12/15/2006 The Microwave Systems unit of Northrop in California has awarded DRS Technologies a contract to produce lightweight EO/IR sensor systems for Class I unmanned aircraft in the U.S. Army's Future Combat Systems program. DRS will provide emulators and prototype EO/IR systems. The sensors will provide imagery for ISR missions, target acquisition, early warning capabilitities and enhanced reconnaissance. Northrop is the lead integrator for the Army's Future Combat Systems Program.

12/14/2006 Future unmanned aircraft pilots of Europe - get out your long underewear! Robonic, a manufacturer of unmanned aircraft launching systems, intends to establish a European pilot training center for unmanned aircraft pilots above the Arctic Circle in the town of Kemjarvi, Finland. Robonic officials believe the idea is a worthy goal, citing the increasingly crowded skies over Europe, the unmanned aircraft industry's desire to maintain safe UAS operations, and the 6,880 square miles of sparsely populated test range operated by Robonic that includes a 1,400 meter runway. Additionally, Robonic believes that training unmanned aircraft pilots must become a primary objective of the unmanned aircraft industry in order to maintain aviation safety standards and to ensure that unmanned aircraft are only piloted by qualified pilots and operators. Currently, the Robonic Arctic Test UAV Flight Center (RATUFC) is capable of handling basic unmanned flight training services, but can expand to accommodate all areas of unmanned operations, including operator and payload specialist training. As the UAS industry continues to grow, Robonic anticipates that the center will train both military and civilian UAS pilots from all over Europe and the world. Additionally, by setting a precedent for an unmanned aircraft pilot training center that is common to an entire region, Robonic officials believe that manned aircraft pilot training centers may follow suit and set up similar centers that are common to a region.

12/13/2006 The U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) is developing an active multispectral chemical detection sensor for use on unmanned aircraft that will patrol U.S. ports. The sensor, called Bright Onyx, can detect chemical elements associated with weapons of mass destruction. Unmanned aircraft missions for the sensor will primarily be for Homeland Security, but AFRL officials also believe the sensor could be deployed to combat zones where chemical and biological weapons are considered as possible weapon threats. The use of the chemical detector could provide U.S. troops in the battlefield with a rapid alert to the release of chemical or biological weapons by enemy forces.

12/12/2006 Japan will develop a very small unmanned aircraft for surveillance and reconnaissance missions of enemy positions within Japanese territories. The aircraft will carry a small camera that can transmit pictures back to ground bases. Aircraft construction is of polystyrene foam. The aircraft has a wingspan of 24 inches and weighs a mere 14 ounces. Defense Agency officials of Japan note that the inspiration for the aircraft design was a paper airplane! Very interesting!!

12/09/2006 Britain announced it will launch a $245 million technology demonstrator program that will pave the way to deployment of unmanned combat aircraft by as early as 2020. The joint government/industry-funded program is scheduled to last for four years and will use an unmanned aircraft called "Taranis" to demonstrate what British officials believe are world-leading autonomous flight technologies. Notably, the program will only involve the British companies of BAE Systems (lead), Rolls Royce, QinetiQ, and Smiths Aerospace. British officials state a key objective of the program is to protect British jobs within the areas of avionics, propulsion, and mission system integration as well as protecting critical design and manufacturing capabilities within the same areas. Another key objective of the Taranis program is to provide an unmanned capability that will allow RAF military commanders to better determine the proper ratio of manned to unmanned assets. British officals are confident that the Taranis unmanned combat air vehicle program will allow the country to maintain its competitiveness with the United States and the world in engineering and technology.

12/07/2006 QinetiQ of Great Britain converted a BAC-1-11 into a surrogate unmanned aircraft as part of an unmanned flight test of UAV swarm technology. The two hour flight test, which took place in October, involved an operator onboard the BAC-1-11 that piloted the aircraft from a remote station within the aircraft - identical to flying an unmanned aircraft from a ground control station. (The aircraft did have a flight crew in the cockpit as a safety backup.) While piloting the BAC-1-11, the operator also flew three simulated unmanned aircraft, performing a simulated attack on a moving ground target. QinetiQ is investigating a conceptual system that can autonomously organize and control multiple unmanned aircraft from a mothership. The October flight test used agent-based reasoning software in an autonomy computer onboard the BAC-1-11 that allowed the three UAVs to self-organize at a tactical level, as well as operate and control communication, sensor, and weapon systems. QinetiQ believes it is the first company to perform such a flight test and is preparing a Tornado jet fighter with an integrated avionics package that will allow the aircraft's pilot to fly simulated and actual unmanned aircraft. The follow-on flight test with the Tornado aircraft will take place in 2007.

12/05/2006 Most unmanned aircraft systems produced in the United States today are made of composite materials. As unmanned aircraft systems gain credibility as service providers, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) wants assurances that composite construction methods will yield airworthy aircraft. Toward that goal, the Center for Excellence for Composites and Advanced Materials (CECAM) at the Wichita State University is conducting a technology airworthy assessment of unmanned aircraft systems for the FAA in order to help develop standards for certification. The end result will provide regulatory requirements (airworthiness standards) that address safety oversight and operational requirements for unmanned aircraft systems. The FAA is tasked with integrating unmanned aircraft into the National Airspace System (NAS) and consequently must make sure that unmanned aircraft - in the same manner as manned aircraft - are certified as safe to fly. The decision to treat unmanned aircraft the same as manned aircraft with regard to airworthiness should provide assurance to the public that every step has been taken to ensure safe operation of unmanned aircraft. It is anticipated that certification of the pilots flying unmanned aircraft is not far behind.

12/02/2006 Italy will purchase twelve RQ-11A Raven's for its deployed army forces. The troops will use the small, unmanned Ravens for surveillance. The Raven is manufactured by AeroVironment of Simi Valley, California. The aircraft uses daylight and infrared television cameras to provide near-real-time streaming video to a ground control station. The Italian Army forces will receive the new aircraft in the first half of 2007.

11/29/2006 Small unmanned aircraft, even down to micro aircraft, are under investigation by the French Ministry of Defense. The agency is launching a 42-month study that will investigate application and employment of small unmanned aircraft in urban settings, as well as studying the autonomy, guidance and control of such aircraft. In order to accomplish the tasking, the MoD plans to use demonstrations of SUAVs for evaluation purposes. The French military is already using small, hand-launched UASs for reconnaissance.

11/24/2006 Under an Army Aviation and Missile Command Expedited Professional and Engineering Support Services competitive contract award, EDO of New York has won a five year contract worth up to $37 million. Under the contract, EDO will provide program support to the U.S. Army Unmanned Aircraft Systems Project Office that includes strategic planning, logistics planning, training and testing. The Army UAS Project Office is responsible for managing Army unmanned aircraft such as the Warrior (Predator variant), Hunter, Shadow and Raven, as well as Future Forces Class I, II, III and IV unmanned aircraft. EDO will receive $1.1 million in initial funding under the award.

11/22/2006 AAI's parent company, United Industrial, is selling one of its subsidiary companies, Detroit Stoker, to Bram Acquistion, for $22.4 million. AAI produces the Shadow and other unmanned aircraft for the U.S. military.

11/20/2006 The Indian Air Force (a different IAF) announced a $1 billion, five year program to develop an Aerospace Planning and Execution system that can digitally link various aircraft via satellite to ground stations, providing a network-centric capability to the force. Hindustan Aeronautics, Ltd. of Bangalore will oversee and integrate contractors from India, the United States, Britain, Singapore, Israel and France to provide technology and assistance to the IAF. The networked aircraft will include unmanned aircraft, as well as fighters, helicopters and transports.

11/18/2006 Unmanned aerial refueling is gaining momentum in both the United States and Israel. Recently the Sierra Nevada Corporation successfully demonstrated autonomous refueling with an F-18. The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) is conducting software and GPS tests that would permit unmanned aircraft to accept fuel from manned tankers. The AFRL completed test flights in August between a manned KC-135 tanker and a modified Learjet that held a tankering formation position under the KC-135 for two circuits of an aerial refueling track. Now the Israeli Air Force is investigating unmanned aerial refueling that will include unmanned-to-unmanned capabilities. While a formal requirement for unmanned aerial refueling has not yet been released, IAF officials believe that the operational advantages of unmanned aerial refueling are obvious (endurance, availability) and that a formal requirement will probably be released sometime in 2007. The IAF indicated that Israeli Aircraft Industries (IAI) will probably take the lead in modifying or designing unmanned aerial tankers. The company has already completed similar tanker modifications to many other aircraft and is considered a leader in unmanned aircraft as well as aerial tanker conversions. IAI is currently developing a classified unmanned aircraft for the IAF called "Eitan", which means "Steadfast". The Eitan is a large unmanned aircraft, weighing approximately 8,000 pounds with an 1,800 kilogram payload capacity. The aircraft also carries an exceptionally large amount of fuel. Sources believe the Eitan aircraft may be adapted to an unmanned tanker role because of its fuel-carrying capabilities. But IAI officials are also investigating the conversion of a Gulfstream G550 into a tanker that could support aircraft and helicopters, including unmanned aircraft. Officials state that the converted G550 could service a 600 nautical mile radius and provide up to 40,000 pounds of fuel. Additionally, the G550 itself would be capable of inflight refueling so that once its "give" is complete, it could top off its own tanks from a large tanker and return to its outlying tanker station. If inflight refueling of unmanned aircraft is achieved in the near future, IAF officials believe that aircraft will be able to remain on station indefinitely.

11/16/2006 This year's Air Show China displayed an assortment of unmanned aircraft models from the China Aviation Industry Corporation, Chengdu Aircraft Design Institute and Guizhou Aircraft. The various models included high altitude, long endurance (HALE) aircraft down to simple pusher aircraft. One of the HALE aircraft appeared to be almost a direct copy of the Northrop Grumman Global Hawk. Other aircraft on display were the Soar Dragon (another HALE design) and an unmanned combat air vehicle called Anjian (Dark Sword). The Guizhou company is also developing an unmanned aircraft know as the WZ-2000 UAV. Under development since 2000, the aircraft is about the size of a Predator, but uses a turbojet engine for propulsion instead of a propeller. Currently, endurance is a limiting factor for the aircraft. The Chinese companies are anxious to compete in the world-wide unmanned aircraft market.

11/14/2006 Italy's Alenia Aeronautica flew its Sky-X unmanned demonstrator aircraft in a full autonomous mode that included an automatic takeoff and landing. The test flight took place at the Swedish Vidsel air base and lasted approximately 30 minutes. Alenia officials note that additional flight tests are scheduled for the aircraft in November and December and that the flights will be conducted at Amendola Air Force Base in Italy.

11/12/2006 Aurora Flight Sciences announced that its GoldenEye 80 completed its first test flight on November 4, 2006. The flight lasted 30 seconds. GoldenEye 80 is an unmanned vertical takeoff ducted fan aircraft that can transition to horizontal flight using moveable wings. The aircraft, which could be likened to an Apollo lunar lander, is 65 inches in height and weighs approximately 150 pounds. The aircraft carries video and infrared cameras as well as a laser rangefinder/tracker/designator and is powered by a heavy-fuel engine. Aurora Flight Sciences is developing the GoldenEye 80 under the DARPA Organic Air Vehicle program. The aircraft is also being considered for use in the Army's Future Combat System program.

11/10/2006 The U.S. Navy, under direction from the U.S. Undersecretary of Defense, will investigate, negotiate and fund the Army/Navy Aerial Common Sensor through 2011. Navy officials state that the program was revived based on the Joint Airborne Electronics Attack study and the fact that the Army/Navy Aerial Common sensor plays a major role in the Battlespace Awareness portfolio.

11/07/2006 Lockheed Martin has been selected by the FAA to develop a plan for introducing unmanned aircraft into the National Airspace System. The program will last five years and is intended to define current unmanned aircraft needs, forecast near-term airspace capacity demands and develop a strategy to integrate unmanned operations with manned operations. Additionally, the program must conform to FAA certification time lines.

11/05/2006 The U.S. Air Force is working on a program to develop forward deployment "gas stations" in foreign countries for its Global Hawks. The program is intended to extend the range of the aircraft through the Pacific theater when it eventually operates from Anderson Air Force Base in Guam in 2009. Three Global Hawks will enter service at Anderson in 2009 and 2010, with a complete squadron outfitted by 2014. The Air Force is talking with countries in the Pacific region about the possibilities of establishing such "gas and go" stations to supplement the operating capabilities of the Global Hawk. Global Hawks already can remain airborne for up to 28 hours at altitudes of 60,000 feet.

