March 20, 2014 defense-unmanned.com

(Source: Israel Air Force; issued March 20, 2014)

Star Is Born: A Name Is Chosen for the "Hermes 900" UAV

The Hermes 900 UAV, manufactured by the Israeli company Elbit Systems, received its official Hebrew name in the IAF: "Kochav" (star in Hebrew). The Kochav UAV strengthens the UAV arm of the IAF and is designed for HALE (High Altitude Long Endurance) reconnaissance missions

The UAV arm of the IAF continues to expand: this week, a Hebrew name for the "Hermes 900" UAV was chosen: "Kochav" (star, in Hebrew).

The Israeli-built UAV serves at the Palmachim airbase and takes part in all kinds of reconnaissance missions and special missions.

The Kochav UAV, which is manufactured by the Israeli company Elbit System, has joined the UAV Division of the IAF. It possesses a wide range of capabilities, including the ability to carry out missions in all weather conditions.

The Kochav has innovative UAV capabilities: automatic takeoff, landing and braking capabilities. Additionally, it has another operational advantage over older aircraft, as it can carry multiple payloads, allowing it to perform several missions during a single flight.

CANBERRA, Australia, March 13 (UPI)

The Australian government will acquire Northrop Grumman's MQ-4C Triton unmanned aerial vehicle once its development is completed.

The commitment to purchase the aircraft, under development for the U.S. Navy, was made in a statement issued this week from the office of Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott.

The MQ-4C Triton is a maritime surveillance platform with a maximum speed of 357 miles per hour, a service ceiling of 60,000 feet and an endurance of 30 hours. It is intended to complement maritime patrol aircraft.

"These aircraft will patrol Australia's vast ocean approaches, and work closely with other existing and future Australian Defense Force assets to secure our ocean resources, including energy resources off northern Australia, and help to protect our borders," the Prime Minister's office said.

Acquisition of the aircraft and their ground stations will require about $125.5 million of new facilities and infrastructure. About $89.6 million would be invested in the state of South Australia, where the UAVs would be based.

The statement said the number of Triton UAVs to be procured would be decided in 2016.

Mar 12, 2014 ASDNews By  Justin Eimers, CECOM US Army

The Army, Marine Corps, Air Force and Navy have named Tobyhanna Army Depot as the Depot Source of Repair for the Gray Eagle (MQ-1C) Unmanned Aircraft System Ground Control Stations.

The decision by the four services' Maintenance Inter-service Support Management Offices recognizes the depot as the installation best suited for these repairs.

"Through the acquisition process, there is a lot of assessment that takes place, including core logistics analyses that look at our capabilities," said Nick Caprioli, chief of the Business Development Division. "Tobyhanna was selected based on infrastructure, training and technical expertise for this type of work."

Repairs for the new workload will begin in fiscal year 2016, with 19 Ground Control Stations, or GCSs, scheduled per year, totaling more than 75 systems through fiscal year 2018.

The Gray Eagle system is a long-range, high-altitude Unmanned Aircraft System, or UAS, that provides the capability to perform wide-area reconnaissance, surveillance and target acquisition. It is also capable of relaying communications and can be equipped for attack missions. The system consists of the aircraft, GCS, data terminals and data links. Each GCS controls one Gray Eagle aircraft and is used by the operator to perform command and control, payload control and weapon launch operations.

Due to their complexity, Gray Eagle systems and components are currently replaced rather than repaired, exhausting money and resources. Depot personnel are developing cost-effective solutions to repair GCSs and increase capability. Tobyhanna recognizes that the assignment of this Depot Source of Repair, or DSOR, will enable the depot to be selected for additional DSORs for UAS equipment.

Katlin Edmunds, business development specialist, noted that revamping the DSOR decision process will also help substantially reduce costs and bring more UAS work to the depot.

"DSOR selection helps ensure effective use of commercial and organic depot maintenance resources," she said. "We have been aggressively trying to streamline processes, find inefficiencies and figure out the best way to accommodate new UAS workloads."

