The House Armed Services Committee today passed an amendment to its version of the fiscal year 2019 defense policy bill requiring the Air Force secretary to brief lawmakers by spring 2019 on plans for allowing enlisted airmen to fly all remotely piloted aircraft, as well as on the possibility of creating a path for enlisted airmen to pilot any aircraft.
Unmanned Systems
May 09, 2018 |
Daily News
May 09, 2018 |
Daily News
The House Armed Services Committee is nudging the Air Force to invest more in its EQ-4B Battlefield Airborne Communications Node aircraft, a modified version of Northrop Grumman's RQ-4 Global Hawk, in the chairman's mark of the fiscal year 2019 defense policy bill.
May 05, 2018 |
Daily News
Lawmakers want an independent assessment of a proposal to arm Predator unmanned aircraft with guided missiles to shoot down North Korean intercontinental ballistic missiles, leveraging proven technologies in the American arsenal to rapidly field a system that uses kinetic interceptors to kill Pyongyang’s ballistic missiles during the boost phase of flight.
April 27, 2018 |
Daily News
The Air Force Research Laboratory and Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency plan to demonstrate whether teams of manned and unmanned aircraft can work together in an air-to-ground combat mission, following a series of flight tests last fall.
April 25, 2018 |
Daily News
Lawmakers are questioning Air Force Air Combat Command's ability to manage MQ-9 Reapers on behalf of their special-operations counterparts and want a report on how Reaper aircrews are assigned, managed and developed, according to the House Armed Services emerging threats subcommittee's mark of the fiscal year 2019 defense policy bill released this week.
April 25, 2018 |
Daily News
The Army intends to award a contract for a “unique solution” for an unmanned aerial system device that would provide real-time location of its UAS platforms while reducing size and weight. The service would use the capability to enhance UAS and counter-UAS training at two combat training centers.
April 23, 2018 |
Daily News
The Marine Corps plans to host an industry day on June 6 and 7 to help develop requirements for an unmanned aerial system that can operate from an amphibious assault ship, according to a senior official.
April 20, 2018 |
Daily News
Dynetics will prove whether it can launch and recover four small unmanned aerial vehicles from a C-130 in 30 minutes during phase three of the Pentagon's Gremlins program, beating out General Atomics for a $32.5 million contract this week.
April 18, 2018 |
Daily News
General Atomics performed a deck-handling demonstration of its MQ-25 Stingray offering in November using an Avenger aircraft as a surrogate and is using a Pratt & Whitney PW850 engine in its design, according to the company.
April 17, 2018 |
Daily News
Data processing, exploitation and dissemination research will be fast-tracked by a new rapid development team at the Air Force Research Laboratory that calls itself a special-operations team for autonomy.
April 17, 2018 |
Daily News
The Army will by June complete its "Unmanned Systems Roadmap through 2035" that will serve as a plan to "migrate" its unmanned systems portfolio to where it needs to be by that year, according to an official.
April 12, 2018 |
Daily News
Up to four companies could prove their directed-energy weapons can protect military bases against small unmanned aerial vehicles in an experiment this fall that will help shape a potential acquisition program, the Air Force said this week.
April 11, 2018 |
Daily News
One of the Army's top research centers through its science and technology investments is building a foundation for manned/unmanned teaming, or MUM-T, a desired capability for several future robotic systems.
April 10, 2018 |
Daily News
The Army has hired a project director for autonomous systems and is waiting on four-star approval to rename the Training and Doctrine Command project office for maneuver robotics and autonomous systems as the capability management office for maneuver robotics and autonomous systems.
April 09, 2018 |
Daily News
Lockheed Martin does not have a prototype of its offering for the MQ-25 Stingray competition but will use "a solution that’s very representative" in an upcoming test with the Navy, according to a company executive.
April 06, 2018 |
Daily News
ST. LOUIS -- After years of development, Boeing unveiled its prototype for the Navy's MQ-25 Stingray unmanned tanker competition and revealed the air vehicle uses the same engine as the RQ-4 Global Hawk and MQ-4C Triton.
April 06, 2018 |
Daily News
Gorgon Stare, the Air Force's sensor program of record for wide-area motion imagery mounted on MQ-9 remotely piloted aircraft, will receive a limited slate of upgrades in the near future but isn't currently expected to grow across the Reaper fleet, the service recently reported to Congress.
April 06, 2018 |
Daily News
The Air Force is defending the performance of its MQ-9 Reaper following a fiscal year 2017 report by the director of operational test and evaluation that showed the remotely piloted aircraft still faces radar system deficiencies.
April 04, 2018 |
Daily News
Five Air Force procurement programs saw cost swings of more than $1 billion over the last year, and 24 of the service's systems shrank by $2.5 billion in aggregate, the Defense Department said this week.
April 03, 2018 |
Daily News
The estimated cost for the Pentagon's major weapon system acquisition portfolio grew by $177 billion, or more than 10 percent, over the last year, swelling from $1.7 trillion to $1.9 trillion.