11/03/2006 India's Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) announced that it desires to partner with overseas companies to collaborate and possible produce unmanned aircraft. Hindustan Aeronautics has sent information to companies in the United States, United Kingdom, Singapore, Italy, South Africa, Israel and France about developing a partnership so that a family of unmanned aircraft can be built that includes high- and medium-altitude aircraft (HALE/MALE), unmanned combat aircraft and short-range micro unmanned aircraft. The HALE/MALE aircraft would be capable of ISR and target acquisition as well as meteorological operations and communications/data relay. The aircraft must be all-weather capable and have a payload capacity of up to 500 kilograms, which may include carriage of guided weapons. Automatic takeoff and landing, low radar and acoustic signatures and night operations are also required. The unmanned combat aircraft will be developed for deep penetration missions and suppression of enemy air defenses. The UCAV will operate at a maximum speed of 1,000 kilometers per hour and have a range of up to 2,000 kilometers. The micro unmanned aircraft will be developed for over-the-hill reconnaissance, surveillance and law enforcement operations, have a range of up to 50 kilometers, a top speed of 150 kilometers per hour and an endurance as long as 120 minutes. Currently, Indian Defence Forces operate the Israeli-built Herons and Searcher-I and -II aircraft, as well as India-built Nishants and Lakshya aircraft. The IDF believes that their country will require at least 250 additional unmanned aircraft over the next ten years.

11/01/2006 The Israeli Air Force has shot down two of four Hizbollah unmanned aircraft launched at Israel over the summer. The Hizbollah unmanned aircraft were Iranian-built Ababils. Officials believe that at least two of the Ababils were carrying at least ten kilograms of explosives and that one may have been carrying up to fifty kilograms of explosives. One of the Ababils exploded shortly after takeoff and may have been the one carrying the 50 kilograms of explosives. Another got through into Israeli airspace, but then crashed south of the Lebanon border. The other two were shot down by Israeli Air Force F-16Cs armed with Python-5 dogfighting missiles. The F-16s engaged the Ababils at very low altitude, very close range and very low airspeed. The F-16 pilots stated they could actually see the small unmanned aircraft. They locked and fired their missiles, which immediately curved directly to the targets, blasting them from the sky in a matter of seconds. Wreckage from one of the Ababils was recovered revealing the 10 kilograms of explosives. Israeli officials believe the unmanned aircraft was headed to Tel Aviv and that the engagement thwarted a potentially deadly attack in the city. IAF officials stated that after the first two airspace penetrations by unmanned aircraft earlier this year, the IAF changed their fighter tactics to better adapt to UAV type threats. The new tactics worked much better, but officials cautioned that the IAF will continue to improve its tactics to ensure that no further airspace penetrations occur and guarantee shoot-downs.

10/30/2006 The U.S. Air Force will launch a study into the future use and mission of medium-altitude unmanned aircraft at the request of Air Force Chief of Staff General Moseley. Currently the General Atomics Predator almost exclusively handles mission segments at medium altitude, but General Moseley would like the service to investigate more closely the operational concept of unmanned aircraft operations above 3,000 feet. The study should more closely define the use of unmanned aircraft and is aimed at determining the future size and shape of the USAF unmanned aircraft force.

10/29/2006 The Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) of Great Britain has notified the United States Congress of its intent to purchase two General Atomic's Predator B unmanned aircraft and a mobile ground station for $77 million. The decision is based on Britain's desire to enhance the surveillance capabilities of British forces operating in southern Afghanistan. British RAF personnel have worked with a U.S. Predator squadron in the past, learning the systems capabilities. The British purchase of the Predators would mark the first exclusive operation of an advanced unmanned aircraft system by Britain.

10/26/2006 BAE Systems announced that its Herti unmanned aircraft will take part in military excercises at the U.K. Royal Air Force Air Warfare Center. BAE and the RAFAWC UAV Battlelab will use the Herti unmanned aircraft to conduct increasingly more difficult missions to further define roles for unmanned aircraft.

10/23/2006 The Israeli Air Force (IAF) is exceptionally pleased with the performance of its unmanned aircraft during the Summer 2006 Lebanon War. During the conflict, the IAF used its Hermes 450S, Searcher-2 and Shoval (Heron-1) unmanned aircraft to play an extensive role in its Boost Phase Launch Intercept (BPLI) force, a tightly-linked network of manned and unmanned assets designed to search, locate and destroy mobile and medium-range missile launchers operated by Hizbollah. Officials agreed that their air operations against Hizbollah displayed an unprecedented use of an airborne network against buried and nearly undetectable targets. Swarming unmanned aircraft occupied the skies 24 hours a day and were used to immediately identify mobile missile launchers as soon as they appeared on a balcony or out from hiding. IAF officials admitted that in the first night of the war nearly a dozen medium-range mobile missile launchers were destroyed and that by the third night the BPLI force was operating even more efficiently, destroying over 100 missile launchers over the course of the 30-plus day war. The unmanned aircraft accumulated over 16,000 hours of flight time. Eighty percent of the missions were reconnaissance and aerial intelligence. It was the first large-scale use of unmanned aircraft for ISR and target identification and greatly assisted in directing and delivering smart munitions for the destruction of the highly mobile and well-hidden targets. Officials marveled at the incredible reduction in sensor-to-shooter times - sometimes less than 1 minute - and praised the manufacturers of the unmanned aircraft for providing such capable systems. Some IAF officials believe that the Summer 2006 Lebanon War marked a turning point in unmanned aircraft warfare, because the BPLI force was able to demonstrate a near-instantaneous ability to knock out small hidden targets as soon as they popped up. Not only was the capability to knock out targets an unprecedented first, but the capability to share huge volumes of information between manned or unmanned aircraft flying simultaneously over the battlefield was also an unprecedented first. Credit goes to Elbit Systems for its Hermes 450S and Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) for its Searcher-2 and Heron-1 unmanned aircraft.

10/21/2006 The U.S. Department of Homeland Security awarded a $67 million contract to a team headed by Boeing to secure a portion of the U.S. - Mexico border in Arizona. The section of border is only 28 miles long, but has a lot of action. Under the contract, SBInet will build portable sensor- and camera-equipped towers along the border and integrate small, man-portable, unmanned aircraft to essentially construct a virtual fence of security. The contract is the first part of a three-year contract in Homeland Security's Secure Border Intitiative program, intended to secure the borders between the United States, Canada and Mexico with integrated technology.

10/18/2006 Unmanned aircraft may soon have another improvement to onboard sensor technology. Researchers at the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology have created a microwave oscillator that is smaller and produces a clearer signal at single frequencies than previous oscillators. The researchers believe the microwave oscillator will have application to unmanned aircraft in high-resolution digital imaging radar. The improved oscillator is able produce the desired frequency while at the same time suppressing the random electronic noise that is typically generated from its own components. Researchers have built five prototypes of the microwave oscillators so far. Other applications may include telecommunications and homeland security applications where surveillance of radio traffic is used.

10/16/2006 Australia is using a Mariner unmanned aircraft demonstrator to conducts maritime surveillance flights along Australia's North West Shelf. The flights are actually test flights that will determine the maritime capabilities of an unmanned aircraft when operating in a joint integrated surveillance capacity with Aussie Armidale-class patrol boats. The flight tests began on September 1 and will include a modeling and simulation exercise in October 2006.

10/13/2006 The Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) and Eglin Air Force Base in Florida and the Air Force Materiel Command's Battlefield Airmen Systems Program Office at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio are working together to procure a new unmanned aircraft for U.S. special forces. The new aircraft is called the Battlefield Air Targeting Micro Air Vehicle (BATMAV) and is small enough to fit inside a backpack. So far, Army forces use a hand-launched aircraft called the RQ-11 Raven for reconnaissance flights, but the Air Force wants an aircraft much smaller so that all of the equipment for the entire unmanned aircraft system can be carried by a single combat controller in the field. The aircraft would be used to relay video and target information to commanders for target prosecution by attack aircraft or artillery. The aircraft would then assess damage to the target and report that information also. Each BATMAV aircraft would be capable of flying preprogrammed waypoints and returning to its launch location. The Air Force intends to purchase over 300 of the systems over the next few years.

10/11/2006 The Sierra Nevada Corporation successfully used its Autonomous Airborne Refueling Demonstration (AARD) system to perform the first completely autonomous air-to-air refueling of an unmanned aircraft on August 30 at Edwards Air Force Base in California. The test used a NASA F/A-18 Hornet integrated with GPS-based navigation and an optical tracker to place the refueling probe of the Hornet in the refueling basket of a 707-300 tanker aircraft. OCTEC provided the optical tracker for the system and Omega Aerial Refueling Services provided the tanker aircraft. The Hornet carried a safety pilot and flight test engineer to monitor the autonomous refueling operation as it took place. The successful test flight was the seventh flight of eight flights planned for the AARD program, scheduled to last for approximately 15 months. The AARD program is a joint effort between DARPA and the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center and is intended to develop the ability for unmanned aircraft to autonomously locate, join formation, refuel and disengage with airborne tanker aircraft.

10/07/2006 A hurdle that has continued to hamper the progress of unmanned aircraft flight in the National Airspace System (NAS) is the ability for unmanned aircraft to sense or see other aircraft and avoid collisions. Manned aircraft have a pilot onboard that can scan the area ahead, see another aircraft and take appropriate action to avoid a collision. Manned aircraft are also in communication with air traffic controllers - especially at higher altitudes - and are warned about traffic conflicts. But unmanned and remotely piloted aircraft do not have the same capability as manned aircraft, even if they are in communication with controllers and use real-time, forward-look video. While much progress is being made, forward-look video at this time still cannot replace a pilot's eyes and reflexes because the downlinked video does not always present a total pilot's view, is flawed by latency issues and can be disrupted by interference. Additionally, unmanned aircraft pilots would still be required to take evasive action (after alert from a controller), even when operating in the clouds. But a breakthrough may be on the horizon. Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, Massachusetts believe that magnetism may hold the key to sense and avoid characteristics for unmanned aircraft. Birds, fish and insects use magnetic fields to help keep them from bumping into each other during flight or while swimming in a school. Scientists at MIT believe that if a magnetic field can be generated around the UAV, it may be used to mimic the same capabilities that nature provides to certain animals. Not only do scientists believe it is possible, but they believe the technology would also be much simpler because each aircraft would not need to have any information from a different aircraft, as many of the sense-and-avoid techniques have used so far. When a magnetic field is "disturbed", the disturbance generates the appropriate commands to the aircraft to avoid further "disturbances". In this way, larger numbers of unmanned aircraft could fly similar flight profiles - much like formation flights - and still avoid collisions with each other because each aircraft "thinks" for itself to avoid collisions while the autopilot continues to fly the flight path programmed. Sounds like a winner idea!

10/05/2006 Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology successfully flew an unmanned aircraft with a 22 foot wingspan on a hydrogen fuel cell using compressed hydrogen. The aircraft only flew four flights that each lasted up to about 1 minute at an altitude no greater than 10 feet above the ground using a proton exchange membrane fuel cell that can generate up to 500 watts of power. Electrical current is produced when the compressed hydrogen is mixed with oxygen and converted into water. Researchers are interested in such fuel cells because of their high power density, which equates to endurance for a small unmanned aircraft. The high power density and increased endurance could be used to provide slower, high flying unmanned aircraft that could operate as cost-effective replacements for satellites. Missions could include standard ISR, weather-tracking and border patrol. The hydrogen fuel cell UAV project is a joint project between the Georgia Tech Research Institute and the Georgia Tech Aerospace Systems Design Laboratory.

10/01/2006 Italy is working to refine its balance formulas for unmanned aircraft and manned aircraft. But Italian defense officials also disclosed that manned aircraft operations are a requirement for their country and will never be replaced by unmanned aircraft, especially for intricate strike operations such as the ones flown in Yugoslavia and Kosovo. However, officials add that they do intend to use unmanned aircraft for increasingly complex roles. Some of Italy's manned C-130J aircraft will be configured as tankers for slower moving aircraft such as helicopters and special forces aircraft - and eventually unmanned aircraft. Officials are also confident that their unmanned aircraft will someday be armed with weapons and also operated (flown) directly from the same C-130J aerial refueling aircraft, providing added capabilities for unmanned aircraft and increasing/extending their peristence.

