22 Dec 15. PrecisionHawk Partners with Indiana State University. PrecisionHawk and Indiana State University have signed a research and development partnership that aims to advance the unmanned aerial systems industry from multidisciplinary perspectives. The university-business collaboration will focus on safety, education, training and algorithm development for PrecisionHawk’s DataMapper aerial data software.
“PrecisionHawk is a strategic partner for Indiana State,” said Robert English, dean of Indiana State’s College of Technology. “Together we make a strong team in research and development of flight crew training, UAS applications, and data analysis. We see this collaboration as a foundation for the future of our students, the state of Indiana and the nation.”
“Our longstanding relationship with Indiana State University creates the perfect environment to explore the next frontier in aviation and beyond line of sight drone operations,” said Patrick Lohman, vice president of partnerships at PrecisionHawk. “PrecisionHawk is fortunate to boast a number of ISU alumni on its team, and we look forward to enhanced collaboration around our data and safety initiatives.”
The partnership will explore and pursue the following areas of interest:
• Airspace deconfliction
• Advanced mission planning algorithm development
• Environmental monitoring
• Opportunities within PrecisionHawk safety initiatives, including LATAS, its low altitude traffic and airspace service platform.
• Development of analytics clusters and full-spectrum analytics support
“Indiana State is proud to be stepping forward with PrecisionHawk in this partnership to further the applications of unmanned systems,” said Richard Baker, associate professor and chair of the aviation technology department and director of the university’s unmanned systems initiative. “We will work to strategically address issues across the entire spectrum of data collection, analytics, and safety for unmanned aerial systems.”
The university will provide access to airspace, indoor flight facilities, unmanned aerial vehicles and flight crews. PrecisionHawk will provide access to its software platform, DataMapper, algorithm licenses, desktop orthomosaic processing and the ability to test its safety services platform, LATAS. (Source: UAS VISION)
22 Dec 15. USAF Introduces Enlisted Global Hawk Pilots. US Air Force officials announced a new initiative Dec. 17 to enhance the Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance mission by integrating enlisted remotely piloted aircraft pilots into the force.
Air Force officials stated a dynamic threat environment calls for innovative approaches to high-demand missions. After careful consideration and with an eye toward potential future force needs, service officials plan to deliberately integrate the enlisted force into flying operations, starting with the RQ-4 Global Hawk.
“Our enlisted force is the best in the world and I am completely confident they will be able to do the job and do it well,” said Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James. “The RPA enterprise is doing incredibly important work and this is the right decision to ensure the Air Force is positioned to support the future threat environment. Emerging requirements and combatant commander demands will only increase; therefore, we will position the service to provide warfighters and our nation the capability they deserve today and in the future.”
The secretary and chief directed Air Combat Command to develop an implementation plan over the next six months to address items like entry requirements, training plans, career path development, delineation of duties, compensation details and an appropriate force mix. Implementation is focused on the Global Hawk community, not the MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper force.
“This action will make the most of the capabilities of our superb enlisted force in order to increase agility in addressing the ISR needs of the warfighter,” James said. “Just a