Leonardo continues to invest heavily in unmanned helicopter technology, offering the Solo and Hero platforms. No customer has yet bought them, but the Italian and British defense ministries have provided funding for flight trials, and now the company is leading a major research contract on unmanned maritime surveillance for the European Defence Agency (EDA). Continue reading
Category Archives: VTOL
L3 Technologies Acquires Latitude Engineering
L3 Technologies has acquired Latitude Engineering, a unique unmanned aircraft systems company that has developed a family of commercial and military Vertical Take Off and Landing (VTOL) UAVs based on their Hybrid Quadrotor (HQ) technology. Continue reading
Aston Martin Volante Vision Concept at Farnborough
British luxury brand Aston Martin at Farnborough presented the Volante Vision Concept, a luxury concept aircraft with vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) capabilities. Produced in partnership with Cranfield University, Cranfield Aerospace Solutions and Rolls-Royce, the concept aircraft aims to bring luxury personal transportation to the sky. Continue reading
MQ-8 Fire Scout Makes European Debut
Northrop Grumman debuted its MQ-8 Fire Scout shipborne rotary-wing unmanned air system to potential European customers at this year’s Royal International Air Tattoo. Continue reading
MQ-8C Fire Scout Initial Operational Test and Evaluation Complete
USS Coronado (LCS 4) and Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 1 (VX-1) completed the first comprehensive Initial Operational Test and Evaluation (IOT&E) for the MQ-8C Fire Scout, June 29. Continue reading
AeroVironment Collaborating with NASA to Build Mars Helicopter
At a briefing held Wednesday at New York City’s NASDAQ Marketsite, AeroVironment, Inc. revealed its critical role in collaborating with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (NASA/JPL) in Pasadena, Calif. to build the drone helicopter recently selected by NASA/JPL’s Mars Exploration Program, and displayed a model of the Mars Helicopter, which is planned to fly on Mars in less than three years. Continue reading
UMS SKELDAR and QinetiQ Target Systems Partner for Royal Canadian Navy UAV Program
UMS SKELDAR, has joined forces with a provider of unmanned air, land and surface vehicle targets QinetiQ Target Systems. The partnership has been formed to enable both organizations to provide the platforms and solutions for a joint Canadian maritime program, including the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) UAV contract. Continue reading
UAVOS Develops New Main Rotor Blades for Helicopters
UAVOS Inc, a Mountain View-based company specialised in unmanned solutions, has created a qualitatively new main rotor blade to be installed on helicopters with 77 lbs (35 kg) take-off mass and rotor diameter of 102,36″ (2600 mm). Continue reading