Applications & Testing & Experience
Raven Industries Aerostar aided the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) Vehicle Research Section on achieving successful unmanned aircraft flight tests for the Autonomous Deployment Demonstration (ADD) programme. "The ADD balloon support operation is very simple and well developed," said Mike Smith, Senior Aerospace Engineer at Aerostar International. "The
Lighter Than Air
The Rapid Equipping Force (REF) has a requirement to purchase Unmanned Aircraft System to support Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) Shortfalls in the environmentally inhospitable operating environment of Afghanistan. This requirement includes a requirement for operators and Field Service Representatives (FSRs) to provide FSR support and new equipment training. The
Lighter Than Air
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. announced its successful participation in a U.S. Air Force exercise designed to demonstrate the capability of an aerostat equipped with maritime radar and an Electro-optical/Infrared (EO/IR) sensor to provide situational awareness for littoral environments. “Successful integration and operation of the Lynx Multi-mode
Applications & Testing & Experience
World Surveillance Group Inc. has announced that that free flight testing and customer demonstrations of the Argus One will take place at the US Department of Energy Nevada Test Site ("N2S2") in early December 2011. These flight tests and demonstrations at N2S2 are being sponsored by the US
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The UAS Team of the Battlespace Modeling and Simulation Division from NAVAIR at Patuxent River Naval Air Station brought their remotely piloted “flying fish” last Thursday to a local Kindergarten in Leonardtown. With their shark and clown fish “Air Swimmers” in tow, Gary Swain, along with civil servant Tim Hurley
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The US Army has awarded Lockheed Martin a $383 million contract to maintain, operate and sustain the Persistent Threat Detection Systems (PTDS). The tethered aerostat provides real-time, around-the-clock reconnaissance and surveillance of broad geographic areas for warfighters in Iraq and Afghanistan. "The availability of timely intelligence is vital to
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India's Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has criticised the nation's Air Force for failing to keep two Israeli-supplied aerostat-based radars in operational condition. The equipment was acquired for a combined total of 676 million Indian Rupees ($14 million). One of the systems was damaged in 2009,
Electronic Sub-Systems
Avionics maker Rockwell Collins reveals that it has won a broad system-level contract on the US Air Force's $86 million Blue Devil Block 2 airship programme, the company's first "nose to tail" command and control win in the unmanned aircraft systems sector. Under contract
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In recent years, airships have once again become a major force in aviation. The Pentagon has gone especially blimp-crazy, pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into advanced -- and massive -- surveillance airships that can stay in the sky way longer than any unmanned aircraft. Here is a review of
Lighter Than Air
Lockheed Martin just posted this video of the launch the first-of-its kind High Altitude Long Endurance-Demonstrator on July 27, 2011, from the historic Goodyear Akron Airdock*. The U.S. Army launched its new $150 million airship on Wednesday only to watch it come down in some Pennsylvania woods just hours
Applications & Testing & Experience
Raytheon Company's aerostat system - Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensors (JLENS) - recently completed a successful endurance test. "Providing long endurance surveillance for cruise missile defense is a very important capability of JLENS," said David Gulla, vice president for Global Integrated Sensors
Accident Reporting
An unmanned, remote controlled airship, launched from Akron, Ohio, crash landed Wednesday morning, just outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The High Altitude Long Endurance-Demonstrator, also known as HALE-D, was designed by Lockheed Martin, based out of Akron. It launched just before 6:00 a.m. at the air dock in Akron.