• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Excelitas Qioptiq banner

BATTLESPACE Updates

   +44 (0)77689 54766
   

  • Home
  • Features
  • News Updates
  • Company Directory
  • About
  • Subscribe
  • Contact
  • Media Pack 2022

UNMANNED SYSTEMS UPDATE

March 25, 2012 by

09 Mar 12. Watchkeeper flying through final safety hoops. The entry of the first Thales Watchkeeper system (UAS) into British Army service has been delayed again after concerns were raised by safety case officials. It had been hoped that the first Watchkeeper UAS would be deployed to Afghanistan by the end of 2011, but the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) has told IHS Jane’s that it will not know until the end of this month when Watchkeeper will be able to formally enter British Army service. (Source: Jane’s, JDW)

22 Mar 12. A team of students from Middlesex University, London will take on some of the world’s top engineers after making the final of UAVForge, an international competition for unmanned air vehicles, held in the USA in May. The contest is run by the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (US equivalent of the MoD) and the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center Atlantic, and sees the 12 best teams in the world battle it out at Fort Stewart military base in Georgia. The Middlesex team are flying the flag for the UK, competing against teams from countries including India, Singapore, Holland and the US in challenges that will see their unmanned flying vehicles carrying out tasks like flying for two miles, observing a target for three hours, relaying information back to base and vertical takeoff and landing. All UAVs taking part must be small enough to fit in a rucksack and capable of being operated by a single person. Middlesex University is the only team to have two UAVs through to the final after impressing a panel of expert judges, an evaluation of the vehicles manufacturability and high scoring in a public vote. And if they are successful they could scoop a US$100,000 prize and work with a manufacturer to create up to 15 systems which will shown at an exclusive DARPA operational military demonstration. Middlesex robotics expert Dr Stephen Prior led the team who created the two UAVs (called HALO and SQ-4 Recon) alongside engineering students Mehmet Ali Erbil, Mantas Brazinskas, Witold Mielniczek and Siddharth Odedra.

22 Mar 12. A team at nearby Webster Field Annex is working briskly to support an urgent Navy request to weaponize the MQ-8B Fire Scout, marking the first time the Navy will arm an unmanned aircraft. The Fire Scout team and NAVAIR’s structures rotary-wing division personnel conducted the first of a series of tests March 7 on the newly installed hardware, which will gauge how the system will operate in the shipboard environment.
“This is the very first weaponization program on this aircraft,” said Jeremy Moore, Fire Scout weapons system integration lead. Part of the Rapid Deployment Capability (RDC) acquisition process, “it was identified by the fleet as an urgent need for joint forces, so we are pressing forward as hard as we can to get it out there.”
The Navy plans to arm the MQ-8B Fire Scout with a laser-guided rocket, the Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS), in just 18 months. Typically, this type of development would take two to three years at a minimum, Moore said. Arming the Fire Scout with a guided rocket will enable the fleet to engage hostile threats with the Fire Scout independent of air support from carrier or shore-based aircraft. This capability will keep the warfighter out of harm’s way, Moore said. (Source: ASD Network)

12 Mar 12. HoverMast promises extended surveillance capability for vehicles. Israel’s Sky Sapience has developed a tethered, hovering unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that can be launched from a vehicle. The system is known as HoverMast and can hover in one place for extended periods and land without additional recovery systems, using a central fan for lift and four additional thrusters for stabilisation and manoeuvring. The system comes with the four thrusters folded in an 80 cm-diameter container that can be fitted onto the roof of a vehicle of opportunity. (Source: Jane’s, IDR)

20 Mar 12. Watchkeeper: Further Delays. The Defence Equipment

Primary Sidebar

Advertisers

  • qioptiq.com
  • Exensor
  • TCI
  • Visit the Oxley website
  • Visit the Viasat website
  • Blighter
  • SPECTRA
  • InVeris
  • Britbots logo
  • Faun Trackway
  • Systematic
  • CISION logo
  • ProTEK logo
  • businesswire logo
  • ProTEK logo
  • ssafa logo
  • DSEi
  • Atkins
  • IEE
  • EXFOR logo
  • KME logo
Hilux DVD2022 GlobalMilSat

Contact Us

BATTLESPACE Publications
Old Charlock
Abthorpe Road
Silverstone
Towcester NN12 8TW

+44 (0)77689 54766

BATTLESPACE Technologies

An international defence electronics news service providing our readers with up to date developments in the defence electronics industry.

Recent News

  • EXHIBITIONS AND CONFERENCES

    July 1, 2022
    Read more
  • VETERANS UPDATE

    July 1, 2022
    Read more
  • MANAGEMENT ON THE MOVE

    July 1, 2022
    Read more

Copyright BATTLESPACE Publications © 2002–2022.

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. If you continue to use the website, we'll assume you're ok with this.   Read More  Accept
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT