The latest Amazon Prime Air drone, XQ-58A Valkyrie tactical drones, bringing a drone on a cruise ship, a drone light show fail, and attacking a navy with uncrewed surface vessels.
Amazon has continued to develop its delivery drone. The new MK30 drone has increased range, expanded temperature tolerance, and the capability to fly in light rain. It’s lighter and smaller than its predecessor and has redesigned propellers with 25% less perceived noise.
The 40th Flight Test Squadron at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida has taken delivery of the first of two Kratos XQ-58A Valkyrie tactical drones. They’ll test the ability of the drone to autonomously operate over vast distances. The Squadron will figure out the logistics and infrastructure needed to house and operate the Valkyrie.
Using a drone to capture your cruise ship experience seems like a great idea, but can you do it? Of the eight major cruise lines, only three allow passengers to bring drones on board and you can’t fly the drone from the ship.
As thousands of onlookers watched a nighttime drone show in Perth, 50 of the 500 drones fell from the sky into the river. The reason for the failure is unknown and under investigation by Drone Sky Shows, but GPS signal interference is being cited as a possibility.
On October 29, 2022, Ukraine attacked the Russian Navy at Sevastopol with seven maritime drones. What these uncrewed surface vessels (USVs) accomplished might be considered historically significant. Not so much for the damage they inflicted, but for the way naval warfare will be viewed from now on.
Operations Over People approval for AgEagle, transitioning to UAV-dominated air forces, women drone pilots in Ukraine, an autonomous Black Hawk helicopter, a drone facilitates a robbery, a BVLOS corridor in upstate New York, an autonomous firefighting helicopter, 500 drones celebrate a game anniversary, and how to increase lithium battery lifespan.
AgEagle Aerial Systems Inc. announced that the eBee X series of UAS comply with Category 3 of the Operations Over People rules for sUAS. These are the first and only drones on the market to comply with the rules published in March 2021. eBee drone operators will no longer need an FAA waiver for OOP or Operations Over Moving Vehicles. Testing was conducted by the Virginia Tech Mid-Atlantic Aviation Partnership (“MAAP”). The family of eBee fixed-wing UAS includes the eBee X, eBee GEO, and eBee TAC.
The eBee is currently approved for use by the U.S. Department Of Defense under the Blue sUAS 2.0 program, for BVLOS operations in Brazil, and Operations Over People and BVLOS operations in Canada. It is also the first drone to receive European Union Aviation Safety Agency (“EASA”) C2 certification and a Design Verification essential for these operations from EASA.
This opinion piece argues that manned military aircraft have issues and unmanned aircraft, or drones, can address some of them. This is not to say that manned combat aircraft should be abandoned. Rather, supplementing manned with unmanned should be the focus and the military should plan to “transition toward UAV-dominated air forces.”
The Female Pilots of Ukraine school opened recently to teach Ukrainian women to operate drones. Most Ukrainian drone pilots are men and this school focuses on training women – civilians and military student pilots.
In a demonstration to the U.S. Army, Sikorsky and DARPA showed how an autonomous Black Hawk helicopter could perform internal and external cargo resupply missions, as well as a rescue operation. The demonstration shows that in the future, optionally piloted utility helicopters could fly complex missions safely.
The incident took place in broad daylight in France with security footage showing a drone flying into the air vent. The drone subsequently pushed a button that opened a door allowing the thieves to enter.
Governor Kathy Hochul announced that the New York Unmanned Aircraft Systems Test Site (NUAIR) received approval from the FAA to fly uncrewed aircraft systems BVLOS across the 50-mile airspace of New York’s Drone Corridor. NUAIR can fly civilian drones from Syracuse International Airport to Griffiss International Airport in Rome without the need for visual observers.
The Governor also announced that New York will be providing NUAIR with an additional $21 million in funding to cultivate the UAS industry hub along the corridor in Central New York.
Also, NUAIR has entered into an agreement with Quebec-based VPorts to develop an international Advanced Air Mobility Corridor between Syracuse International Airport and Quebec, Canada.
Rain Industries says, “Every Wildfire Starts Small” and “The Rain System contains ignitions within 10 minutes to prevent catastrophic wildfires.” Rain announced their next-generation MK2 autonomous firefighting demonstrator aircraft, an uncrewed aircraft system (UAS) that carries about 30 gallons of payload.
Beijing University of Chemical Technology researchers say a new technology could triple the lifespan of lithium batteries and decrease the risk of battery fires. They do this by replacing the liquid battery electrolytes with gel-polymer electrolytes.