Based on trends in the market, business management analysts anticipate that UAS will be the depot's largest commodity in the future. As the only Army depot involved in the Integrated Product Team, or IPT, for Air Force and Army UAS, Tobyhanna is well positioned to receive workloads for additional UAS component repairs. The IPT is working with Tobyhanna to identify the need for any new test equipment, facilitation or training necessary for additional UAS work.

"Part of the planning process to bring in this workload is to have our engineers work with the program offices to make sure our capabilities are sufficient to provide the best solution for everybody involved," said Caprioli. "The depot's all-hands-on-deck approach to secure this DSOR selection has helped increase our marketability and should open doors for future UAS workloads."

Tobyhanna Army Depot is a recognized leader in providing world-class logistics support for Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance, also known as C4ISR, Systems across the Department of Defense. Tobyhanna's Corporate Philosophy, dedicated work force and electronics expertise ensure the depot is the Joint C4ISR provider of choice for all branches of the Armed Forces and industry partners. Tobyhanna's unparalleled capabilities include full-spectrum support for sustainment, overhaul and repair, fabrication and manufacturing, engineering design and development, systems integration, technology insertion, modification, and global field support to warfighters.

About 3,500 personnel are employed at Tobyhanna, which is located in the Pocono Mountains of northeastern Pennsylvania. Tobyhanna Army Depot is part of the U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command. Headquartered at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., the command's mission is to research, develop, acquire, field and sustain communications, command, control computer, intelligence, electronic warfare and sensors capabilities for the Armed Forces.

A Chinese CH-4 unmanned aerial vehicle

11 March 2014 bhttp://www.defenceweb.co.za/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=33927:algeria-evaluating-chinese-ch-4-uav&catid=35:Aerospace&Itemid=107y defenceWeb

Algerian is evaluating the Chinese CH-4 unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and is reportedly very interested in acquiring the type, which can be armed with guided weapons.

The CH-4, developed by the China Academy of Aerospace Aerodynamics (CAAA), has been undergoing testing with the Algerian military for some months, according to Air Forces Daily. One is reported to have crashed during testing at the Algerian Air Force’s base at Tindouf several months ago while a second one crashed on Sunday at the Ain Oussera Air Base. The UAV came down 100 metres short of the runway whilst preparing to land.

In spite of the crashes, Algeria is apparently still very interested in acquiring the CH-4 (Cai Hong 4 or Rainbow 4), which appears to have been inspired by the General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper. The UAV, with a takeoff weight of 1.3 tons and a payload of 350 kg, has a wingspan of 18 metres and a length of 8.5 metres. Top speed is 235 km/h and operational altitude is 3000-3500 metres, according to officially released data, while combat radius is 2000 km and endurance is 36 hours.

CAAA technical staff claim the CH-4 has four hard points capable of carrying two AR-1 laser-guided missiles and two FT-5 small guided bombs.

The CH-4 was first seen at the Zuhai airshow in 2012 and in the absence of Chinese military interest it seems the aircraft is aimed at the export market.

Algeria has reportedly also been in discussions with China over the purchase of Xianglong unmanned aerial vehicles. Echorouk quoted an unnamed Algerian defence ministry colonel as saying that the UAV was successfully tested in Tamanrasset, southern Algeria, last year.

The Xianglong (Soar Dragon) is a jet-powered High Altitude Long Endurance (HALE) aircraft designed by the Guizhou Aircraft Corporation of China, initially for use by the People’s Liberation Army Air Force. The Xianglong has a length of 14 metres, a height of 5 metres and a wingspan of 25 metres. It has a top speed of 750 km/h, endurance of up to 10 hours, and a maximum range of 7 000 km.

Tactical Weekly earlier this year reported that the Algerian Defence Ministry is said to have decided to go ahead with a programme to buy 90 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), including attack UAVs.

Last year, Algeria expressed interest in the Adcom Systems Yabhon United 40 Block 5 UAV from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to meet its Medium-Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) requirement. According to Algerian daily El Watan, Algeria is negotiating with Russia to purchase 30 E95 unmanned aerial vehicles/target drones from Russia.

Algeria is looking for aerial reconnaissance platforms to track down various Maghreb-based terrorist groups, drug and arms traffickers and militants who have taken advantage of post-war chaos in Mali and Libya to destabilise the Sahel-Maghreb region.