09/29/2006 The United Kingdom is nearing a go-ahead for its full-scale unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV) program. The UCAV program is based on the British government's Defense Industrial Strategy (December 2005) that outlines why such a program is necessary. The UCAV program is intended to maintain in-country aeronautical engineering and design capabilities that are necessary to support future fixed-wing aircraft operations, as well as provide a means to make informed decisions on a manned/unmanned aircraft ratio for the UCAV force mix. In addition to unmanned strike operations, the UCAV program will explore low-observable aircraft in strategic, long endurance ISR roles. BAE Systems initiated most of the classified work on the program with the introduction of the Raven and Corax sub-scale demonstrator aircraft. But as the UCAV program receives its go-ahead, aircraft built under the program will all be full-scale. Additionally, while the program was once open to outside technology, U.K. officials now maintain that they may keep all of the UCAV work in-country. Other companies involved in the program thus far include Qinetiq (defense technology), Rolls Royce (engines) and Smiths (avionics and control systems). The UCAV program will also investigate stealthy engine design and low-observable applications of antennas, apertures and access doors. A go-ahead decision on the British UCAV program will be made as soon as funding issues are resolved between the government and industry.

09/26/2006 The Pentagon is deciding whether imagery from satellites is comparable to imagery from a U-2 spyplane. The U-2's are slated for retirement as Block 20 Global Hawks are readied to take their place. But the Block 20 Global Hawks won't be ready for a few more years, and officials are deciding if imagery from orbiting satellites could be used as an acceptable replacement for high-fidelity imagery collected from the earth's atmosphere. Officials are not sure if satellites can provide the proper look angles - not to mention the element of suprise - that a spyplane can provide. If satellite imagery is acceptable, the U-2s could be phased out early to save money and the satellite imagery used as an interim measure. But the move to eliminate the U-2 might be a gamble if satellite imagery does not measure up, as the service would be left without a U-2 or a Global Hawk until the Block 20 Global Hawks arrive.

09/24/2006 Canada is looking to purchase more Sperwer unmanned tactical aircraft to support its operations in Afghanistan. The announcement comes from Sagam officials who believe the aircraft will enter Canada's inventory within the next few months. While the exact configuration of the aircraft is not known, Sagem officials believe that the aircraft could be delivered in either of its current configurations that include the basic "A" version and the high-capacity "B" version. Earlier this year Canada purchased ten Sperwers from Denmark at a cost of $6.8 million to supplement the eleven aircraft it already was using in Afghanistan.

09/22/2006 Elbit Systems of Israel has formed an agreement with Poland's Bumar and RADWAR Scientific Industrial Center of Professional Electronics to build unmanned aircraft in Poland. Specifically, the Hermes 450, Skylark I and Skylark II will be built. The cooperative agreement allows the unmanned aircraft to be produced in Poland under license to Elbit. Bumar officials state that the aircraft will be used by the Polish Army, police, border police and fire brigade.

09/20/2006 U.S. Air Force Predators have been given the nod by the Federal Aviation Administration to fulfill disaster relief operations in the future, when necessary. Initially, the Air Force wanted to deploy Predators in the Louisiana and Mississippi areas following Hurricate Katrina, but the FAA disallowed the operation, citing safety issues. The Air Force then proposed a new agreement with the FAA inwhich the FAA and USAF would cooperate to set aside airspace for the remotely piloted aircraft to fly in. Other aircraft operating in that area would give right-of-way to the Predator. The FAA liked the idea and gave approval for the operation. The Air Force currently has four MQ-1 Predator aircraft containerized at Creech Air Force Base and ready to deploy at a moment's notice. The aircraft would deploy aboard a C-17 and operate from a designated airfield up to 150 miles from the disaster site. Pilots would fly the aircraft during its mission from Nellis AFB, but the takeoff and landing phases would be flown by pilots at the forward airfield. Operating four Predators will permit 24 hour-a-day coverage of an area. Air Force officials state that for disaster relief missions, the aircraft fall under the 1st Air Force chain of command.

09/18/2006 In a move adverse to the continuing use of remotely piloted aircraft, the Israeli Air Force has stated that it will curb its use of unmanned reconnaissance and strike aircraft in order to sustain the operation of its manned aircraft fleet in greater numbers and for a longer period of time. The move is based on current assessments of battle operations in the theater which, military officials say, indicate that manned aircraft are less reliant on a network for functionality and consequently are able to be reconstituted more quickly than their unmanned counterparts. Officials also state that unmanned aircraft and the sophisticated computer/electronic network that operate them are very susceptible to electronic attack such as an airborne nuclear detonation. Such a detonation would render the aircraft near useless. Total reliance on either manned or unmanned assets is a mistake. So IAF officials are restructuring their future forces to maximize the effectiveness of each type of asset and grow their forces in numbers that are proportionally correct. The IAF began using the Heron (built by Israeli Aircraft Industries) in July 2006 for operation. The aircraft has already conducted strikes on Hizbollah and infrastructure targets in Lebanon. Israeli aerospace officials state that Israel will field an unmanned aircraft purposely designed to carry missiles within 18 months.

09/16/2006 BAE Systems has announced it will purchase Massachusetts-based National Sensor Systems (NSS) for $8.7 million. BAE officials state that the purchase will allow their company to expand its role in communications, electronic warfare and airborne sensors.

09/14/2006 BAE Systems was awarded $47 million from the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency to develop a surveillance and targeting system that can rapidly identify battlefield threats and enhance the decision-making capabilities of intelligence analysts. The new system, called the Global Net-Centric Surveillance and Targeting System, is based on the web and interfaces through a secure computer network. The system uses complex algorithms to process and fuze real-time sensor data together once the data is collected, resulting in faster processing times and reduced workload for analysts. The system may become operational in approximately 15 months.

09/12/2006 Northrop Grumman has validated the new, larger wing design for its Global Hawk with completion of load testing. The new wing withstood 132% of the anticipated load before failing during the final tests, which was 7% greater than the anticipated failure load of 125%. Vought Aircraft builds the new Block 20 wings for the Global Hawk, subcontracted under Northrop Grumman. The wing was increased in size so that the Global Hawk could carry more payload - a requirement driven by the Air Force that ultimately led to a cost overrun on the program. The Air Force admitted that their accelerated fielding strategy caused the overrun in cost and awarded Northrop an additional $5.87 million to remedy the situation. The Global Hawk is in high demand for combat intelligence-gathering missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. Load tests are continuing on the fuselage of the aircraft and will culminate in a destructive test of the fuselage similar to the wing load test later this year.

09/08/2006 University of Florida undergraduate student Daniel Grant was awarded the AIAA/Calspan Best Student Paper Award for his paper titled Flight Dynamics of a Morphing Aircraft Utilizing Independent Multiple-Joint Wing Sweep. The paper explores the design and analysis of micro air vehicles (MAVs) that utilize jointed wing structures similar to the bone structure of a seagull. Flight testing and computational analysis was performed that demonstrated an asymmetric morphing configuration capable of maximizing sensor pointing even in high crosswind situations. Mr. Grant will receive his Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering in December 2006.

09/05/2006 British research firm QinetiQ has completed an 18 hour test flight of its Zephyr unmanned aircraft at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. The lightweight electric-powered aircraft uses rechargeable batteries and a solar array to maintain flight, charging the batteries during the day and using the batteries at night. During the 18-hour flight, the Zephyr climbed on solar power and reached a maximum altitude of 36,000 feet. Two other Zephyr aircraft were used in the flight testing and demonstrated various payload capabilities that included communications relay and EO/IR sensors. The goal of the Zephyr program is to operate for months at a time at altitudes in excess of 50,000 feet.

08/24/2006 The Association for Unmanned Vehicles Systems International (AUVSI) will hold its annual Unmanned Systems North America conference at the Gaylord Palms Resort and Convention Center in Orlando, Florida from 29-31 August 2006. This year's show promises to be the largest ever. Our news updates will stop for a period of about 7 days during this time. See you all there!

08/23/2006 Composite Engineering of Sacramento, California has been awarded a $15 million contract from the Air Armament Center at Eglin AFB in Florida to build 38 Air Force Subscale Aerial Targets (AFSAT). The work is scheduled for completion by February 2008.

08/22/2006 AAI recently received two valuable contracts from the U.S. Army. The first is an $87 million contract to provide nine Shadow 200 Tactical Unmanned Aircraft Systems (TUAS). Each system includes four advanced RQ-7B Shadow 200 aircraft, two One System Ground Control Stations, and associated components and support equipment. Deliveries begin in April 2007 and extend through March 2008. The second contract is for $65.6 million and includes contractor logistics support for the Shadow.

08/21/2006 The Aerosonde company of Australia recently set an unofficial endurance record for unmanned aircraft by flying its Aerosonde MK4 for 38 hours and 48 minutes. The flight was conducted from the Aerosonde test facility in Victoria. Company officials pointed to modifications of the EFI engine, aircraft weight reductions and aerodynamic efficiency improvements as the prime reasons that the aircraft was able to fly for so long. The improvements are available to all MK4 aircraft already. Aerosonde officials state an in-house endurance goal of 48 hours for the aircraft.

08/20/2006 Ice Management Systems of Temecula, California has received a contract from General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. of San Diego, California to provide in-flight ice protection systems for the U.S. Army's Warrior Extended Range/Multi-Purpose (ER/MP) unmanned aircraft program. The contract amount was not disclosed. Ice Management Systems has licensed the Electro-Expulsive De-icing System (EEDS) technology from NASA and states that the highly effective, light-weight, low-power system is available to the both the unmanned and manned aircraft industries.

08/19/2006 NextGen Aeronautics has developed a morphing wing design that recently was fitted to an MFX-1 unmanned aircraft. The aircraft was flown with the new wing at the Camp Roberts flight test range in California. The wing can change area, chord, sweep and aspect ratio in order to improve efficiencies in high-speed and low-speed flight regimes. In the flight test, the wing area changed a total of 40%, sweep was altered between 15 degrees and 35 degrees, and the span was changed by 30%. NextGen Aeronautics plans to flight test a larger, improved morphing wing design in January 2007.

08/18/2006 The Air National Guard is beginning to transition to unmanned aircraft and leadership within the organization has already identified some areas of concern for its mission along the U.S./Mexico border. It turns out that certain civil liberties statutes prevent the Air Guard from collecting information on individuals by using military intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance equipment (such as a Predator). But if a civilian agency requests the surveillance, the operation is legal. Guard units must train on the aircraft first, but there are plans already underway to make the training flights dual-purpose by carrying out border patrol missions while conducting training. The ANG intends to purchase Predator A models for now, in order to save cost while leadership further defines the unmanned mission.

08/17/2006 Australia has indicated that it will decide by the summer of 2007 whether it will cooperate with the U.S. Navy on the requirements for an unmanned, high-altitude surveillance aircraft as part of the Navy's Broad Area Maritime Surveillance program. The Australian government had already decided to formally discuss potential cooperative agreements with the Pentagon. Australian officials believe that a long-endurance, high-altitude unmanned aircraft could support their coastal surveillance missions currently flown by the manned AP-3C aircraft. The support would reduce the number of missions flown by the AP-3C, thereby extending the service life the aging aircraft's airframe to 2015-2018.

08/16/2006 The U.S. Air Force has received a total of six Global Hawks so far and is now looking to maximize its fleet with possible sharing agreements with other countries. The idea, proposed by Singapore, Thailand, Australia and Japan, is to develop a pool of Global Hawk aircraft and base the aircraft in the Pacific region at Anderson AFB in Guam. Singapore, Thailand, Australia and Japan would become "member" nations and could use the aircraft when required. The countries could also provide additional aircraft as their budgets permit, thus improving the size and capabilities of the Global Hawk pool. The idea is similar to NATO's common E-3 AWACS fleet.

08/15/2006 The U.S. Navy is conducting tests of the Guardian Griffin unmanned aircraft, a powered paraglider built by engineers at the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Virginia. The demonstrator aircraft is fitted with cameras, a laser designator and a simulated machine gun, making it an armed paraglider. Engineers state that the aircraft may be launched at sea or from the ground, and even hint at an airborne launch from a mothership - possibly a C-130. Stability is the number one design feature, which allows operators to focus on sensor and weapon systems. Navy officials believe the aircraft could be used to support convoy-escort and port security operations.

