Phoenix Aerial Target System

PHOENIX has been developed specifically for the Defence Industry as a high performance training solution for a variety of artillery and air defence missile systems. It is able to simulate a realistic high speed threat in excess of 280 kts, with enhancements including a Miss-Distance Indicator (MDI), Infra-Red and multi-spectral smoke and also the integration of a Luneburg lense system to meet the targeting requirements of a wide range of weapon systems, including electro-optical and radar target acquisition.

The heart of the system is UAV Navigation's Flight Control System (FCS), an onboard autopilot capable of controlling all the onboard systems, including Engine Control Unit (ECU), all servos, parachute release, datalink, pyrotechnics (smoke etc), Luneburg lens system and MDI.

In addition, a complete Ground Control Station (GCS) is provided with the Visionair mission control software which runs on a standard PC. Training on the system is around 5 days

Read More: http://www.uavnavigation.com/company/news-and-events/phoenix-aerial-target-system#sthash.dtnKXEL6.dpuf

Funded Research: Additive Manufacturing for UAV Restoring

The capability of the Additive Manufacturing (AM) for rapid manufacturing of complex-shape and fully functional UAV parts directly in the battlefield, without rough post-processing, is such an exciting possibility that cannot be matched by any traditional manufacturing technologies.

The objective of this funded proposal is to establish a multiphysics computational framework and tool to predict the residual stresses and temperature map in the damaged key-parts of  UAVs that are rapidly restored using AM without disassembling the parts from the system.

Although the proposed research will focus on utilizing AM for restoring the damaged parts, it can be also used for on-demand and customized manufacturing of the whole parts directly from the digital blue-prints; thus, the proposed research will enhance the utilization of AM for this purpose too.

(More info: http://www.memphis.edu/fedex/drones/research2016.php)

UK outlines extent of Reaper UAV strikes

The UK revealed on 21 March the extent of airstrikes being conducted against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria by Royal Air Force (RAF) General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc (GA-ASI) MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). (Read more)