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.
Silent Falcon UAS Technologies and MicroPilot have conducted a number of demonstration flights of the Silent Falcon UAS as part of NASA’s Unmanned Aircraft System Traffic Management (UTM) system programme, MicroPilot announced on 20 October.
NASA’s UTM programme is researching prototype technologies that could develop airspace integration requirements for enabling safe, efficient low-altitude operations.
The ability for UAS to fly safely beyond line of sight (BLOS) is a critical element of safe flight within the UTM. In support of this, the Silent Falcon UAS flew a series of BLOS flights as part of the successful completion of the current phase of the programme.
MicroPilot’s autopilot system gives UAS the ability to fly independently BLOS while taking directions from the UTM.
John W Brown, Silent Falcon UAS Technologies president and CEO, said: ‘This project is of particular interest to us as we manufacture a long range, long endurance fixed wing UAS that is designed for beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) applications.
‘Our systems regularly perform BVLOS missions in other countries and the UTM project is an important step in making safe BVLOS flight in the US national airspace a reality. We look forward to further participation as the project continues to move forward.’
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.