Algeria currently flies Denel Seeker II UAVs and is believed to have ordered one new Seeker 400 system with three aircraft. The Seeker 400 is currently undergoing flight testing.

The North African country has previously expressed interest in General Atomics Predator/Reaper UAVs. It also has six King Air 350ER surveillance aircraft fitted with Gabbiano T-200 radars, Wescam Mx15i infrared cameras and other features for maritime and ground surveillance.

Since war clouds started gathering over northern Mali in November 2012, the Algerian army has deployed more than 12 000 personnel to secure the borders with Mali, Libya and Niger.

Algeria has increased its defence budget for 2014 and is actively seeking new tankers, transports, helicopters and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) aircraft. Last year Algeria evaluated the Boeing C-17 Globemaster III strategic transport and Airbus A330 MRTT tanker with an eye to replacing ageing Il-78 Midas tankers and acquiring a new transport aircraft. Algeria asked the two respective companies to conduct demonstrations, indicating the seriousness of these potential contracts.

Algeria is growing its defence spending by 6% through 2017, according to some estimates, as it modernises and re-equips to meet the challenge of insecurity and terrorism in the region.

07/03/2014 Actualité DGA

La Direction Générale de l’Armement et la société Dassault Aviation ont reçu la nuit dernière le 1er prix dans la catégorie défense des Laureate Awards, décerné par le magazine Aviation Week. Cette distinction récompense l’excellence technologique et de la capacité d’innovation tant étatique qu’industrielles sur le démonstrateur Neuron.

Depuis son premier vol du 1er décembre 2012, Neuron n’a cessé de démontrer ses qualités que ce soit en essais au sol ou en vol. La DGA assure la maîtrise d’ouvrage d’ensemble de ce projet notifié en 2006. Il est le fruit d’une coopération européenne qui rassemble outre la France avec Dassault Aviation comme maître d’œuvre, cinq pays partenaires et leurs industriels : l’Italie, la Suède, l’Espagne, la Grèce et la Suisse.

Ce succès illustre la déclaration de Laurent Collet-Billon lors de la conférence de presse du 18 février 2041 : «Plus que jamais nous devons savoir investir, savoir innover, savoir-faire pour gagner la bataille sur le terrain, la bataille de l’économie, de l’export et rester sur le podium international ».

Financé sur le budget des études amont du ministère de la défense, Neuron marque un effort de recherche et technologie majeur pour préparer l’avenir et maintenir des compétences industrielles essentielles. Il inaugure la prochaine génération d’aéronefs de combat, qu’ils soient pilotés ou non, avec l’ambition de préserver l’autonomie européenne dans ce domaine. C’est un défi majeur tant sur le plan technologique qu’industriel.

The Airbus DS Atlante long-endurance tactical UAV seen during its first flight on Feb 28, 2013 in Spain. Airbus says it is so far the only UAV designed to fly both military and civilian missions.(Airbus photo)

March 07, 2014 defense-unmanned.com

(Source: Defense-Aerospace.com; published March 07, 2014)

Airbus Plots Return to UAV Market, Enhances Medium Transports

MADRID --- Airbus Defense and Space is preparing to return to the UAV market, three years after it was forced out by the reluctance of the French and German governments to financially support any of the unmanned aircraft projects which it had developed.

“We are revisiting our strategy on unmanned aerial vehicles with a vision to leadership,” Antonio Rodríguez Barberán, Head of Military Aircraft sales at Airbus Defence and Space, told Defense-Aerospace.com. “We are planning to be there, even if it takes some years.”

This is a major shift in company policy, as Airbus Group decided in 2011 to freeze its UAV activities after having invested over 500 million euros in several programs without having convinced its domestic customers that they were worth supporting. Corporate strategy, at the time, was to sit out until European governments decided which programs, and which companies, they would support.

This approach was not very successful, however, as Airbus was frozen out of two major market segments: Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE), where France preferred buying Reaper unmanned aircraft from the United States, with Germany and the Netherlands to follow shortly, and the High Altitude Lone Endurance (HALE) segment, where its EuroHawk program was abruptly cancelled by the Germen government because of cost and regulatory failings. The company was left with only smaller UAVs, a segment where competition is rife and margins small.

