The Ka band or “satellite super-highway” – a fast, uncongested and rarely used satellite network – has been opened up by a team of BAE engineers to support UK unmanned aircraft missions in the future. Continue reading
Category Archives: Data Links & Communications
AeroVironment Unveils Pocket DDL Secure Video and Data Receiver for UAS
AeroVironment has unveiled its new Pocket DDL secure digital video and data receiver at the 2013 AUSA Annual Meeting and Exposition. The four-ounce device enables remote viewing of video and data from AeroVironment small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) as well as from helicopters, airplanes, other unmanned aircraft and ground robots equipped with the company’s Digital Data Link. Continue reading
NAVAIR Tests UAS Sensor Inter-Operability
Teams at Patuxent River, Md., led a demonstration June 18-20, 2013, to test technology for future unmanned aircraft system (UAS) platforms that will give warfighters the capability to access information necessary to complete their mission. Continue reading
NASA Tests Data Links For Civil UAS Operations
NASA and Rockwell Collins have completed the first phase of flight-testing on a new public-use airborne data link designed to safely and securely connect ground-based pilots to all types of civil unmanned aircraft in the U.S. national airspace system. Continue reading
Rockwell Collins RTK SAASM and Autopilot in Ship-Based Recovery of US Navy RQ-21A UAS
The Rockwell Collins Athena 111m Flight Control System and Real Time Kinematic (RTK) Selective Availability Anti-Spoofing Module (SAASM) technology solution for secure GPS receivers recently enabled successful shipboard flight tests of the U.S. Navy’s RQ-21A Small Tactical Unmanned Aircraft System (STUAS). Continue reading
New Tactical 3DHFDF Fixes High-Frequency Radios in 160 Milliseconds
A compact three dimensional (3D) high frequency (HF) radio direction finder technology developed by a team of communication intelligence (COMINT) experts at Israel Aerospace Industries’ (IAI) Elta Systems group enables law enforcement and military users to effectively intercept, locate and tap HF radio transmissions hitherto performed only by stationary monitoring stations that are typically operated by national intelligence agencies. Continue reading
Welcome to the Age of Big Drone Data
During a rare public talk last week in Washington, Lieutenant General Larry D. James, the US Air Force’s Deputy Chief for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance let on that “sustainment” of the UAS fleet is his next big task. Continue reading
US Army Moves Ahead on Manned-Unmanned Teaming
The US Army is taking a multi-pronged approach to upgrading its rotary-wing and unmanned aircraft fleets, investing in technologies that will not only allow helicopter pilots to monitor feeds from UAS, but also operate the sensors and weapon systems from safe distances. Continue reading