08/14/2006 The Australian government announced that the Royal Australian Navy will test the operation of an unmanned aircraft in conjunction with an Armidale-class patrol boat off the northwestern coast of Australia in September. The test will determine if an unmanned aircraft can operate with patrol boats and provide a surveillance capability to Navy personnel. Also participating in the test is the Australian Defence Science and Technology Organization, the Royal Australian Air Force, the Australian Army and the Joint Offshore Protection Command. General Atomics is providing the unmanned aircraft in the form of either a Predator B or Mariner. Australian officials believe the test will help define enhancements to security of the North West Shelf region. Current security threats in the region include illegal fishing and drug- and people-smuggling.

08/13/2006 The operation and acquisition of unmanned aircraft in Iraq is being reviewed by both U.S. and British militaries after operational experiences highlighted both positive and negative areas of interest with the aircraft. Frequency spectrum issues continue to be a major problem source to operations, as the numerous types of aircraft, operating on various frequencies, exacerbates an already-full spectrum. Add to that the NATO and European militaries, and the problem is further compounded. The British Army operation of its Phoenix UAV was essentially shut down due to frequency interference problems on the command and control frequency of the aircraft. A total of ten mission aborts of the Phoenix UAV took place over a period of twelve months due to loss of command link. Once frequency interference causes the loss of command link, the Phoenix UAV immediately enters a recovery mode. While the actual interference problems were fully investigated, British forces were never able to accurately identify the interference source. One suspected source included a synthetic aperture radar being operated by friendly aircraft.

Fuel issues are also playing a role, as most aircraft still are using gasoline instead of diesel fuel. In one occurrence, the Army's Shadow unmanned aircraft encountered engine problems because it was using fuel obtained from Iraq stations. The fuel was intended for automobiles and in addition to being dirty, lacked consistency in octane levels. The problem was temporarily solved by using only aviation octane gasoline for the aircraft. The long-term solution is to convert to diesel fuel.

Other areas of interest that are helping to improve acquisition and operation of unmanned aircraft systems include payload capability improvements, defining operational equipment requirements based on hours flown, and tactical planning requirements.

08/12/2006 Vought Aircraft Industries, designer and manufacturer of the larger, improved wing for Northrop's Global Hawk, recently completed the down-bending load limit tests for the Global Hawk Block 20 aircraft. The test flexed the wing downward to 150% of the planned limit. The up-bending tests will take place in September 2006, followed by ultrasonic testing and complete failure testing.

08/11/2006 The U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency recently approved the sale of Shadow unmanned aircraft systems to Poland. The sale, valued at approximately $73 million, will include eight aircraft with EO sensors, plus support equipment. The Shadow unmanned aircraft is built by the AAI Corporation.

08/10/2006 The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has announced the purchase of two Predator B unmanned aircraft for the Customs and Border Protection unit. The General Atomics-built aircraft will conduct surveillance flights along the U.S./Mexico border to supplement the efforts of Border Patrol agents. The purchase also included five EC-120 light-observation helicopters built by American Eurocopter.

08/09/2006 As the U.S. Air Force concludes a review of its Long-Range Strike (LRS) needs, manufacturers in the field are trying to decide what capabilities will be required once the review is complete. Unmanned aircraft are definite players, however an indication from USAF Chief of Staff General Moseley was that the requirement may field a manned version first, followed by an unmanned version. Unmanned systems are having "selling" trouble because of their cost. Originally thought to be low-cost solutions, the unmanned aircraft are so far perceived as being expensive. Consequently, large developers such as Lockheed Martin, Northrop, Boeing are investigating both manned and unmanned solutions for LRS. The LRS review has designated 2018 for initial operational capability of either a new or modified platform. Capabilities considerations for LRS include manned, unmanned, subsonic and supersonic aircraft. Aircraft and/or programs under investigation by various developers include the B-2, the X-45, the X-47, the newly released Polecat demonstrator and a modified version of the F-22.

08/08/2006 The British Defense Ministry has issued an urgent operational requirement (UOR) for persistent surveillance capabilities and possibly air-to-surface strike capabilities for its operations in Afghanistan that some officials believe is aimed at acquisition of the General Atomics Predator B unmanned aircraft. The British government has a force of approximately 3,500 troops in Afghanistan that is meeting exceptionally heavy resistance from Taliban supporters - possibly the impetus for such an acquisition. While the UOR seems to focus on performance attributes of the Predator B, the British Defense Ministry has also approached Northrop Grumman, BAE Systems and Thales for proposals. BAE Systems has its Herti UAV and Thales has its Watchkeeper UAV-based ISR program that uses the Hermes 450. Northrop has its Global Hawk, however it is unclear as to whether the UOR intended to use such an aircraft, except for a requirement to operate above 25,000 feet. The release of the UOR is the third time that the British Defense Ministry has attempted to procure an unmanned aicraft surveillance platform.

08/07/2006 The Pentagon is beginning work on its new unmanned system roadmap, scheduled for release in the summer or fall of 2007. The roadmap normally focuses on unmanned aircraft systems, but the latest version will now include information for unmanned ground vehicles and unmanned sea systems. The document is released every two years and the Pentagon hopes to release a collective version of the document that includes all types of unmanned systems by 2009. By building on the theory of unmanned systems as a whole, the Pentagon hopes to provide a clearer picture for the transition and development of a single type of control station that may be used to control any type of unmanned vehicle, whether it flies, submerges or drives on the ground.

08/06/2006 Northrop Grumman has received a $90 million contract from the U.S. Air Force to develop and integrate a new airborne surveillance radar on its Global Hawk. Working in conjunction with Raytheon, Northrop will develop and produce the radar under the Multi-Platform Radar Technology Insertion Program (MP-RTIP), which is an advanced air-to-surface/air-to-air radar that can provide long-range, high-resolution synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images, as well as provide moving ground target tracking and air target tracking indications. The goal of the MP-RTIP program is to improve time-critical targeting, which includes combat target identification and target tracking. The Air Force contract provides for the complete integration of the new radar to the Global Hawk. Northrop recently began testing of the pod that will house the radar by flying the pod aboard the Proteus test aircraft. During the 3.5 hour flight test, the Proteus flew the pod to 47,000 feet at speeds up to 150 knots to test aerodynmanic effects on the pod. Northrop expects to fly the actual radar, integrated within the pod, on the Proteus aircraft later this year. Northrop, the prime contractor for MP-RTIP, predicts that the combination of the radar with the Global Hawk unmanned aircraft will achieve the goals of MP-RTIP and provide an airborne platform capable of persistent ground surveillance and accurate target location and identification.

08/05/2006 Boeing Integrated Defense Systems of St. Louis has completed the first autonomous flight test of its Persistent Munition Technology Demonstrator (PMTD) at the Vandalia Municipal Airport in Illinois. The aircraft was developed by Boeing to demonstrate emerging technologies through incremental upgrades and flight demonstration phases. The PMTD is a canard-style, pusher aircraft with a fixed tricycle landing gear. The 60 pound aircraft has a twelve foot wingspan and is designed to loiter for long periods of time. In the autonomous flight test, the PMTD flew to fourteen preprogrammed waypoints and changed altitude and airspeeds at various times during the flight. Successful demonstration of autonomous flight capabilities was the first phase of the PMTD program. Future phases will focus on sensor integration, munition dispensing and possibly in-flight aerial refueling.

08/04/2006 Iran denies that it is supplying Hizbollah with weaponry, including unmanned aircraft. But intelligence officials have concluded that unmanned aircraft used by Hizbollah for reconnaissance and as weapons are the Iranian-built Mohajer 4 and Mohajer 2. The two types of unmanned aircraft are built in Iran and use Chinese and Russian technology. The Mohajer 4 has a surveillance range of 200 kilometers, a maximum ceiling of 18,000 feet and an endurance of the nearly 6 hours. Slightly smaller, the Mohajer 2 has a surveillance range of 50 kilometers, a maximum ceiling of 11,000 feet and an endurance of 90 minutes. The Mohajer 4 is used to carry high explosives as a sort of suicidal unmanned flying bomb.

08/03/2006 The U.S. Navy will release a request for proposals (RFP) for its Unmanned Combat Air System in August. The RFP will involve work for unmanned aircraft capabilities aboard an aircraft carrier and for aerial refueling. Northrop Grumman and Boeing are already involved in the development of the capabilities. The Northrop Grumman aircraft will undergo a critical design review during August.

08/02/2006 Active Electronically Scanned Array Radars. Industry specialists believe that unmanned aircraft are evolving rapidly based on revolutionary new technology and will change dramatically in shape and size from the current proposed shapes of the Boeing X-45 or Northrop Grumman X-47. Driving the change in shape and size of unmanned aircraft is the technology of active electronically scanned array radars. The multi-function capability of the new radar technology - sensor, precision targeting and directed energy - is now combining with the ability to conform to the shape of an aircraft. As the radar becomes smaller and its shape is able to conform to the shape of an aircraft, the unmanned aircraft will become smaller and shaped more like missiles. The smaller size will make the unmanned aircraft harder to detect, thus permitting the UA to get much closer to a target. And getting close to a target is what allows the unmanned aircraft to employ its high-energy microwaves weapon technology - instead of using missiles or bombs.

07/31/2006 Qinetiq will begin work on subsystems of the Zephyr High Altitude Long Endurance (HALE) unmanned aircraft - specifically the flight controls and power systems of the Zephyr aircraft - to improve endurance beyond just days to weeks and even months. Qinetiq will also develop new, ultralight payload sensors for the aircraft, as well as a desktop simulator for operator training. The Zephyr unmanned aircraft is a conventional twin-engine (electric motors/props) unmanned aircraft designed for economical and continuous high altitude operation. The aircraft incorporates solar cells and rechargeable batteries to operate at altitudes above 60,000 feet. During the day, batteries and solar power permit the aircraft to stay aloft. During the night, excess stored electricity from the day is used to keep the aircraft aloft in a slow descent, generally staying above 50,000 feet. Once solar power is again available, the aircraft climbs back above 60,000 feet. It is believed the process can continue indefinitely, as long as weather does not inhibit the flight. The Zephyr is conducting test flights at the White Sands Missile Test Range in New Mexico.

07/30/2006 Austrian company Diamond Aircraft - in conjunction with Rheinmetall Defense Electronics of Germany - is taking its manned, twin-engine DA42 aircraft and developing it into an unmanned - or more specifically, and "optionally-piloted" - surveillance aircraft known as the DA42 Multi-Purpose Platform (MPP). The aircraft will be offered either as a sensor platform, where clients would install their own sensor packages, or as a complete system that includes all sensors and is flight ready for ISR missions. In the piloted version, the DA42 can carry up to two pilots and a sensor operator. The DA42 has a maximum range of approximately 1,500 nautical miles with a maximum airspeed of 152 knots. Endurance is as high as 18 hours on station and is maximized when operating in the pilotless mode. The optionally piloted mode of operation was chosen for the DA42 MPP because of national airspace limitations currently in place for unmanned aircraft. By having an aircraft that can fly either with or without a pilot, Diamond Aircraft hopes to achieve an edge in the unmanned aircraft market because its DA42 MPP can operate unmanned, but can easily be ferried between operational areas without any restriction.

07/29/2006 Lockheed Martin has unveiled a completely new unmanned aircraft called the P-175 Polecat at the Farnborough International Airshow. The stealthy-looking flying-wing aircraft is a product of the famed Skunk Works department at Lockheed and is designed to prepare for the company to compete for next-generation ISR aircraft and the U.S. Air Force's future unmanned, long-range strike aircraft - possibly a multi-billion dollar program. Lockheed officials indicated that the Polecat has already flown and incorporates new production techniques and composite materials - including a parts count less than 200 - that reduce overall production costs. Of interest is the use of new composite materials and adhesives that use less heat during post-cure and also do not require the use of autoclaves during the cure process. The 9,000 pound aircraft is 98% composite, has a 90 foot wingspan and is designed to fly at altitudes of up to 65,000 feet, though it has not yet accomplished such a flight. The Polecat can carry up to 1,000 pounds of payload between its two Williams International FJ44-3E engines. Lockheed Martin developed the Polecat in less than 18 months at a cost of over $30 million company dollars.

