US Navy foresees an uncrewed future for its surface and underwater fleet
The service has been conducting various procurement and development efforts to integrate unmanned surface and underwater vehicles into its inventory.
Cranfield University and Blue Bear Systems Research have successfully conducted the first test flights to establish the principles for the National Beyond visual line of sight Experimentation Corridor (NBEC) at Cranfield Airport.
The NBEC aims to create an experimentation corridor that will enable UAS to fly in the same airspace as manned aircraft.
During the test flights, Blue Bear executed 3km extended visual line of sight (EVLOS) race track flights within the Cranfield Air Traffic Zone, using its Blackstart UAS. During this first phase of testing, the Cranfield Air Traffic Zone was cleared of manned aircraft.
NBEC will provide a safe, managed environment for UAS experimentation which will work towards their integration into controlled and uncontrolled airspace. The aim is to see the corridor eventually stretch across Bedfordshire from Blue Bear’s headquarters in Oakley to Cranfield University's airport.
When fully operational, the NBEC will be operated with Blue Bear and Cranfield using their respective systems and will create an environment that will allow other companies to come and test their Unified Traffic Management concepts in a safe, managed environment.
Workup flights will continue at both ends of the NBEC Corridor throughout 2019.
The service has been conducting various procurement and development efforts to integrate unmanned surface and underwater vehicles into its inventory.
Tekever has manufactured the AR3, AR4 and AR5 UAS with all systems sharing common electronics and software architecture, which has enabled the reuse of ground segment elements within the new ARX UAS.
As the dynamics of aerial combat rapidly evolve, Chinese scientists have engineered a sophisticated air separation drone model that can fragment into up to six drones, each capable of executing distinct battlefield roles and challenging the efficacy of current anti-drone defences such as the UK’s Dragonfire laser system.
Advancements in air defence technologies have begun to reshape aerial combat dynamics in the Middle East, as illustrated by recent events involving the Israeli Air Force and Hezbollah.
Both sides of the Russia-Ukraine war have been using UAS for effective low-cost attacks, as well as impactful web and social media footage. Thousands more have now been committed to Ukrainian forces.
The US Army has intentions to develop light, medium and heavy variants of the Robotic Combat Vehicle (RCV) as part of the branche’s Next Generation Combat Vehicle family.