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Remote Identification from the eyes of different stakeholders, the Speed Racer is revealed, a buyer’s guide to drones for beginners, wet drones in Scotland, saving dolphins in New Zealand, Skyborg is coming this summer, and rogue drone detection and mitigation.
UAV News
How You Fly Determines Where You Stand: A RID Comparative
The final remote identification rule differed from the NPRM, and this article examines how the rule impacts different stakeholders, including service suppliers, drone service providers and operators, security agencies, hobby and recreational users, foreign-registered drones, designers, and producers.
Skunk Works Reveals Speed Racer Configuration
Lockheed Martin Skunk Works has provided some information about their secretive air-launched UAS. The Speed Racer has a hexagonal fuselage with folding and swept wings and two canted aft dorsal tails and one ventral tail. In a company video, the Speed Racer was launched by what looks like a Beechcraft 1900D.
7 Best Drones for Beginners: Your Buyer’s Guide
This article proposed some beginner drones ranging in price from $45 to $330.
Scottish police slammed over non-waterproof drone purchase
Scottish police chiefs purchased $83,000 worth of DJI Matrice 210 drones to help locate missing people and to lower response times. The problem is the Matrice 210 isn’t designed to fly in the rain and 16 of them have crashed flying in wet weather. DJI says the Matrice 210 is certified to an IP43 rating which is insufficient in the rain.
New Zealand Supporting Drone Project to Monitor Rare Dolphins
High hopes: drones join fight to save New Zealand’s rarest dolphin
The Māui Drone Project will use drones to monitor and protect the Maui dolphin, one of the world’s rarest marine mammals. It is estimated that there are only 63 adult members of the species left. The fixed-wing VTOL drones will find and track Maui dolphins, fly over them without disturbing them, and collect data on their habitat, population size and other behaviors. In testing, the drone can distinguish Māui dolphins from other species with over 90% accuracy, using AI technology. The one-year project is a collaboration between the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI), the MAUI63 nonprofit wildlife organization, and the World Wildlife Fund-New Zealand.
Video from WWF New Zealand: MAUI63 Drone Launch
USAF to flight test Skyborg autonomous system at Orange Flag this summer
The US Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) is developing the Skyborg autonomous aircraft. The program is in its early development phase but ultimately Skyborg technology will be incorporated into UAVs that are considered expendable in combat. The technology will be tested during Orange Flag exercises this summer. AFRL has contracted with Boeing, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, and Kratos Defense & Security Solutions to develop the prototypes.
FAA Selects Five Host Airports to Test and Evaluate Unmanned Aircraft Detection and Mitigation Systems
The FAA has selected five host airports to evaluate technologies and systems that could detect and mitigate potential safety risks posed by unmanned aircraft. The effort is part of the FAA’s Airport Unmanned Aircraft Systems Detection and Mitigation Research Program. Researchers plan to test and evaluate at least 10 technologies or systems at these airports.
See the news release: FAA to Test and Evaluate Unmanned Aircraft Detection & Mitigation Equipment at Airports.
Testing will begin in 2021 and continue through 2023 to create standards for future unmanned aircraft detection and mitigation technologies at airports around the country. The FAA selected the following airports:
- Atlantic City International Airport in Atlantic City, New Jersey
- Syracuse Hancock International Airport in Syracuse, New York
- Rickenbacker International Airport in Columbus, Ohio
- Huntsville International Airport in Huntsville, Alabama
- Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in Seattle, Washington