17 Mar 15. Syria claims shoot-down of US UAV. The Syrian military claims to have shot down a United States unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) over the northwest of the country on 17 March. Syrian state media reported the shooting down a “hostile US surveillance drone” in what, if confirmed, would represent the first attack on a coalition aircraft by the Assad regime since combat operations against the Islamic State began in August 2014. While the US Department of Defense (DoD) has confirmed that it lost contact with a General Atomics MQ-1 Predator UAV at about the same time and in the same location as the reported shoot-down, it did not corroborate the Syrian reports, saying instead that it was investigating the loss and would provide more details “when available”. According to media reports, Turkish officials have said that the US Predator was one of four such UAVs operating from Incirlik Air Base in the south of the country. They stressed that these aircraft are currently unarmed and used purely for surveillance purposes (though there have been reports of Turkey allowing two of these aircraft to be fitted with Hellfire missiles). Wreckage of the crashed UAV broadcast on Syrian TV is consistent with a Predator, but it is not possible to ascertain from the footage whether or not the aircraft was indeed shot down. (Source: IHS Jane’s)
16 Mar 15. RE2 to develop robotic technology for US Army’s combat medics. RE2 has secured a grant from the US Army to develop robotic technologies to assist combat medics in wounded combat casualty extraction and evacuation missions on the battlefield. Awarded by the US Army Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Office and the US Army Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center (TATRC), the funding requires the company to develop and demonstrate a new medical module payload for future military ground systems. The payload developed under the LIFELINE project would enable an advanced autonomous ground vehicle to extract a combat casualty and perform medic attended casualty evacuation. RE2 R&D vice-president Dr Patrick Rowe said: “Our engineering staff is utilising its combined expertise in autonomy, unmanned systems engineering, and manipulation to create a robotic system that provides medics with the assistive technology to perform their duties more effectively.” In particular, the LIFELINE module is expected to assist combat medics in manoeuvring, treating, and evacuating wounded soldiers under extremely hostile conditions. The combat medic is claimed to be one of the most dangerous and demanding responsibilities in warfare, directly placing the medic and other personnel in harm’s way while they are reaching, assessing, and treating a wounded soldier’s injuries in the theatre. The US Army is expressing interest in understanding how unmanned systems can be used to lower the risk of injury to the combat medic and other personnel when attempting to rescue and extract wounded soldiers in dangerous environments. (Source: army-technology.com)
16 Mar 15. EASA Presents New Regulatory Approach for RPAS. The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) presented its new regulatory approach for safely operating remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS). This marks a significant change in the way aviation safety regulations are developed, becoming proportionate to the risks they aim to address. Called ‘Concept of Operations’, this new approach foresees safe and proportionate rules for the integration of RPAS into the European civil airspace. It gives flexibility to the new industry to mature and innovate, while at the same time ensures the right level of protection for citizens and goods. For example, the concept defines three RPAS categories, with an ‘open category’ at the lower end. For these drones the intention is to have no specific regulations, with the exception of possibly mandating equipment which would implement ‘no-fly-zones’, like cities or critical sites. The safety rules that will be de