This category covers all flying unmanned vehicles, from loyal wingmen and Attritable Aircraft, Remote Carriers, Cargo Carrying Platforms, ISR Platforms, High Altitude, Long Endurance (HALE), to Medium Altitude (MALE) and Tactical and Small Tactical UAS (STUAS), mini and nano UAS. This category also covers loitering weapons, features smarm technology, and Manned-Unmanned Teaming (MUM-T). You are invited to join our community on:
Lockheed Martin Unveils the Vector Hawk
Lockheed Martin unveiled today a family of small unmanned aerial vehicle, part of the line of Small UAS line. The mini-drone dubbed 'Vector Hawk'...
U.S. Army to Evaluate Counter-Drone Gun System
Aware of the growing threat of bomb-laden mini drones that recently emerged in Iraq and Syria, the US Army is rushing to field countermeasures and kinetic effects designed specifically to defeat drones. DRS and Moog are cooperating with RADA to demonstrate such 'hard kill' system for testing in October.
Turkish UMTAS Missile Dropped From a Bayraktar Tactical Drone
A Turkish drone has successfully completed firing tests of UMTAS anti-tank missile. On the recent test the Bayraktar TB2 drone carried two missiles at a total weight of 75 kg. One missile was dropped from an altitude of 16,000 ft. to hit a 2x2 meter laser-designated target self designated from the drone, from a distance of 8,000 meters.
S70 Okhotnik Flies MUM-T with Su-57
Sukhoi and the Russian Ministry of Defense have flown the S-70 Okhotnik unmanned aerial vehicle with Su-57 fifth-generation fighter aircraft for the first time. The flight that laster 30 minutes as part of the ongoing test program. On this flight, Okhotnik flew with a full avionics configuration in an automated mode.
Lifting the Veil of Israel’s Classified Laser Weapon Program
Israel’s Ministry of Defense revealed today a major achievement in a high energy laser program undergoing with the Directorate of Defense Research and Development (DDR&D). Investments in laser technology made by the department have led to the ability to precisely focus laser beams on long-range targets, overcoming atmospheric disturbances.
High Flying Drones Recruited for Missile Defense
Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) are currently tested with Airborne Infrared (ABIR) sensors – performing persistent, forward pickets to spot hostile missile launches and track them through their flight trajectory. These missions will soon evolve as RPAs become operational, and augment existing radar and space-based sensors, providing midcourse tracking and target discrimination, to help targeting ground and ship-based missile defense interceptors. In the next phase MDA will equip even larger unmanned platforms with high-power laser systems, to perform boost-phase intercept. The agency plans to demonstrate such systems in 2021.
Northrop Grumman and Aerovironment are developing a new naval drone for DARPA
DARPA is expecting to complete risk reduction studies in September, and select one of two competing designs for medium-altitude, long-endurance unmanned aerial systems (MALE UAS), to demonstrate drone operations from small and medium naval vessels by 2017.
Russian Forces in Syria Repelled Massive Drone Attack on Hmeimim and Tartus
Syrian militants began using drones in Syria; following repeated attacks against Russian ground forces operating in the country, Russian and Syrian forces repelled a massive drone attack on Saturday night, downing or capturing 13 improvised, armed drones. The rapid growth in the use of drones and number of simultaneous missions used on each strike indicate the level of maturity and know-how acquired by the perpetrators, although the identity of faction using those drones has yet to be disclosed.
Weaponized Mini-Drones Entering the Fight
Recent reports from Iraq and Syria indicate that Jihadis are increasing the use of drone attacks after exploring the use of drone weapons for several years. A recent attack employed a small surveillance drone, rigged with a bomb to become a booby trap. The attack killed two Kurdish fighters and badly wounded two French special forces.
Russian Okhotnik-B Combat Drone (UCAV) Makes its First Flight
The Russian Su-70 Okhotnik-B (Hunter) unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV), developed by the Sukhoi Design Bureau, has made its maiden flight on Saturday, August...
Hybrid Quadrotor Debut at AUVSI 2014
A new 'hybrid Quadrotor' concept developed by Latitude Engineering has been applied to several fixed-wing UAV systems, converting them into vertical take-off and landing capable,...
Iran’s Shahed-129 Combat Drone to Enter Serial Production
The Islamic Republic of Iran has launched the mass-production of the indigenously developed Shahed 129 unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), which was unveiled in September...
World’s First Explosive Detection Drone Unveiled at Israel’s HLS & Cyber Event
Following extensive testing in the laboratory and in the field, Laser Detect System (LDS) Ltd. is unveiling SpectroDrone – the world’s first drone-based explosive detection sensor. SpectroDrone employs LDS’s patented standoff gated laser spectroscopy techniques, proven to detect a wide range of explosive and hazardous materials at distances of several meters.
IDF Debuts Drone Swarms to Seek and Attack Hidden Targets
During the recent 'Guardian of the Walls' operations in Gaza, Israel's Defense Forces (IDF) employed swarms of unmanned systems to strike inside the enemy area to seek and destroy hidden targets. This was the combat debut of a new capability developed by the IDF that demonstrated the great value of manned-unmanned operations at the tactical edge.