Airbus has now changed tack because “it’s time for a proper aircraft manufacturer to get involved, to certify UAVs to civilian standards – and I mean FAR 23 and FAR 25 – so they can be used in unsegregated airspace,” Rodriguez said. At present, UAVs can only be used in segregated airspace, under military air regulations, and so are severely limited in their operational usefulness.

While it has no immediate plans to resume large-scale investments in the UAV sector, Airbus DS does not see financing as a major obstacle. “We know there is a market, and if there is a market there is money,” Rodriguez said. He adds that for Airbus this is a decade-long project, which will eventually bring it a leading role: “Airbus is not here to be a subcontractor,” he says, making clear that the company is not aiming for a subordinate role in ongoing European UAV programs.

While waiting for the MALE market to mature, and for the dust to settle in the combat UAV (UCAV) segment, Airbus is finalizing development of its own tactical UAV, Atlante, which is significantly smaller than the MALE and HALE segments it previously pursued.

Weighing about 550 kg, Atlante has been developed in Spain, and from the outset the goal has been to fly in segregated civilian airspace, i.e. over populated areas, and it is intended to be certified for that operational environment. “The key word here is ‘certification’,” Rodriguez says, adding that, of course, “it has to offer value for money.”

Atlante first flew in February 2013,


Light Transport Aircraft Sector Gliding Along

While its UAV strategy matures, Airbus DS continues to improve its transport aircraft product line. It recently agreed with Indonesian partner IPT Nurtanio, also known as Indonesian Aerospace, to develop a modernized version of the C-212 light twin turboprop transport, and it also is refining the performance of the C-295, its very successful medium twin. Most of the effort is on refining the airframe design, for example by adding wingtip extensions, and on increasing engine power ratings, which together add 1,000 ft. to the aircraft’s ceiling in One Engine Inoperative (OEI) conditions.

The C295’s Pratt & Whitney engines are already at their power limit, so they have no more growth potential, so these refinements, together with a major upgrade of the aircraft’s avionics, will suffice to keep them competitive for years to come, says Rodriguez. The avionics upgrade will make it easier for the aircraft to operate in a civil environment.

A new design may well be necessary in 10 or 15 years, he adds, but for now it is still very premature.

The current line-up is quite profitable for the company, and currently accounts for average sales of about 20 aircraft per year, worth about 700-800 million euros including 100-150 million euros for related services.

Over the past 10 years, Airbus has sold 157 of the 306 light/medium turboprops sold world-wide, and so has a market share of over 50%, and this should increase as additional orders will be announced this year, one of them “by Easter.”

Compared to the Alenia C-27J Spartan, its direct competitor, the C-295 is simple, offers substantially lower fuel costs and “can be maintained with a hammer and a screwdriver,” Rodriguez says. Specifically, he says that maintenance costs are 35% lower, fuel consumption is 50% lower and, in terms of life-cycle costs, “it can save one million euros per plane, per year.”

Wed, 05/03/2014 Thales

Watchkeeper, the unmanned aircraft system (UAS) developed by Thales for the British Army, has been given a Release To Service by the UK’s Ministry of Defence (MOD).

Watchkeeper is the first UAS to be awarded a full Release To Service (RTS), and is the only UAS of its type allowed to fly in UK airspace. The RTS follows rigorous safety and airworthiness reviews to ensure the system can be operated safely by the British Army.  It will support British Army operations by allowing training on the system in the UK.

Watchkeeper is a high-performance, multi-sensor, all-weather UAS that can remain airborne for more than 16 hours in a single mission. The tactical UAS will be deployed by the British Army for life-saving surveillance and intelligence capabilities in support of military operations and is unarmed.

Crucially, Watchkeeper is certified to the same safety standard as manned aircraft.

02 mars 2014 par Jacques Marouani - electroniques.biz

Parrot a dévoilé au salon de l'Agriculture 2014 un drone dédié au suivi cartographique des cultures en partenariat avec Airinov

Parrot rassemble à présent cinq participations au sein de sociétés spécialisées dans les drones civils professionnels. Cela lui permet de servir trois marchés ciblés : les systèmes d'information géographique (GIS), la surveillance de zones sensibles, l’agriculture de précision.