07/28/2006 In June 2006, Boeing completed the first unmanned test flight of its "Little Bird" unmanned helicopter at the Yuma Proving Grounds in Yuma, Arizona. The 20-minute test flight included lift off, hover and an "armed" ISR mission that culminated in a landing within six inches of the intended recovery spot. The flight test marked the first time in a two year test program that the Little Bird helicopter flew without a safety pilot on board. Boeing's Little Bird program uses a modified MD-530F helicopter and is designed to validate the performance of an autonomous autopilot/flight control system that can be incorporated into any manned aircraft. The system includes a ground control station, sensor package and integrated weapons capabilities.

07/27/2006 Also, BAE Systems unveiled its HERTI unmanned aircraft to the public for the first time at the Farnborough International Airshow in July. The HERTI (High Endurance Rapid Technology Insertion) autonomous unmanned aircraft will be used for civilian and military applications and is the end result of a series of unmanned aircraft technology demonstrator programs that involved the Soarer, Kestrel, Raven (not the AeroVironment aircraft) and Corax. Company officials note that the HERTI is a designed to be a reusable asset for battlefield commanders rather than an expendable asset and emphasize the HERTI UAV as a complete system.

07/26/2006 Officials within the French navy are mulling over their plans for a future tactical, long-endurance unmanned aircraft. The future unmanned aircraft is intended for overwater use and may even carry weapons. However, navy planners are evaluating their capabilities for such an unmanned aircraft, especially its ability to interact with other unmanned assets and whether or not the aircraft or its components can fulfill similar roles in the French army, which could lead to a "single system" for both services. Consequently, the navy and army will begin a 12-18 month study that will evaluate commonality elements for unmanned systems between the two services. The type of aircraft is a major evaluation point, as the navy believes it will pursue rotary-type aircraft and the army so far could go either way, fixed-wing or rotary. (Navy officials believe that army operations should utilize rotary-wing aircraft also, based on the current urban warfare environment.) Automatic takeoff and landing capabilities are also required for the navy version because their rotary-wing operations will include takeoff and landings from navy ships. Payloads also play a role - the army payload requirement is significantly different than the navy payload requirement. Navy officials need a lightweight, compact surveillance radar for tactical operations, but may also carry anti-mine, data relay, bouys and target identification equipment. Finally, armament is being considered for the aircraft. Light cannons and antiship missiles are under consideration, as well as other types of missiles. French navy officials believe that as the details are worked out with each element of the unmanned system, they should be able to field a fully operational system by 2014 - the same time that France's FREMM multimission frigate will enter service. The FREMM frigate will use unmanned aircraft as a replacement for France's current Panther helicopters, which operate from frigates, carriers and command landing ships.

07/25/2006 EADS Defense & Security is consolidating a total of 2,500 employees from seven different business units around Paris to a single facility in Elancourt in order to increase the efficiency of their operation and lower costs. The move, which begins in November of 2006, will combine multiple divisions within EADS, including unmanned aircraft, homeland security, communications, defense electronics, test equipment and EADS's Netcos battlefield laboratory. EADS officials state the moves will be complete by March 2007.

07/24/2006 A Canadian satellite and information technology firm, MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates (MDA), plans to emphasize its defense business initiatives while expanding its operations in the United States. The company already receives a large part of its revenue from defense-related surveillance and intelligence systems. But company officials contend they can play an even larger role in the ever-expanding defense market by pursuing new contracts that parallel their current contracts. One specific desire that MDA announced is that they would like to form a teaming arrangement with Israel Aircraft Industries so that they can develop the Joint Unmanned Surveillance Target Acquisition System (JUSTAS). The JUSTAS program is funded for approximately $420 million and will provide medium-altitude unmanned aircraft for the Canadian military.

07/24/2006 A Canadian satellite and information technology firm, MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates (MDA), plans to emphasize its defense business initiatives while expanding its operations in the United States. The company already receives a large part of its revenue from defense-related surveillance and intelligence systems. But company officials contend they can play an even larger role in the ever-expanding defense market by pursuing new contracts that parallel their current contracts. One specific desire that MDA announced is that they would like to form a teaming arrangement with Israel Aircraft Industries so that they can develop the Joint Unmanned Surveillance Target Acquisition System (JUSTAS). The JUSTAS program is funded for approximately $420 million and will provide medium-altitude unmanned aircraft for the Canadian military.

07/23/2006 French aerospace company Safran lost roughly 10% of value in its shares after announcing a decrease in operating profit margin for 2006. The company states that the decline in profits is due mostly to sporadic problems with military contracts, including delays with its Sperwer tactical drone and its AASM smart bomb.

07/22/2006 Fort Benning, Georgia kicks off the 16th Annual International Aerial Robotics Competition today. The week-long competition is designed to spur new technology in aerial robotics by having competing college teams build unmanned aircraft for specific missions. Three levels of competition take place with varying degrees of difficulty, Level 3 being the most difficult. This year's competition will involve a total of twenty one teams from the United States, Canada and India. Sixteen teams will compete in the Level 1 competition, which requires the unmanned aircraft to autonomously fly a 3-kilometer course with waypoints. The Level 2 competition involves flying the same course, but also involves scanning 19 buildings, finding a designated symbol on one of the buildings and surveying all of the openings on that building. Level 3 competition includes all of the tasks from Level 1 and Level 2, but also adds the capability of searching inside the building as well. Only one team - the Georgia Institute of Technology - will compete in the Level 3 competition this year. The competition course is flown at Fort Benning's McKenna Urban Operations Complex.

07/20/2006 The Israeli Air Force is investigating ways to speed up the acquisition of new unmanned aircraft, including a new aircraft that capable of combat operations. The unmanned combat aircraft program is still classified, so specifics are not available. The IAF acquired the long-endurance Heron unmanned aircraft in 2005 and just recently began operations with the aircraft. The Heron is built by Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI).

07/18/2006 Canada is launching a major unmanned aircraft initiative known as the Joint Unmanned Surveillance, Target Acquisition System (JUSTAS) worth approximately $420 million. The program calls for purchase of a fleet of medium and high-altitude unmanned aircraft, ground stations and support equipment that will be used for domestic and international operations. United States and Israeli firms are expected to aggressively go after the lucrative contract as the specific requirements for the unmanned aircraft are defined. Officials believe the contract will call for between 10 and 18 aircraft and the operations will cover Canadian domestic and international missions in the Arctic, along coastlines and in Afghanistan. General Atomics already has teamed with General Dynamics Canada (Ottawa) and intends to compete with its Predator B aircraft. Israel Aircraft Industries plans to offer its Eagle 1 and Eagle 2 unmanned aircraft. Canadian Forces are familiar with both the Predator and the Eagle unmanned aircraft, having used both aircraft in a variety of experimental missions. The Canadian Forces are currently using the Sperwer tactical unmanned aircraft and miniature unmanned aircraft for operations in Afghanistan and Kandahar respectively. The CF has not yet purchased unmanned aircraft such as the Predator or Eagle. The JUSTAS program schedule involves a development period of approximately eight years, with full operational capability by 2012.

07/16/2006 Israel has always prided itself on its advanced military, including its unmanned assets. But the recent ambush and attack by Hizbollah commandos on its northern and southern borders has some Israeli military and security experts worried that too much attention has been devoted to advanced military hardware and that not enough attention is being given to simple, soldier training and discipline. The Hizbollah attacks included the disabling of a sensor camera and penetration of a border fence. Military experts expressed concern that the military is relying on defense technology to provide a "100%" solution to terrorist attacks and stated that even with such advanced equipment, Israel had been attacked twice with fairly straightforward tactics in scenarios that have already been predicted. Officials want to re-establish basic training and discipline of the troops so that Israel can effectively defend its borders. The advanced technology should compliment and help the primary defense tool - soldiers - to perform their job.

07/13/2006 Today the U.S. Senate approved the 2007 budget for the Department of Homeland Security. The new funding is set at $32.8 billion - an increase of $1.5 billion from this years budget. The house had already approved the budget earlier, but at only $32.1 billion. Much of the funding will be used to enhance border security in the United States. Approximately $3.9 billion will be used for customs and immigration enforcement, while $6.7 billion will be used for border protection. The differences in funding between the Senate and House versions of the budget must be resolved before final approval of the budget is made.

07/11/2006 Thailand is now developing an unmanned aircraft called "Puskin" for military use. Researchers are currently deciding on a plan to build three prototype aircraft and two working aircraft. Funding will be supplied by the Defense Ministry's Office of Research and Development and the Thailand Research fund. The first prototype is slated to fly in 2006. Thai officials also admit that the new Puskin aircraft may be used by the Bureau of Royal Rainmaking and Agricultural Aviation for rainmaking experiments.

07/10/2006 As the Farnborough air show approaches, the British Defense Ministry is trying to form a funding agreement with industry specialists for the British UCAV project. British officials are anxious to debut a UCAV demonstrator at the Farnborough air show, but the UCAV project has slowed due to negotiations with industry on each party's share of funding. BAE Systems is leading a team of companies that include Qinetiq, Rolls Royce and Smiths Aerospace for the UCAV technology demonstrator program (TDP) and has already submitted a proposal to the Defense Ministry. A go-ahead decision has not yet been received. The work conducted thus far by BAE uses technology from classified BAE Systems programs on low observable airframes and also includes technology derived from the Raven and Corax unmannned demonstrator aircraft. Qinetiq will work on development of autonomous operations for UCAVs and Rolls Royce is contributing propulsion development for UCAV, including investigations of signature management. And while the BAE-led team continues to work on the TDP, Britain is keeping the doors open to the United States with regard to technology information sharing on unmanned combat aircraft. BAE Systems is hopeful that their team will get an approval nod soon, but are also maintaining both the Raven and Corax unmanned demonstrator aircraft in ready-to-fly condition.

07/07/2006 The American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is requesting Congress to appropriate $90 million a year to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) so that they can purchase unmanned aircraft systems, beginning in Fiscal 2007. AIAA officials would also like to establish an unmanned aircraft "test area" in Alaska and Hawaii because they believe that the NOAA can use the unmanned aircraft not only for research programs, but also for National Airspace System integration investigations. Officials believe the Alaskan wilderness, combined with military bases, airfields and other operating areas, is an ideal place to test unmanned aircraft. The request also lists Hawaii's Pacific Missile Range Facility (Kauai) as a staging center for Pacific Rim missions. NOAA missions for unmanned aircraft could include homeland security, fire/flood monitoring, low and high altitude research and long-range storm observations. NOAA already uses unmanned aircraft for their research, including the General Atomics Altair, Aerosonde's Aerosonde and Advanced Ceramics Research's Silver Fox. NOAA researches like using the unmanned aircraft because they can provide continuous monitoring of exact GPS points in space of the upper atmosphere and can fly into dangerous storms without risking the lives of pilots. NOAA is currently working with NASA to further integrate unmanned aircraft technology into their programs and may eventually take an active role in unmanned aircraft system certification.

07/06/2006 The Pentagon will investigate possibilities of accelerating portions of the U.S. Army's Future Combat System (FCS) as the Army continues to review the entire program and its goals. FCS unmanned aircraft system programs that may get the nod for acceleration include a small ducted fan Class I aircraft under development by Honeywell and the Fire Scout Class IV rotorcraft under development by Northrop Grumman. Prototypes of both aircraft have flown, but improvement decisions (smaller size and noise reduction for the Honeywell aircraft and standardization and weaponization for the Northrop Grumman Fire Scout) are still being made for both aircraft. The FCS program also requires two other types of unmanned aircraft systems - a Class II and and Class III aircraft. Requirements for the two aircraft have not yet been made, but officials believe that the Army may indeed combine the requirement for two systems into a requirement for a single unmanned aircraft system that satisifies both Class II and III requirments. The move is based on a rather negative funding outlook and the fact that the Army is already operating a fairly large number of unmanned aircraft systems (such as the Shadow) that may be able to satisfy the requirement already. FCS officials are still deciding on whether to use a fixed-wing or rotarcraft version. A decision on the FCS Class II and Class III unmanned aircraft systems is due by the end of 2006. A recent cost analysis by the U.S. defense secretary's Cost Analysis Improvement Group pegged the over FCS program purchase and operating cost at over $300 billion. The FCS program is essentially a family of computer-linked weapons that includes sensors, advanced munitions, and eighteen manned and unmanned aircraft and ground vehicles

07/05/2006 The British Defense Ministry recently launched and completed its first instructional course for unmanned aircraft at Britain's Empire Test Pilots' School (ETPS). The course, titled "Introduction to Unmanned Aerial Systems Trials and Evaluation" uses simulator work and classroom time to assist students with the use of the tools and approaches that are used in the test and evaluation processes for unmanned aircraft. The inaugural class was attended by fourteen representatives from the MoD and Qinetiq. Qinetiq is the owner of the Empire Test Pilots' School and will use the school to assist the MoD in the development of future unmanned aircraft systems in order to offset some of the problems that were encountered during the initial development of the Phoenix UAV.

