to-supply-hermes-900-hfe-uavs-to-switzerland-65925/

DefenceTalkThe US Air Force recently lost control of two armed Predator drones in separate incidents in Turkey and Iraq, a US military official said Wednesday. The Predators were both carrying air-to-surface Hellfire missiles when they crashed, but these were safely recovered along with the aircraft. In the first case on October 17, a Predator crew […]https://www.defencetalk.com/two-armed-us-predator-drones-crash-in-iraq-turkey-65677/

DefenceTalkPresident Barack Obama’s administration has underrepresented the true number of civilians killed in drone strikes, a news site said in citing a cache of secret files it published. On Thursday, the news site The Intercept unveiled documents leaked by a whistleblower about America’s use of unmanned aerial vehicles to kill terrorist targets in the Middle […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-downplays-civilian-drone-deaths-secret-files-show-65662/

DefenceTalkWASHINGTON: “It’s a tactical capability working at a strategic distance.” That’s what Army Col. Courtney Cote told a gaggle of mostly aviation and aerospace media at the Association of the United States Army Annual Meeting and Exposition, or AUSA, Tuesday. He was talking about unmanned aerial systems – the new player on the battlefield that, […]https://www.defencetalk.com/unmanned-aircraft-new-kid-on-block-flexing-muscle-65648/