Aerial Refueling of UAVs

The USAF is seeking UAVs that can be refueled in midair, by other UAVs. The proposal, titled “Aerial Refueling of UAVs”, is aimed at developing a better way for air-to-air refueling of Class 4 and Class 5 UAVs, which comprise the larger drones such as the Global Hawk and MQ-9 Reaper. (Read more...)

The Drone Threat to Israeli National Security

Analysts continue to debate possible futures of UAV terrorism, and an emerging consensus suggests that violent non-state actors will increasingly seek to exploit drone technology for nefarious purposes.

For years, both Hizballah and Hamas invested considerable resources into developing their respective UAV programs. As the world’s most powerful militant organization, Hizballah maintains a fleet of UAVs equipped with surveillance and reconnaissance equipment, as well as munitions.

Since Hizballah’s military intervention in the Syrian Civil War, the organization has successfully utilized UAVs for a variety of functions, particularly intelligence gathering and coordinating military operations. Though Hizballah and Hamas maintain domestic drone production capabilities, both groups rely on external support for their more advanced UAVs. It is no mystery why Israeli national security personnel view UAV developments by militant groups with great concern.

Afghanistan: Germany to Operate Heron-1 for Additional Year

Germany has extended a leasing contract to operate the Israeli Heron-1 unmanned aerial system (UAS) for another year in support of ongoing operations in Afghanistan.

Estimated at tens of millions of dollars, the contract concluded between the German Defence Procurement Agency and Airbus DS Airborne Solutions, a subsidiary of Airbus Defence and Space, extends Heron operations in Afghanistan until February 2018. 

In its news release, IAI noted that its Heron-1 recently marked 30,000 hours in Afghanistan since the German Air Force began operating the system in 2010. The German Air Force also is operating the Heron-1 in Mali as part of a United Nations policing mission. “Our connection with the German Air Force is of course highly important, and we are proud to continue to provide an operational solution together with the excellent cooperation we have with Airbus,” said retired Israeli Air Force Brig. Gen. Shaul Shahar, IAI's executive vice president and general manager of the firm’s Military Aircraft Group.  

El dron español de 70.000 € que ha causado un conflicto entre Israel y Rusia

Un pequeño helicóptero no tripulado fabricado en España, que tiene una autonomía de unas dos horas, que puede recorrer entre 30 y 40 kilómetros y que se puede elevar hasta 3.000 metros, ha causado un buen revuelo en Israel. (Seguir leyendo)

SoftRF case for UAV

This enclosure fits "UAV version" of SoftRF hardware.

SoftRF is an open project (GNU LGPL) for aircraft collision avoidance avionics.

SoftRF is compatible with "Legacy V6" radio protocol.

It transmits and receives using same RF silicon (Nordic NRF905) that FLARM (TM) does.

Website: http://github.com/lyusupov/SoftRF

3D Printing the UAV

Integral 3D Printing, la división especializada en fabricación aditiva de Integral Innovation Experts, presenta las jornadas sobre fabricación aditiva “3D Printing the Future” en el marco de la Industria 4.0, que se celebrarán en Bilbao, Madrid y Barcelona los días 22, 23 y 24 de noviembre en las respectivas ciudades.

El objetivo de este evento es mostrar  el papel de la los procesos de Fabricación Aditiva  dentro de la Industria 4.0 y cómo esta tecnología encaja en sus procesos de trabajo. Para ello se ha preparado una agenda que presenta el concepto de Industria 4.0 y muestra cómo diseñar y optimizar las piezas para su impresión en 3D, con las soluciones líderes del mercado.

Más información e inscripciones:

http://integralplm.com/es/empresa/news/3d-printing-the-future/

UAVs for 3D Mapping

Lockheed Martin has released a commercial software, named Hydra Fusion Tools, that allows to create a real-world 3D Map of any site. Hydra Fusion runs on commercial computers leveraging state-of-the-art graphical processing units, to render the entire evolving scene in real time, as the UAV flies: The images are geometrically stitched together into an immersive three dimensional world view, showcasing buildings, trees, vehicles, terrain, etc.

“Hydra Fusion Tools’ stand-out feature is its ability to turn big data into actionable intelligence,” says John Molberg, business development manager at Lockheed Martin CDL Systems. “This is true world-leading technology – there is nothing else out there that does this, everything else is just post-processing.”

The system comes in two variants: the baseline Hydra for commercial use, with agriculture and first responder application, and Hydra Tactical, which is specifically for military use.