07/04/2006 HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!! As we celebrate our 230th year of independence and freedom in the United States of America today, we should take time to remember the thousands of U.S. citizens from every corner of our country that provide us the luxury to enjoy our freedom as an independent nation. First and foremost, we should give thanks and say a prayer for our troops who tirelessly fight for our freedom every day all over the world. These individuals protect our rights - our right to freedom...our right to have a job...our right to free speech (even if to complain)...our right to fill up our gas-guzzling SUVs...our right to have a cookout with family and friends on July 4th, without fear of a terrorist attack. Our troops are out there right now - not celebrating like us - but serving our country as we enjoy the freedom they so valiantly protect. Second, we need to give thanks and remember the countless scientists, engineers, lab technicians, program managers and all of the people involved in the creation and development of the technology that provides our troops with the best equipment that money can buy to keep them safe and protected. These people work long hours to develop new technology - and they do it in the name of our independence and freedom. The technology they develop is worth every penny of defense spending and more. A beautiful example of their expertise lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center this afternoon at 2:38pm when Space Shuttle Discovery once again made its way skyward with the words United States of America emblazoned on its side. An exhilarating and awesome sight! Finally, we should give thanks to all of our government officials - from our Commander-in-Chief all the way down to our lowest civil servants. Amidst unparalleled media-bashing and complaining from "side-liners" and "armchair quarterbacks" that "know" they could do a better job - but won't volunteer to do so - our government officials deserve our complete support and gratitude for volunteering to serve our country in jobs that would make most of us run home to our mommies. Let's start putting our politics on hold - starting today - and support all of our government "volunteers" from the top down to the bottom. We all have a "Support Our Troops" magnet on the back of our family automobile. We can use today - Independence Day - to renew our understanding that "supporting" our troops means supporting not just the troops, but all of the people mentioned above. Let's renew our American spirit and truly live our support of these individuals - and the United States of America - every day! And as always...God Bless America!

07/03/2006 Proxy Aviation of Germantown, Maryland has brought onboard Chris Hamilton, the former CFO and senior vice president of Thales Communications. Mr. Hamilton will take roughly the same position at Proxy Aviation - executive vice president and chief financial officer. Proxy Aviation is currently developing autonomous, optionally-piloted unmanned aircraft that can operate as either manned or unmanned aircraft. The advantage of the optionally-piloted aircraft is that it may be flown in a "piloted" mode to its operational area, thereby avoiding National Airspace System restrictions for unmanned aircraft that are currently in place.

07/02/2006 Hunt Valley, Maryland-based AAI Corporation, which manufactures the Shadow tactical unmanned aircraft, has purchased Aerosonde and Aerosonde North America for $6.5 million. The Aerosonde company is based in Victoria, Australia and produces the Aerosonde unmanned aircraft, which gained fame when it crossed the Atlantic a few years ago. The transaction was a stock purchase deal with contingencies that may increase the purchase price, depending on whether Aerosonde can achieve certain specified milestones. AAI Corporation is a subsidiary of United Industrial, which is based in New York.

07/01/2006 Lockheed Martin and the Air Force Research Laboratory have launched and test flown a missile known as the low-cost autonomous attack system (LOCAAS) at the Eglin AFB in Florida. Similarly, Netfires, LLC and the Army test flew their loitering attack missile (LAM) at Eglin. Both missiles used a very small turbojet engine developed by Technical Directions, Inc. of Ortonville, Michigan. The turbojet engine, called the TDI-J45, is only 6 inches long, 4.5 inches in diameter and comes complete with an electrical power system. In the LOCAAS test, the missile flew over 40 nautical miles in 15 minutes after being dropped from a KingAir 200. During its flight, the LOCAAS validated a windmill start of its jet engine and also detected three stationary targets. In the flight test of the LAM, the missile validated a rapid start to maximum airspeed. (All of these great toys! Is it Christmas yet?)

06/29/2006 At the newly established Artic UAV Test Flight Center in Kemijarvi, Finland, Sagem began flight tests of its newly modified Sperwer B unmanned aircraft. The Sperwer B is an extended range version of the original tactical Sperwer and can carry twice the payload of the original. The Sperwer B also improved its endurance to 10 hours from 6 hours. While the tests provide data on flight performance, the tests are mainly directed at performance of the catapault system that is used to launch the Sperwer B. The same catapault is used to launch the Sperwer A, but the higher gross takeoff weight of the Sperwer B required further launch testing. The pnuematic catapault is supplied by Robonic Ltd., the same company that established the artic flight test center for unmanned aircraft. The Sperwer B is scheduled to enter operational service in 2007 once testing is completed.

06/28/2006 At a recent International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) meeting in Montreal, the topic was the integration of unmanned aircraft in civil airspace. The International Council of Aircraft Owner and Pilot Associations (IAOPA) voiced their views that unmanned aircraft need to be held to at least the same, if not a higher standard, than their manned counterparts. IAOPA reasoning is that the integration of unmanned aircraft into the civil airspace will create significant safety risks that can only be offset with strict(er) operational and certification standards for unmanned aircraft. Doing so will provide a safe integration path for unmanned aircraft. A notable item that IAOPA feels should be included in all unmanned aircraft is "see-and-avoid" technology. However, IAOPA officials do not want to hamper current manned aircraft with similar requirements because they feel that most manned aircraft - at least 100,000 - do not have adequate electrical systems to support such technology. The comments would seem to be controversial at the least, because there are numerous small companies around the world providing "see-and-avoid" technology to manned aircraft already, in an attempt to make manned aviation even safer. The Traffic Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) has been incorporated on aircraft because it has been proven that the device works and makes aviation safer. It seems prudent to require a proven safety device - for all aircraft - if safety is really the number one mission of aviation.

06/27/2006 In Europe, air traffic control experts have concluded that unless they find better, more efficient methods of controlling the increasing number of aircraft - including unmanned aircraft - in the crowded skies of Europe, air traffic gridlock will be the end result by 2010. At a recent conference of European air traffic controllers, members cited a very fast-growing number of aircraft using the European airspace system. NATO is utilizing long-distance unmanned aircraft and military and civilian use of unmanned aircraft is also rapidly expanding. Officials are in agreement that military and civilian unmanned aircraft will revolutionize the air traffic system over the next few decades, but are wrestling with the solutions of how best to integrate the pilotless aircraft with manned aircraft in the same airspace. Problematic is the fact that European countries are not working together toward a common approach to the problem. Each country seems to be launching its own ideas on how to work out the problem. Germany divides unmanned aircraft into three categories which determine an aircraft's ability to transit civil-controlled airspace. An official pointed out that Italy was writing its own rules, and that there really is no cooperation between Europe and the United States when it comes to commonality of airspace regulation. Eurocontrol, the pan-European air safety and navigation organization, cited such large growth in European air traffic that the current ground-based air traffic control system would not be able to handle the safety or capacity of the projected growth even over the next few years. Statistics show that Eurocontrol handled 9.2 million civil flights in 2005 and that Europe's air traffic is growing by approximately four percent a year. In comparison, the United States air traffic controllers handled 17 million civil flights in 2005 - but the 36 nations of Europe occupy an area only one third the size of the continental United States.

06/26/2006 SaaB recently released information on an unmanned helicopter that is the first of a family of unmanned aircraft that SaaB plans to build. The new unmanned rotary-wing aircraft is called the Skeldar V-150 and is based on a concept that was developed by Cybaero of Linkoping, Sweden. The Skeldar V-150 flew its first flight in March 2006 and Saab officials state that the new unmanned rotorcraft is under consideration for ship trials by the Swedish navy. The rotorcraft can fulfill targeting and surveillance missions and will probably be used in homeland security, defense and/or civil operations. The V-150 weighs 150 kilograms, has an endurance of approximately 5 hours and can carry a payload of up to 30 kilograms.

06/25/2006 Robonic, a company based in Finland, manufactures ground support systems and launching equipment for unmanned aircraft in the 10 to 1,000 kilogram weight range. But in addition to making unmanned aircraft support equipment, the company has announced it will establish an artic test-flight center for unmanned aircraft in Finnish Lapland near the Arctic Circle. The Arctic UAV Test Flight Center will be based at the Kemijarvi airport and will include support capabilities to launch UAVs from a runway or catapault. (We believe the new Arctic UAV Test Flight Center will also provide another feature - a cold-weather survival opportunity for UAV flight crews!)

06/24/2006 Thales is indicating that it is interested in expanding its German defense base and may form agreements with Rheinmetall of Germany in land system markets. Thales also disclosed that it has added a considerable number of programs to its aerospace and defense portfolio by forming new collaborative agreements with Diehl. The new agreements focus on land system integration, weapon systems and unmanned aircraft.

06/23/2006 EADS officials believe that their company's defense and security revenues will continue to improve as demand for high-tech military systems, such as unmanned aircraft and UAV radars, continue to expand and grow. The company states that they are also confident that Europe will eventually commit to develop a long-endurance surveillance aircraft to fulfill urgently-needed capabilities for armies and that they are encouraged by the recent signing of a U.S.-German memorandum of understanding concerning Northrop's Global Hawk. The memorandum essentially paves the way to a German purchase of EADS' EuroHawk, which is a modified Global Hawk. EADS is hopeful that Germany will purchase five or six of the aircraft in the last half of 2006. Meanwhile, EADS would also like to see cooperation with other companies in unmanned aircraft programs and offer that possibilities may eventually exist with Thales.

06/22/2006 As unmanned aircraft continue to progress in development, unmanned aircraft programs continue to be players in the forefront of decision-making for major companies. Recently, Airbus Germany announced it will head up a team that will investigate methods to reduce the development time of major programs, including unmanned aircraft programs. The effort is aimed at placing advanced unmanned aircraft technology into service quicker, thereby lowering costs and enhancing profitability.

06/21/2006 In just a small tidbit of news, General Atomics takes another pat on the back for its proven Predator unmanned aircraft. In the hunt for Zarqawi, U.S. officials disclosed that at the time the Delta Force B Squadron infiltrated the area where Zarqawi was hiding out, a Predator circled overhead providing its customary intelligence. Yet another knotch on the joystick for unmanned aircraft.

06/20/2006 Despite cost overruns of billions of dollars on Northrop Grumman's Global Hawk program, the Pentagon has recently approved continued Air Force purchases of the aircraft, though at a lower rate than previously arranged. Until the Block 20 and Block 30 aircraft complete their initial operational tests and evaluations, the Air Force will now only receive five Global Hawks per year instead of six per year. The Pentagon approval to change the purchase quantities of the aircraft actually provides for continued production of the aircraft. Once a program exceeds its costs by over 25%, Pentagon approval is required in order for the program to continue. Northrop officials believe the cost overruns were caused by changes to the Pentagon's cost accounting system, in addition to challenges surrounding the design of the new wings required for the larger version of the Global Hawk. The new, lower purchase rate will extend production of Global Hawks to 2015.

06/19/2006 Manassas, Virginia-based Aurora Flight Sciences will get the nod from Bell Helicopter Textron to build the airframe of its EagleEye unmanned tiltrotor aircraft. Officials at Aurora Flight Science stated that the deal is a major contract for the company and is comparible to its Global Hawk contract with Northrop Grumman, where Aurora Flight Sciences builds the fuselage, wings and tail for the Global Hawk. The Bell Helicopter contract for the EagleEye falls under the Coast Guard's acquisition program for ships and aircraft. EagleEye is scheduled to fly in 2008 and the company plans to deliver 45 aircraft and 33 ground control stations to Lockheed Martin, the co-manager (with Northrop Grumman) of the Coast Guard aircraft acquisition program.

