20 Nov 09. The U.S. Air Force has granted the RQ-4 Global Hawk high-altitude, long-endurance (HALE) unmanned aircraft system (UAS) a military Airworthiness Certification (AWC), a significant milestone in the life of the aircraft system and a step on the path to routine unmanned flight within the United States. The AWC process verifies an aircraft design has met performance requirements within the mission profile to safely fly in national airspace and assures operators and mission managers that the production articles conform to the design. In granting the certification to RQ-4, the next generation of Block 20 and 30 Global Hawk UAS, the U.S. Air Force has recognized the aircraft’s ability to routinely fly safely within design parameters. The certification process evaluated more than 600 airworthiness criteria.
24 Nov 09. QinetiQ’s Zephyr High-Altitude Long-Endurance unmanned aerial system (HALE UAS) programme recently resumed flight testing and payload evaluations in Yuma, Arizona, when a joint US/UK Zephyr team undertook the first operation of the system with a US flight crew. This test sequence, jointly sponsored by MOD UK and OSD DDRE JCTD programme,
focused on evaluating potential payloads as well as advancing the conops for operating long endurance persistent aircraft in excess of five days. The Zephyr concept is designed to offer solar-powered, persistent coverage with continuous mission durations of up to three months at a revolutionary low-cost per flight hour. Capable of carrying a variety of payloads, the applications of the system include wide area surveillance, communications relay, specific target monitoring, anti-piracy efforts, route monitoring, counter-IED, border security, and local area security. (Source: Google)
24 Nov 09. Northrop Grumman Corporation completed the first three MQ-8B Fire Scout production deliveries to the U.S. Navy, which completes the first year of Low Rate Initial Production (LRIP) for the Vertical Takeoff and Landing Tactical Unmanned Air Vehicle (VTUAV) program. Two of the three Fire Scouts were deployed aboard the USS McInerney for use on a scheduled operational deployment to complete a Fire Scout Military Utility Assessment (MUA). Prior to the current deployment, Fire Scouts have been aboard the USS McInerney four times since December 2008, completing 110 ship takeoffs and landings and 45 landings with the harpoon grid, accumulating over 47 hours of flight time. “Fire Scout’s performance aboard the USS McInerney has continued to provide us with invaluable operational insight and enhance our ability to support the U.S. Navy,” said George Vardoulakis, vice president of Tactical Unmanned Systems for Northrop Grumman’s Aerospace Systems sector. “And we are excited about the opportunity to work alongside the sailors of the USS McInerney for Fire Scout’s first operational deployment.”
Nov 09. India will soon embark on developing an indigenous unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) for surveillance, detection and destroying specific targets, a top defence official said on Wednesday. “We will soon embark on designing and developing an unmanned combat aerial vehicle, which will not only do surveillance, but will also help detect the target and destroy the identified object,” V K Saraswat, scientific advisor to Defence Minister A K Antony, told reporters. An UCAV or ‘combat drone’ differs from ordinary UAVs as it is designed to deliver weapons. The pilotless vehicle can carry greater payloads and have wide range and manoeuvrability in the absence of a cockpit and associated equipment. The ambitious project will be taken up by the Aeronautical Development
Establishment (ADE) of the state-run Defence Research and Development
Organisation (DRDO) in Bangalore with private industry participation.
“The controls of a combat drone will be rested with multiple command control centres. The centres can be geographically at different locations. Even if one centre becomes defunct, the drone c