24 Nov 15. US Navy Decision on Carrier UAS in 2017 Budget. The U.S. Navy will likely map out the future for a new armed, carrier-based drone as part of its fiscal 2017 budget proposal after completion of a Pentagon-wide study of surveillance and intelligence needs, a Navy official said on Friday. The official, who asked not to be named, said the long-delayed competition would likely focus on a drone for conducting surveillance that could also carry weapons, largely in line with the approach favored by the Navy.
Rear Admiral Robert Girrier, the newly appointed director of unmanned warfare systems, told reporters in a briefing on Friday that he expected more information in “coming months” about the new drone, but gave no further details.
Boeing Corp , Northrop Grumman Corp, which makes the X-47B unmanned, unarmed plane that has been tested on U.S. carriers, Lockheed Martin Corp, and privately held General Atomics have spent tens of millions of dollars to prepare for the Navy’s Unmanned Carrier-Launched Airborne Surveillance Strike (UCLASS) tender.
But the program, one of just a few new aircraft programs up for grabs for contractors, has been on hold pending a Pentagon-wide review of intelligence and surveillance programs that has stretched on much longer than expected.
“The Navy is absolutely committed to unmanned aviation and getting it fully integrated… and we are going to do that in an evolutionary way and that’s how we see UCLASS,” Girrier said. Retired Brigadier General Frank Kelley, the first deputy assistant secretary of the U.S. Navy for unmanned systems, said that in August 2014 he saw the UCLASS up close.
“I can tell you that there were three of us out there and we were convinced that we were looking at the future of naval aviation,” Kelley said.
Kelley said cybersecurity was a top priority moving forward for all unmanned aircraft.
“It’s incredibly important, and to be honest… just the threat, the thought that somebody could hack into a system and… turn that against you, that becomes pretty frightening,” Kelley said. (Source: UAS VISION/Reuters)
24 Nov 15. CH- 5 – China’s Biggest UAS on Display. China displayed its latest and biggest military unmanned aircraft at an industry expo that closed in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, on Friday, in an attempt to attract more buyers for its combat drones. The CH-5 combat drone, developed by China Academy of Aerospace Aerodynamics under China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp, made its first flight in August, becoming the heaviest and strongest military drone in China. Considering the unspoken rule in China’s defence sector that it never publicly shows advanced weapons solely designed for the People’s Liberation Army, the public debut of CH-5 at the China (Shenzhen) International Unmanned Vehicle Systems Trade Fair has an unmistakable indication: China is eager to sell it.
“We have sold the CH-3 to several foreign nations and now we plan to launch the export version of the CH-5 to the international market. It can perform air-to-ground strike, reconnaissance and transport operations,” said Shi Wen, chief designer of the CH series at China Academy of Aerospace Aerodynamics.
Shi did not disclose which countries have introduced the CH series, but earlier reports quoted Vasily Kashin, a senior analyst with the Moscow-based Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies, as saying Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Iraq have deployed drones from the CH family.
Designers said CH-5 is made of composite materials and has a wingspan of 20 meters. With a size twice as big as its previously developed counterparts, the drone can stay in the air for as long as about 40 hours and operate at an altitude of up to 10 km.
Compared with other military drones that usually have a maximum take-off weight of less than 1,500 kg, the CH-5 is much more powerful, it is able to fly with a weight of 3,000 kg and carry 900 kg of equipment and weapons, according to engineers at China Academy of Aerospa