06/18/2006 With the help of some "vintage" unmanned aircraft, British BAE Systems will gather a $25.1 million Air Force contract to supply the Air Force with twenty QF-4 aerial target drones. The U.S. unit of BAE, based in Mojave, California, will convert twenty moth-balled F-4 Phantoms into radio-controlled aerial targets by July of 2008 at their facility in Mojave. The QF-4 drones provide the U.S. Air Force with full-size fighter aircraft that are used to train Air Force fighter pilots in air-to-air combat maneuvers, including live weapons launches. BAE is providing the QF-4 drones to the Air Force under an exclusive contract that is not scheduled for completion until 2013. The award is the second of five options exercised under the agreement. After the F-4 Phantoms are modified into QF-4s, the aircraft are then flight-tested and delivered to Tyndall AFB in Florida where they are operated in test ranges to help develop new weapons.

06/17/2006 A team of U.S. bio-defense companies, in conjunction with the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), the Navy's Third Fleet and the U.S. Pacific Command will work under the leadership of Boeing to modify the company's Insitu-based ScanEagle unmanned aircraft so that the aircraft can search for biological warfare agents. Under an $8.2 million Phase 1 contract for Advanced Technology Demonstration, the teaming arrangement will work to develop a remote sensor system that is capable of determining the extent of battle damage and its collateral effects. The new remote sensor will use new technology to detect, locate, track and collect biological warfare agents. Once the sensor system is developed, the team will integrate the new technology into the ScanEagle unmanned aircraft so that the sensor may be deployed as an airborne asset. Funding for the program came from the Pentagon's Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA).

06/16/2006 Australia's Defense Science and Technology Organization, which oversees the country's Capability and Technology Demonstration programs, has indicated that it will spend just over $19 million to fund new technologies that include unmanned aircraft. As part of the funding, the DSTO will investigate a real-time vision system for unmanned aircraft that will be able to track small, mobile targets. Another unmanned program involves the use of remotely controlled bomb disposal robots.

06/15/2006 The U.S. Department of Defense, in conjunction with the intelligence community, is conducting a review of some of their major reconnaissance and intelligence gathering programs. The focus is to increase cooperation between the DoD and intelligence community by examining space and airborne assets and determining which asset may be better suited to serve both organizations. Officials conducting the study have concluded that long-endurance unmanned aircraft may prove advantageous in certain situations where manned aircraft and satellites have limitations. Satellites are expensive, require specialized launch equipment and are limited to specific, very predictable, flyover times. Manned aircraft are limited in endurance by the pilot and crew, preventing their ability to stare at a target for extended periods of time. A single long-endurance unmanned aircraft, however, can orbit over a target area and stare for over 24 hours. Flyovers can be scheduled in a completely unpredictable fashion. Adding additional unmanned aircraft to the same orbit pattern permits non-stop stare capabilities. Officials stated that the developing use of unmanned aircraft for such roles is relatively new and that much of the Pentagon's push for unmanned aircraft technology is due to the 1991 Persian Gulf War.

06/14/2006 As NATO continues to expand its operations in Afghanistan, Italy may be adding more Predator unmanned aircraft to the frey, as well as helicopters, special forces teams and more troops. The country now plans to send either one or two Predators to Herat in western Afghanistan, along with special forces personnel. Italy is currently using three Predator aircraft in Iraq and one in Italy, though the Predator crews in Iraq were recently dealt a blow when one of their Predators developed engine trouble and crash-landed. The additional Predators, helicopters and troops are Italy's response to a request from NATO for additional contributions to help support its role in Afghanistan through the summer of 2006.

06/13/2006 The U.S. Defense Department is holding Israel's feet in the fire over sales of technology to China, particularly Israel's sale to China of an unmanned aircraft system (known as Harpy) in 2001 and for providing maintenance for the parts of the system in 2003 and 2004. The DoD admits that Israel is working to overcome some oversight issues that allowed the sale of the UAS to China, but they still are pushing Israel to reorganize within the defense ministry and to create legislation (in the Israeli parliament) that would further decrease the chance of such oversights. In 2005, Israel began to reduce the amount of military assistance it provides to China. The Israeli sales to China originally caused the Pentagon to temporarily deny Israel access to technology information in the U.S., but with Israel's continued progress, the Pentagon has now lifted those restrictions.

06/11/2006 Headwall Photonics of Fitchburg, Massachusetts claim development of the first imaging sensor designed exclusively for unmanned aircraft. The sensor, called the Micro-Hyperspec, is an imaging sensor that offers very low stray light qualities, very high signal-to-noise capabilities and is designed to meet military-specific requirements for performance, size and weight.

06/10/2006 As the U.S. Army continues to plan the development of Warrior unmanned aircraft, the General Accounting Office (GAO) wants more assurances that the development plan will mitigate risks and not go the path of previous technologies that resulted in delays and cost over-runs. Under the Army development plan, Warriors would begin production now in order to provide immediate warfighting needs by 2008, with additional capabilities added to the aircraft as they are developed. However, with Warrior's similarity to the Predator, congressional advocates of jointness are somewhat frustrated by the fact that the Air Force and Army cannot use the exact same aircraft. But officials also believe that the Army's stated mission requirements for Warrior are legitimate. The GAO feels that the "develop-as-you-go" technique could result in delays and cost over-runs, based on other programs that were developed in the same manner and cited four specific technologies of the program that are critical to its success - the heavy fuel engine, automatic takeoff and landing, internal Ethernet control ability and a multirole tactical common datalink (TCDL). The internal Ethernet control ability and the multirole tactical common datalink are considered immature technologies, neither of which have been used on an unmanned aircraft. Even the Army considers the TCDL technology integration a moderate risk and plans to use an analog C-band data link as a backup. The Army is responding the GAO with plans to reduce risk and design the unmanned aircraft to make it more adaptable to new technologies. Both Army and GAO officials agree that at least ninety percent of the engineering drawings for the Warrior design should be complete before the Army procures long-lead parts. The Warrior is essentially a beefed-up Predator, capable of carrying more weapons and sturdier avionics, as well as operating on heavy fuel. A significant difference between the Predator and the Warrior is that the Warrior will be flown and operated by soldiers in theater.

06/09/2006 Military planners in Australia are pinning their future network-centric warfighting hopes on unmanned aircraft, even to the point that unmanned aircraft may undercut purchases of the Joint Strike Fighter. While automation, sensor cross-cueing, response time, stealth and other fine-points of a new unmanned design are debated, top Aussie military planners are positive that they want to build unmanned aircraft that compliment, rather than operate in isolation from, manned aircraft - particularly the new Joint Strike Fighter and AP-3 patrol aircraft. While budget is always an issue, the RAAF is searching for essentially two types of unmanned aircraft - a high-altitude, long endurance (HALE) aircraft and a tactical unmanned combat aircraft (UCAV) - both of which can interoperate with the named manned aircraft and each other. The planners desire completely new designs that are tailored to fit the operation inwhich they will participate. For instance, the UCAV design would be built so that it can keep up with other tactical manned aircraft and penetrate heavily defended areas, using its stealth qualities to get close to targets for increased intelligence gathering and precision weapons delivery. The HALE design would be built to compliment the Wedgetail and AP-3 patrol aircraft, moving quickly between different points, collecting various types of intelligence and providing ground surveillance of very large areas. Of notable interest is that Australian military planners do not believe that the Global Hawk and/or Predator aircraft can necessarily meet their goals and that competitor aircraft to the two U.S.-built aircraft could be the Heron from Israel Aircraft Industries and the EADS's Eagle.

06/08/2006 The Royal Air Force of Great Britain is again requesting additional funding from its government for the purchase of more Predator B unmanned aircraft. The Predators, if acquired, will support RAF operations in Afghanistant. The RAF has made similar requests in the past but has not yet been granted any funding requests for Predators.

06/07/2006 Citing rising costs, the U.S. Air Force is reducing the number of Northrop Grumman Global Hawks that it will purchase to only five aircraft. The Air Force initially planned for twenty of the cutting-edge aircraft. While the cost for the aircraft has risen over 20% since 2001, both Air Force and Northrop officials agree that the relatively new unmanned technology was pushed into service before it was completely ready (even before completing its initial technology demonstration phase), thus causing the cost increases. Officials believe that there were numerous uncertainties concerning requirements, technology, design and production of the aircraft as it initially entered service, but that ultimately the aircraft did an outstanding job of fulfilling the needs of the military and the Department of Defense. The Air Force is still very enthusiastic about using Global Hawks for intelligence missions and will continue to work in concert with Northrop to address and overcome the cost increases for the aircraft. In the meantime, the General Accounting Office recommends that full production of the aircraft be halted until all the technological "fixes" for the aircraft are addressed. Global Hawks have flown more than 6,000 combat hours and continue to serve the Air Force today.

06/06/2006 The U.S. Army's Future Combat System (FCS) will use Honeywell for the development and construction of the FCS Class I unmanned aircraft. The back-packable FCS Class I UAS, the smallest of the four UASs used by FCS, is slated for operation at the platoon level and will incorporate vertical takeoff and landing capabilities. The vertical mode will permit the aircraft to "hover and stare" at enemy positions or targets. The Honeywell design incorporates an autonomous flight control and navigation autopilot. The FCS Class I UAS contract could be worth as much as $61 million to Honeywell.

06/05/2006 Resurrecting a twenty-year-old experiment, Northrop Grumman has been given a go-ahead for another development attempt of an oblique flying wing (OFW) with a $10.3 million contract award from DARPA for the first phase of the program. Research will focus on the design and development of a tailless, supersonic expermental aircraft that can vary the sweep of the wing from a conventional flying wing to an oblique position that would much resemble a surfboard flying through the air. The concept permits greater fuel efficiency in all phases of flight, since the wing position can adjust to the most efficient position for the type of flight regime the aircraft needs, such as takeoff and landing or high-speed supersonic flight. The program may be eyeing unmanned aircraft applications, since the Pentagon is looking for an unmanned aircraft that can rapidly deploy to a target, then loiter for long hours overhead. The OFW is quite unstable, requiring massive amounts of computer input to stabilize the aircraft. But designers believe that those issues can be resolved with today's computing power and that the benefit will render an aircraft with exceptional aerodynamic flight performance and extreme fuel efficiency. The first phase, scheduled to last twenty months, will investigate aerodynamics, propulsion and controllability of the OFW concept, with special focus on risk reduction and technology maturation. If a second phase is awarded, the Northrop team will finalize the design and build an experimental prototype aircraft for flight test. Northrop officials believe the prototype aircraft could be flying by 2010.

06/04/2006 Northrop Grumman was awarded a $60 million contract for the advanced procurement of five RQ-4B Global Hawk unmanned aircraft that have expanded payload capabilities. The contract also includes long-lead parts, three launch/recovery elements and three mission control elements.

06/03/2006 Boeing will modify two of its ScanEagle unmanned aircraft with new sensors that are capable of detecting chemical and biological agents. The new detection capabilities will permit the ScanEagle to assess a potential target prior to attack by military forces to determine if the target has any chemical or biological agents present. In doing so, a determination can be made to reaccess attack in order to prevent dispersion of chemical or biological agents. The ScanEagle aircraft is currently being operated by Navy and Marine personnel. The contract award was for $8.2 million.

06/02/2006 Weight and volume. Two related specifications that aeronautical engineers continuously wrestle with during the development of an aircraft. Now, a breakthrough in engineering has been developed by Bental Industries of Israel. The company has developed a dual-purpose brushless generator/starter for unmanned aircraft engines. The unit initially acts as a starter for the engine. Then, once the engine starts, the unit senses the same and turns itself into a generator that produces electrical power to the aircraft. Because the unit uses a field effect instead of brushes to create electrical power, there aren't any parts to wear out - hence, the system's life cycle and reliability are dramatically increased. The generator/starter was developed in response to requests from unmanned aircraft manufacturers.

06/01/2006 In an effort to reduce the manufacturing costs of aircraft, the U.S. Air Force Research Lab (AFRL) has conducted tests of composite wings with small surface defects and their relation to an aircraft's pressure gradient. The AFRL used a Global Hawk unmanned aircraft to study the effects of the surface defects on the laminar flow of air over the surface of the wing. In the tests, engineers varied the difference in the pressures from the leading edge of the wing to the trailing edge of the wing and determined that certain pressure differences, or gradients, were more favorable than others and actually would offset the negative effects of minor surface defects. The tests indicate that the negative affect of minor surface defects in composite structures can be offset with a properly set pressure gradient, thus permitting an increase in the "allowable" defects in the manufactured surface of the wing. The increase in allowable surface defects permits less restrictive manufacturing tolerances, which in turn reduces the cost of manufacturing and ultimately the cost of the aircraft.