Parrot vient d'annoncer deux prises de participations au sein de start-up spécialisées dans les drones civils professionnels, Airinov, à hauteur de 1,6 M€ pour 20,9 % du capital, et EOS innovation dans lequel le groupe investit 1 M€ pour prendre 33,4 % du capital.

Airinov conçoit une solution drone dédié à un usage exclusivement agronomique au travers d’un capteur optique et une chaîne de traitement permettant d’observer avec précisions les exploitations agricoles. Quant EOS Innovation, il s'agit d'un spécialiste de la robotique mobile destinée à la surveillance des sites industriels, plateformes logistiques et entrepôts.

Parrot a notamment commercialisé près de 700 000 Parrot AR.Drone en trois ans, qui sont des modèles grand public embarquant une caméra. Cette activité a généré plus de 40 M€ de chiffre d’affaires en 2013 dont près de 15% concernent les activités drones professionnels.

Amené à se développer fortement dans les prochaines années le marché des drones civils professionnels pourrait atteindre 2 milliards de dollars en 2015 selon le cabinet Frost & Sullivan, soutenue par les nouvelles capacités technologique, la baisse des coûts de production et l’évolution du cadre réglementaire. L’étude AUVSI (Association for Unmanned Vehicule System International) de mars 2013 estime que le marché américain, sur une période de 2015 à 2025, représente un potentiel de plus de 80 milliards de dollars et plus de 100 000 nouveaux emplois créés.

Les deux nouvelles opérations souscrites par Parrot permettront d’accélérer le développement des offres tant au niveau technologique que commercial. Les start-up pourront également bénéficier de l’expérience de Parrot pour leur industrialisation en s’appuyant par exemple sur le modèle sans usine du groupe, son réseau de fournisseurs de composants électroniques ainsi que sur sa dimension internationale. Les partenaires et filiales travaillent déjà sur des projets collaboratifs et le développement de ventes croisées.

Russia will test the Yabhon United 40 UAV, manufactured by Adcom Systems of the United Arab Emirates. (Adcom Systems)

Feb. 19, 2014 - By JAROSLAW ADAMOWSKI – Defense News

Russia will test the Yabhon United 40 UAV, manufactured by Adcom Systems of the United Arab Emirates.

WARSAW — Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has announced a program to spend about 320 billion rubles (US $9 billion) by 2020 on military UAVs, according to local news agency ITAR-TASS.

Under the plan, the new drones will boost the reconnaissance, communications and combat capacities of the Russian armed forces, according to the minister. Shoigu did not disclose the number of UAVs to be acquired. Presently, the Russian military operates a fleet of nearly 500 drones, the minister said.

The latest move follows last year’s announcement by Russian President Vladimir Putin that UAVs are a vital area of development in modern aviation, and that Russia needs to develop a wide range of drones, including combat and reconnaissance variants.

The Russian military is set to test the Yabhon United 40 medium-altitude, long-endurance UAV built by the United Arab Emirates’ Adcom Systems.

Other foreign-based companies to supply drones to Russia include Israel Aerospace Industries, which delivered 12 UAVs to the military under a deal inked in 2009.

Picture: Chris Ryding, BAE Systems

It has been revealed that the Taranis unmanned combat air vehicle surpassed all expectations during its first flight trials. The most advanced aircraft ever built by British engineers made its maiden flight at an undisclosed test range on Saturday 10 August 2013 and, under the control of a human operator, is capable of undertaking sustained surveillance, marking targets, gathering intelligence, deterring adversaries and carrying out strikes in hostile territory. Click here to read more.

Jan 31, 2014 By Giovanni de Briganti - Defense-Aerospace.com


PARIS --- The service introduction of Watchkeeper, the tactical UAV that has been in development for the British Army since 2005, may be further delayed due to unidentified technical issues that appear to have grounded the aircraft for three months in late 2013.

The Watchkeeper program apparently logged no flight activity between mid-September and mid-January, according to data provided by Thales, the program’s main contractor, which showed that the number of total flight hours and total sorties barely changed between Sept. 16, 2013 and Jan 12, 2014.

