Northrop Grumman Corporation turned on the power to the U.S. Navy’s first MQ-8C Fire Scout unmanned helicopter and rotated the aircraft’s four blades for the first time during initial ground testing and engine runs at Naval Base Ventura County Point Mugu, California, on Sept. 20. Continue reading
Category Archives: Aircraft Propulsion & Energy
Mainstream Engineering Gets US Air Force Contract for Hybrid Electric UAS Propulsion System
Mainstream Engineering Corporation, a 27-year-old Brevard County research and manufacturing company, has been awarded a contract from the U.S. Air Force to develop a hybrid electric propulsion system to support a rapid-response small unmanned aircraft system (UAS). Continue reading
Solara – Five Years in the Sky at 65,000 Feet
Imagine a featherweight aircraft built of composites boasting an enormous 160 foot wing, swathed in solar cells that can take off at 20 mph and remain aloft for five years. The plane would fly at 65,000 feet, above most air traffic aside from the odd U-2 zooming past. It would, without a doubt, be the loneliest plane in history. Continue reading
B-2 Inflight Refuelling Video
The US Military just released this inflight video of a KC-135 receiving fuel and also giving fuel to a B-2 mid-flight. Continue reading
U.S. Army Research Laboratory DEvelops ‘Long-Lived Power’
“Long-Lived Power” sounds like it could be an energy revolution, a revolutionary of sorts within the family of far-reaching energy solutions for the battlefield — because it uses radioisotopes. Continue reading
IAI Develops Heron TP In-flight Refuelling System
Israel Aerospace Industries is developing an aerial refuelling system for its Heron TP medium-altitude, long-endurance unmanned aircraft system, with the programme based on the use of an unmanned in-flight refuelling tanker. Continue reading
Orbital Gets $4.5M Heavy Fuel Engine Contract from US Military Supplier
Orbital has announced that it has been awarded a contract for the development of a production engine for a small unmanned aerial system (sUAS). This United States customer has provided 24/7/365 operations for customers worldwide and has been delivering Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities for both land and maritime missions. Continue reading
UAS Variable-Pitch Propeller Ready for Flight Testing
After years of research, Thunder Bay’s Aerovate Inc. will flight-test its variable-pitch UAS propeller system this summer, with the goal of bringing the technology to market this fall. Continue reading