06/01/2006 The German Defense Ministry and the U.S. Pentagon have agreed to ensure that Northrop's Global Hawk and its European brother, the Euro Hawk, will maintain interoperability. Germany is purchasing the Euro Hawk from EADS to provide missions involving signals intelligence as well as maritime surveillance. The Euro Hawk is essentially a Global Hawk, built by EADS under a cooperative manufacturing agreement with Northrop Grumman. German officials believe the Euro Hawk signals intelligence demonstrator contract could be completed and signed as early as this year and that a follow-on production contract will take place in 2010.

05/31/2006 Essentially an unmanned aircraft, the Loitering Attack Munition (LAM), developed by Lockheed Martin for the Army's Future Combat Systems program, has successfully completed the fourth of five test flights at the Eglin Air Force Base in Florida, demonstrating launch and transition to cruise. Sporting its new "square" fuselage, the LAM launched vertically from a container tube on the ground, using its rocket motor to propel it to altitude. During the ascent, the LAM unfolded its wings and executed a high-G maneuver (to prevent excess altiude during the launch sequence) and started the small internal turbojet that is used to sustain cruise flight. Once in cruise, the LAM established its own position fix using GPS and flew to an initial waypoint. Engineers were able to view the flight performance first-hand through the LAM's color television unit mounted in the nose. The FCS mission for the LAM is to loiter for up to thiry minutes while potential mobile targets are located, identified and eventually destroyed.

05/30/2006 The British Defense Ministry and Qinetiq will continue their quest to develop an unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV) by using a BAC 1-11 twin-engine regional jet as a "flying simulator" of a UCAV. The regional jet will be modified so that it can demonstrate unmanned technology for long-range strike aircraft and to investigate the operational capabilities of UCAVs, including direct relationships between command and control, autonomy and human input. So far, the BAC 1-11 has flown one proving flight earlier this year as a surrogate UCAV. The aircraft will undergo even more modifications to its systems throughout 2006 so that it can begin a test program sometime in 2007. The British UCAV effort is designed to develop and mature the key technologies that unmanned aircraft must use in order to complete missions, as well as investigate operational and cost issues. Britain's Royal Air Force believes that the development work will permit UCAVs to become part of its future combat air capability sometime around 2020.

05/29/2006 DARPA has unveiled its third Grand Challenge event. Slated for November 3, 2007, the new event is called the "Urban Challenge", inwhich competing unmanned ground vehicles will maneuver their way through a simulated military supply mission in an urban environment. The event includes a sixty mile course that must be completed in less than six hours. DARPA will provide prize money for the first three places, with first place set at $2 million, second place set at $500,000 and third place $250,000.

05/28/2006 Unmanned aircraft will undoubtedly play a large role with U.S. Homeland Security as the Secure Border Initiative is released to industry. The program is expected to provide hundreds of millions of dollars for technology that will secure U.S. borders in a post-9/11 environment. The Department of Homeland Security is allocated $100 million for 2007 and industry officials believe the funding will do nothing but improve year after year. One of the main technologies that should evolve is the continued use of unmanned aircraft to patrol borders between the U.S., Mexico and Canada. Roughly, there is about 6,000 miles of U.S. border between Canada and Mexico to patrol. In addition, U.S. ports and the coastal areas of the United States may also require airborne surviellance.

05/27/2006 India's Defense Ministry is investigating new ways to improve and place greater emphasis on land warfare, including low-level surveillance capabilities. The effort will involve closer coordination of Navy and Air Force assets and is directed at restructuring Indian armed forces so that they are better adapted to future warfare challenges. In the surveillance area, India is purchasing unmanned aircraft from Israel in order to provide better surveillance of its border to Pakistan, where it faces continuing low-intensity conflicts. The goal for India's Defense Ministry is to coordinate its military assets and provide the necessary funding to equip soldiers with cutting-edge technology so that they are precision-strike capable. Defense officials indicated that long-term conventional threats from China as well as the low-intensity conflicts with Pakistan are the reasons for embracing a joint doctrine that emphasizes land warfare.

05/26/2006 The Aerial Common Sensor (ACS) aircraft program continues to receive attention from the Pentagon, even after suffering setbacks when the U.S. Navy and U.S. Army bowed out of the program. The Pentagon is investigating a new to ACS inwhich manned and unmanned missions are divided between the Air Force and Army. The Air Force would continue to maintain its control over manned aircraft assets and add one unmanned aircraft - the Global Hawk - to support manned operations. The Army would oversee all other unmanned aircraft, up to and including the Predator, providing battlefield commanders with long-endurance, multi-purpose intelligence and strike capabilities. Navy officials maintain they are still undecided about their participation level with ACS.

05/25/2006 Boeing's ScanEagle is working with the Brits. Recently, the unmanned aircraft operated from the HMS Sutherland, a British Type 23 frigate. During the tests, the ScanEagle launched from and recovered at the ship. With the help of a satellite link, the aircraft was able to provide real-time imaging to a command center, as well as the Sutherland and a Sea King helicopter. ScanEagle is rail-launched and recovers by flying directly into a rope that hangs vertically from a long pole. The rope slides down the leading edge of the wing and engages a clip, which locks the aircraft to the rope. ScanEagle was developed by Insitu, which is now a part of Boeing.

05/24/2006 The U.S. Army and Kaman Aerospace Corporation of Connecticut are working together on an unmanned initiative that will aid in the resupply of troops in the battlefield. Known as Broad-area Unmanned Responsive Resupply Operations, or "BURRO", the initiative is focusing on the use of unmanned helicopters for logistical support of troops in the battlefield. The specifics of BURRO include the ability for the helicopter to lift 6,000 pounds to an altitude of 20,000 feet. Kaman is developing the K-MAX helicopter in an unmanned version as the BURRO aircraft and recently completed an endurance flight of the aircraft that lasted over 12 hours. During the autonomous flight, the aircraft carried a safety pilot to make sure systems operated normally and the aircraft conformed to its programmed flight path. The lengthy unrefueled flight was made possible by the addition of an external fuel tank on the helicopter that contained 600 gallons of fuel. The K-MAX helicopter has already completed other test flights inwhich it delivered fuel, water - even 155mm ammunition to various locations. Kaman and the Army believe that the BURRO will someday provide battlefield commanders with an unmanned resupply option, thus eliminating combat risks to helicopter flight crews.

05/23/2006 Customs & Border Protection is in line to receive additional unmanned aircraft for border patrol operations. Recently the Bush administration requested nearly $2 billion from Congress to improve the border security of the United States. Over half of the $2 billion is targeted for the Department of Homeland Security, which allocated $95 million for the purchase of thirteen helicopters and two more unmanned aircraft.

05/22/2006 The April crash of the Customs & Border Protection's only Predator now has the House Appropriations Committee concerned about the future use of the unmanned aircraft for border protection. The Homeland Security Department's Fiscal 2007 funding allocated just over $10 million to the Predator program. Now the House Appropriations Committee has put a hold on nearly $7 million of the allocated $10 million until results of the crash investigation are completed. At the technology level of Predator operations, it is probable that Predator operations will be permitted to continue. But small unmanned aircraft operators take note. It is precisely this type of event - happening on a more frequent basis - involving public land or buildings - due to errors in judgement or equipment - that can prevent unmanned aircraft operations in the National Airspace System indefinitely. While official FARs for unmanned aircraft are not published yet, it is imperative that the increasing number of unmanned aircraft manufacturers and operators accept and attempt to comply with the current level of safety for manned aircraft by constructing and operating their aircraft to the same FAR standards of airworthiness and operations already in place for manned aircraft. In doing so, acceptance of unmanned aircraft operations by the public and the FAA will be more forthcoming, because ultimately it is the same two entities - the public and the FAA - that will determine whether or not unmanned aircraft will gain access to the National Airspace System.

05/21/2006 NASA's Fiscal Year 2007 budget request totaled $16.8 billion, but did not address any future funding of the Access 5 unmanned aircraft project. Access 5 is an entity comprised of NASA, the Department of Defense, the FAA and an industry consortium named UNITE that consists of Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, General Atomics, Aurora Flight Sciences and AeroVironment. Access 5 was developing file-and-fly operational rules for unmanned aircraft flight in the National Airspace System (NAS), specifically high-altitude, long-endurance (HALE) aircraft. NASA had previously dedicated $100 million of funding over five years to the Access 5 project. The loss of funding may very well conclude the Access 5 effort, unless alternate funding can be found. NASA officials cited prioritization of budget requirements as the reason for the cancellation of the funding.

05/20/2006 Global Microwave Systems of Carlsbad, California and Flying Cam of Belgium have flown an unmanned aircraft equipped with a GMS High-Definition Messenger Link to demonstrate that high-definition (HD) video can be carried aboard an unmanned aircraft and the information linked to the ground for dissemination. Flying Cam provided the unmanned aircraft for the demonstration. GMS officials will expand the capability of unmanned aircraft to HD UAV platforms. The high-resolution equipment permitted controllers to read a license plate on a moving vehicle from an altitude of 2,000 feet.

05/19/2006 The U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory, Boeing Phantom Works and NASA are collectively investigating blended wing body aircraft designs, with the research focusing on structural, aerodynamic and operational advantages of the technology. The organizations have assembled two prototypes, designated X-48B, for wind tunnel and flight testing. Each prototype has a 21 foot wingspan and use multiple control surfaces on the wing for stability and control, thus replacing conventional tails. The first prototype has already started wind tunnel testing at NASA's Langley Research Center.

05/18/2006 EADS has achieved the first test flight of its Barracuda unmanned aircraft demonstrator at the San Javier air base in Spain. The twin-rudder Barracuda is powered by a single jet engine capable of over 1300 pounds of thrust. Officials noted that the aircraft will be fitted with EO/IR sensors, synthetic aperture radar (SAR), an emitter locator system and a laser designator for future test flights. The first test flight lasted 20 minutes.

05/17/2006 United Industrial Corp.'s (UIC) AAI Corporation has announced their award of an $87 million order from the Army for nine additional Shadow 200 Tactical Unmanned Aircraft Systems (TUAS). The nine systems include 36 advanced RQ-7B Shadow 200 aircraft, 18 One System ground control stations (GCSs) and associated components and support equipment. A Shadow TUAS system is made up of four unmanned aircraft systems. Delivery of the systems will begin in April 2007 and continue through March 2008. So far AAI has received production awards for a total of 64 Army Shadow systems, with a total of 256 production Shadow 200 UAS ordered since December 1999. Forty-three systems have been delivered, and with the new order, system deliveries now extend through March 2008. The Shadow tactical unmanned aircraft supports U.S. and allied operations in Iraq and has accrued over 17,000 sorties and 76,000 flight hours since deploying to Iraq in 2003.

05/16/2006 Northrop Grumman has been awarded a contract worth $60.6 million for long-lead procurement of materials required for the low-rate initial production (LRIP) of the six RQ-4B Global Hawk unmanned aircraft, including three each of the the launch/recovery elements and mission control elements.

05/15/2006 Smaller unmanned aircraft may soon be carrying tactical missiles. The U.S. Navy's Naval Air Systems Command, DRS Technologies, and the Thiokol division of Alliant Techsystems have developed the world's smallest tactical "fire-and-forget" missile, aptly named "Spike". Only 25 inches long and 2.25 inches in diameter, the 5.3 pound missile is built from off-the-shelf parts and is designed to attack small, mobile targets such as automobiles or boats. The Spike missile recently completed a test firing at Naval Air Station China Lake in California, hitting a 2-meter target from a distance of about one kilometer. Officials working with the program are planning another test firing for July of 2006 and are working to increase the range of the missile to over 3 kilometers, or roughly two miles. In addition to launching the missile from unmanned aircraft, the project team is also investigating a shoulder-launched version of the missile. Program officials are targeting a cost goal of $5000 per missile.

05/14/2006 The U.S. Navy in conjunction with the Pentagon's Office of Force Transformation have unveiled a new $10 million experimental surface vessel that may someday change the way U.S. Navy surface warfare is fought. Built by Knight & Carver, the ship is called the Stiletto and is designed to provide different warfare communities a chance to try out new technical devices in an operational environment, as well as investigate new ways to fight traditional battles. Not extremely large, the ship is 88 feet long and 40 feet wide, thus allowing it to sit high on the water with only a 24-inch draft and achieve speeds of 50 knots. The boxy siz