As of Sept. 16, Watchkeeper had flown “almost 600 sorties, for a total of about 1,000 flight hours,” a Thales spokesperson told Defense-Aerospace.com in an e-mail follow-up to an interview at the DSEi show in London.

On Jan. 20, responding to a follow-up query, the Thales spokesperson said that “Tests are progressing nominally, as planned. We have now passed 600 sorties and are nearing 1,000 flight hours.”

These figures show no flight activity between mid-September and mid-January. Asked to explain this apparent discrepancy, the Thales spokesperson had not responded by our deadline, three days later.

“The delivery of Watchkeeper equipment is on track and trials are continuing with over 550 hours flying having been completed,” the UK Ministry of Defence in a Jan 31 e-mail statement. Note this is about half the flight hour figure provided by Thales.

“…the Release to Service process is taking longer than expected,” the MoD statement continued, adding that “The last flight was last week, so it’s incorrect to say that the assets are still grounded.”

This unannounced grounding may be one reason why the French Ministry of Defense is back-pedaling on earlier promises to consider buying the Watchkeeper, after an inconclusive evaluation between April and July 2013 by the French army. The evaluation included “several dozen flight hours” from Istres, the French air force’s flight test center in south-eastern France, a French MoD spokesman said Jan. 31. The evaluation report has not been completed, and no date has been set, he added.

The final communiqué of today’s Anglo-French summit meeting, for the first time since November 2010, makes no mention of the Watchkeeper, although it was mentioned in passing by French President François Hollande during the summit press conference.

Thales’ figures on Watchkeeper flight activities have also been provided to other news outlets.

A Jan. 16 article by FlightGlobal quotes Nick Miller, Thales UK’s business director for ISTAR and UAV systems, as saying that “Watchkeeper aircraft have now completed more than 600 flights, exceeding a combined 950 flight hours.”

Aviation Week had posted an article the previous day, Jan. 15, in which it reported that “Thales U.K….is continuing flight trials and supports army training” (Emphasis added—Ed.). However, it is difficult to understand how training can take place without an increase in the number of sorties and flight hours.

The above article says “Watchkeeper may début in spring,” echoing a similar story published Sept. 12, 2013 in which Aviation Week said Thales UK “is hopeful that …Watchkeeper…will be certified by the end of the year.” This did not happen.

This same Aviation Week Sept. 12 story said that the Watchkeeper “fleet has flown more than 1,000 hr. over 600 flights” – a higher figure than FlightGlobal reported on Jan. 16, four months later.

The discrepancies in the figures provided to at least three trade publications clearly contradict company statements that Watchkeeper flight operations are “nominal” and “are continuing,” as they show no flight activity has been logged since September.

The obvious conclusion is that flight activities have been curtailed, either by a technical grounding or because of administrative blockages. In either case, Watchkeeper – which is already over three years late -- has clearly hit new obstacles that will further delay its operational clearance by the UK Ministry of Defence’s new Military Aviation Authority (MAA).

Watchkeeper is being developed by UAV Tactical Systems (U-TacS), a joint venture between Israel’s Elbit Systems (51% share) and Thales UK, the British unit of France’s Thales, under a contract awarded in 2005. UAV Engines Ltd, which builds Watchkeeper’s engine in the UK, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Elbit Systems.

Originally valued at £700 million, the cost has escalated to over £850 million, and service introduction has been delayed by at least three years.

The British Army is due to receive a total of 54 Watchkeeper unmanned aircraft and 15 ground stations. By late 2013, 26 aircraft and 14 ground stations had been delivered, according to published reports.

Jan 28, 2014 ASDNews Source : Naval Air Systems Command

The Navy and Marine Corps' newest small unmanned aircraft system RQ-21A Blackjack began its initial operational test and evaluation (IOT&E) in early January at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, Calif.

As part of IOT&E, this first low-rate initial production (LRIP) lot of the Blackjack, previously known as RQ-21A Small Tactical Unmanned Aircraft System (STUAS), will demonstrate the system’s effectiveness and suitability in realistic combat conditions.

Read more