Unmanned Systems

Shaw Air Force Base, SC, expects to fly its first MQ-9 combat line by early spring, and officials there told Inside the Air Force this week they hope service leadership will continue their commitment to sustained funding and flexible planning as the new Reaper control group stands up.

The Navy has created an executive steering council composed of key stakeholders to ensure unmanned maritime systems fit into the service's vision of the future fleet.

Aurora's Orion long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle will take steps toward deployment over the next two years, although the Air Force has not created a formal program of record.

The Navy should take several steps, such as creating a venture capital firm and an internal "Shark Tank" program, to ensure its autonomy capabilities stay ahead of its adversaries, according a new report by a Navy advisory panel.

Development of the Knifefish unmanned undersea vehicle is facing new delays stemming from a funding shortfall, forcing a 15-month delay to plans for declaring the newest variant of the Littoral Combat Ship mine countermeasure mission package operational.

The Pentagon's Strategic Capabilities Office will soon begin accepting proposals for a secretive project to allow semi-autonomous unmanned aircraft systems to team with manned fighter aircraft.

A new technology for unmanned aerial cargo vehicles, demonstrated this week, is pushing the Marine Corps to change its thinking about mission sets, according to a service official.

The MQ-8C Fire Scout is expected to reach initial operating capability and see its first deployment in 2020, according to Northrop Grumman officials.

The Pentagon has tapped Boeing to compete in a new technology demonstration effort to integrate a low-power laser on a high-altitude unmanned aerial vehicle, handing the company which led the Airborne Laser program -- terminated in 2009 -- another bite at the apple in the U.S. military's latest effort to develop speed-of-light missile defense.