26 Aug 15. Global UAV production to triple. Global production of unmanned aerial vehicles will triple over the next 10 years, according to a forecast by Teal Group. Teal predicts that annual UAV production will soar from $14bn per year currently, to $14bn by 2025, with total production of $93bn over the next decade. The military will account for 72 percent of spending, followed by consumers at 23 percent and 5 percent for civil aviation. However, civil aviation will grow the fastest as more airspace around the world is opened to UAVs. The U.S. will account for 64 percent of worldwide military research and development spending on UAVs, as well as 38 percent of military procurement. “The market for UAVs looks very strong, increasingly driven by new technologies such as the next generation of unmanned combat systems, and the development of new markets such as civil and consumer drones,” said Philip Finnegan, Teal’s director of corporate analysis. (Source: C4ISR & Networks)
25 Aug 15. Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) 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 range, long endurance flight was part of a series of capability based tests used by the Navy to validate their concept of operations and previously tested performance parameters. The Navy conducted the demonstration with support of Northrop Grumman engineers.
“Endurance flights provide a full evaluation of the MQ-8C Fire Scout systems,” said Capt. Jeff Dodge, program manager, Fire Scout, Naval Air Systems Command. “We can better understand the capability of the system and look at crew tasks and interactions in a controlled environment. This will allow us to adjust operational procedures to maximize the system’s effectiveness.”
This is a new flight record set for the MQ-8 Fire Scout; a system designed to provide persistent reconnaissance, situational awareness, and precision targeting support for ground, air and sea forces.
“Today’s MQ-8C Fire Scout performance matches our model exactly. With adjustments, our production aircraft will have 12 hours of total endurance on a standard day. This prolonged endurance gives the Navy’s commanders a tremendous operational advantage,” said George Vardoulakis, vice president, medium range tactical systems, Northrop Grumman. “Increased time-on-station and fewer launch and recovery cycles better enables the Navy’s diverse missions.”
The MQ-8C Fire Scout completed its developmental flight test program earlier this year and has operational assessment planned for later this year. The MQ-8C Fire Scout has accumulated over 513 flight hours and flown 353 sorties.
25 Aug 15. US Navy to start Triton Operational Assessment. The US Navy is to begin an operational assessment of its Northrop Grumman MQ-4C Triton unmanned air vehicle in September, ultimately paving the way for the start of low rate initial production of the type. Expected to take two months to complete, the testing will take place at Naval Air Station Patuxent River in Maryland. If it is successful it will lead to the so-called Milestone C decision, which triggers the award of an initial production contract – anticipated in the second quarter of the 2016 fiscal year. Initial operational capability is also expected to be declared in 2018 in accordance with the programme schedule, says Sean Burke, Triton programme manager at the US Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR). Meanwhile, electromagnetic compatibility testing of the high-altitude, long-endurance UAV has recently commenced. The MQ-4C has been lifted inside Patuxent River’s anechoic chamber for a series of trials – to last around eight weeks – to ensure its installed systems do not interfere with each other. This is the first time that an unmann