US Army, Bell advancing micro-UAS technologies
The US Army Research Laboratory (ARL) and Bell are continuing their joint effort to further advance the development of new micro UAS technologies, the army announced on 21 August.
The UAS in development is a miniature, lightweight reconnaissance vehicle that soldiers can carry onto the battlefield and deploy in a confined space.
To work on this project, Bell signed a five-year cooperative research and development agreement with the ARL in March 2018.
The UAV has recently undergoing testing in an ARL wind tunnel to refine vehicle control capabilities.
Levi Hefner, engineer, Bell, said: ‘The wind tunnel here at ARL has been beneficial in providing data that explains why certain things are happening on the control side. Now we’re able to better analyse our tests to enhance the performance of our vehicles.
‘This collaboration is great because we’re heading into a new design space with these small vehicles. ARL has the resources and expertise to help us out, and together we can build a better vehicle than either of us could build alone.’
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