DefenceTalkThe market for military drones is expected to almost double by 2024 to beyond $10 billion (8.9 billion euros), according to a report published Friday by specialist defence publication IHS Jane’s Intelligence Review. “The global defence and security market for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) will expand at 5.5 percent per year over this decade, from […]https://www.defencetalk.com/drone-market-to-hit-10-billion-by-2024-experts-65547/

DefenceTalkRussia is developing a heavy drone that could be used both as reconnaissance and combat aircraft, one of its designers said in an interview Wednesday. The two ton Avius-1 UAV will bristle with hi-tech gear including an onboard radar and a satellite communications system, Igor Bevzyuk, deputy director of the RTI Holding Company told RIA […]https://www.defencetalk.com/russia-developing-multi-role-heavy-drone-65398/

DefenceTalkToronto film festival movies on Sunday delved into the ethical and legal quagmire created using drones to kill US enemies overseas from a base in the Nevada desert. “Eye in the Sky,” stars Academy Award Winner Helen Mirren as a colonel who hunts the world’s most wanted terror suspects from an underground bunker in London, […]https://www.defencetalk.com/toronto-film-festival-targets-drones-65372/

DefenceTalkThe US Air Force on Tuesday showed off its advanced MQ-1 “Predator” drone at a Latvian airbase, marking the first time the cutting-edge aircraft has been deployed in Europe. The showcase at the central Lielvarde airbase comes as tensions run high in the Baltic states — Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia — with neighboring Russia over its […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-unveils-predator-drones-at-latvian-airbase-65299/

DefenceTalkFor decades, U.S. military air operations have relied on increasingly capable multi-function manned aircraft to execute critical combat and non-combat missions. Adversaries’ abilities to detect and engage those aircraft from longer ranges have improved over time as well, however, driving up the costs for vehicle design, operation and replacement. An ability to send large numbers […]https://www.defencetalk.com/gremlins-could-enable-cheaper-more-effective-distributed-air-operations-65257/

DefenceTalkThe CIA and US special operations forces are carrying out a secret campaign using armed drones to target and kill Islamic State leaders in Syria, the Washington Post reported Tuesday. The clandestine program is separate from America’s wider military operations against IS fighters, the newspaper reported, citing unnamed US officials. Among those so far killed […]https://www.defencetalk.com/cia-us-special-ops-launch-drone-campaign-in-syria-65243/

DefenceTalkNaval Postgraduate School (NPS) Assistant Professor Timothy Chung met with members of NPS’ Advanced Robotic Systems Engineering Laboratory (ARSENL) during a field exercise at Camp Roberts, Aug. 27. Members of ARSENL flew 50 autonomous UAVs breaking their previous record of 30, set just five weeks ago. “I’m very proud of reaching our goal of successfully […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-navy-lab-50-autonomous-uavs-in-flight-65240/

DefenceTalkRAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany — Two MQ-1 Predator remotely piloted aircraft (RPAs) and approximately 70 Airmen deployed to Lielvarde Air Base, Latvia to test the unit’s ability to forward deploy, and to conduct air operations while assuring NATO allies of our commitment to regional security and stability. Airmen and aircraft from the 147th Reconnaissance Wing […]https://www.defencetalk.com/mq-1s-test-deployment-capability-in-latvia-65235/

DefenceTalkNorthrop Grumman and the U.S. Navy successfully demonstrated endurance capabilities with the MQ-8C Fire Scout unmanned helicopter. On a planned 10+ hour flight and range out to 150 nautical miles flight from Naval Base Ventura County, Point Mugu, the MQ-8C Fire Scout achieved 11 hours with over an hour of fuel in reserve. The long […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-navy-demonstrates-endurance-on-the-mq-8c-fire-scout-65168/

DefenceTalkKANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan: Airmen assigned to the 62nd Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron provide world-class close air support and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance in the Afghanistan area of operations. They complete this mission by maintaining, launching and recovering all MQ-1B Predators and MQ-9 Reapers in the country from Kandahar and Jalalabad Airfields. “MQ-1s and MQ-9s account for […]https://www.defencetalk.com/reapers-predators-on-the-prowl-in-afghanistan-65146/