Tag Archives: Skunk Works

Maui63 drone

365 Remote Identification Implications

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

364 The Recreational Drone Test

How to become a drone test administrator, Ingenuity phones home from Mars, lessons of the dot-com crash and the eVTOL market, a Skunk Works “Speed Racer,” Naval resupply with an autonomous UAS, and a new animated drone show record.

UAV News

The FAA wants you… to be a drone test administrator

The FAA developed a 3-step process to implement a nation-wide system to train and test all recreational drone pilots. Test content development and test administration is complete, now the FAA needs volunteers to become an FAA Approved Test Administrator of The Recreational UAS Safety Test (FAA Approved TA TRUST). The FAA is inviting interested parties to submit applications to become testers and will announce selected test administrators in June 2021.

See: FAA Seeks TRUST Administrators for Drone Pilot Test and Aeronautical Knowledge and Safety Test Updates.

The first helicopter on Mars phones home after Perseverance rover landing

The Ingenuity helicopter that was carried to Mars by the Perseverance rover is successfully communicating with controllers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. A series of battery charging cycles will take place, then the helicopter will be released by the rover. A 30-day experimental flight test window will follow. The JPL said, “If Ingenuity succeeds in taking off and hovering during its first flight, over 90 percent of the project’s goals will have been achieved. If the rotorcraft lands successfully and remains operable, up to four more flights could be attempted, each one building on the success of the last.”

Entering the era of peak uncertainty for eVTOLs

Is the emerging air mobility market repeating the scenario that took place before the dot-com crash? Valuations are not connected to market fundamentals, we see significant technology trends, and an there is an inability to distinguish fact from hype. Also, power sources and capacities are not established, and viable eVTOL applications are not uncertain. Will people embrace UAM and who will be the corporate winners and losers? The crystal ball is cloudy.

Secretive New Skunk Works UAS Set For Ground Testing Soon

The Lockheed Martin Skunk Works is about to start ground testing the “Speed Racer.” The name is an acronym, but its meaning is unknown. The vehicle is part of the StarDrive initiative where the U.S. Air Force wants to unite digital engineering tools for the design, manufacturing, and sustainment phases of new weapon systems. Lockheed intends that StarDrive will reduce the time and cost of producing and operating new flight vehicles for the military. 

Navy Tests Autonomous Aerial Supply Drone From Its Newest Supercarrier

On Feb. 21, 2021, the U.S. Navy demonstrated a small, autonomous VTOL unmanned aircraft that delivered “light-weight logistical equipment” to the USS Gerald R. Ford. The payload was transported from the Mid Atlantic Regional Maintenance Center (MARMC) at Naval Station Norfolk in Virginia to the Ford. The Blue Water UAS was commercially procured in October 2020. It’s a version of the Skyways V2.5 Hybrid-Electric that features an AI-driven flight system, maximum range of 500 miles, and maximum payload of 30 pounds.

Courtesy U.S. Navy.

UAV Video of the Week

Hundreds of drones took Van Gogh’s ‘The Starry Night’ to the skies — and set a Guinness World Record

Six hundred drones told the story of Van Gogh’s life in the night sky over China’s Tianjin Municipality, setting a Guinness World Record for the longest animation performed by unmanned aerial vehicles – 26 minutes and 19 seconds. The display was created by drone production company EFYI Group, along with Tianjin University.

Video: Unbelievable DRONE display – Guinness World Records