AI & AutonomyArmy’s SkyFoundry Plan To Build Own Cheap Drones Has ‘Evolved,’ Official Notes Commercial Involvement The Army’s SkyFoundry initiative to manufacture thousands of its own cheap drones on a monthly basis has recently “evolved,” with an official telling sister publication Defense Daily the program is “100 percent a…
AI & AutonomyWith an Eye To CCA Increment 2, Talon IQ Conducts Test Flight A “Talon IQ” Model 437 aircraft by Northrop Grumman‘s Scaled Composites has flown a mission autonomy test flight using the company’s Prism software and Hivemind software by Shield AI, the companies said on…
MilitaryArmy Accepts First Optionally-Piloted Black Hawk, Will Inform Scaling Autonomy Across The Fleet The Army announced Friday it has officially accepted the first Black Hawk helicopter outfitted to fly autonomously, with the plans for the aircraft to now undergo a “rigorous testing phase.” The H-60Mx,…
MilitaryUSAF Expects KC-135 Center Console Refresh Solicitation In May The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center’s (AFLCMC) KC-135 Center Console Refresh (CCR) program office at Tinker AFB, Okla., said that it expects to issue a solicitation in May after more than…
MilitaryRobinson Helicopter Details New Unmanned Business Unit, Cargo UAS Project With Sikorsky Robinson Helicopter on March 9 announced the launch of its new Robinson Unmanned business unit, and detailed a new unmanned cargo helicopter offering utilizing Sikorsky’s autonomy capability. With Robinson Unmanned, the company…
MilitaryAeroVironment Expands Manufacturing Capacity, UAS Products, With ESAero Acquisition AeroVironment on March 16 said it has acquired Empirical Systems Aerospace, Inc. (ESAero) in a $200 million deal that adds manufacturing, design and prototyping capacity, complimentary expertise in electric and hybrid propulsion, more…
MilitaryRolls-Royce F130 Engine For B-52 Passes Altitude And Operability Testing, Company Says Rolls-Royce said on Feb. 24 that it has completed altitude and operability testing for the company’s F130 engine as part of the U.S. Air Force’s Commercial Engine Replacement Program (CERP) modernization for…
MilitaryAir Force Acquisition Official: ‘APG-85 Is A Helluva Radar Unless You Don’t Have One’ AURORA, Colo.–While it may take two years to field, a dual-mount bulkhead in the nose of the Lockheed Martin F-35 to accommodate both the AN/APG-81 radar or the twice as powerful AN/APG-85, both by…
MilitaryUSAF Looks To Replace Radios On HH-60Ws The U.S. Air Force is looking to replace the Link-16 TacNet Tactical Radios (TTRs) by RTX‘s Collins Aerospace on the service’s fleet of Lockheed Martin HH-60W Jolly Green II combat search and…
Advanced TechnologyStartup Developing Blended Wing Aircraft For Cargo Use Raises $28 Million Natilus, a startup focused on developing blended-wing aircraft for cargo and passenger applications, on Feb. 10 said it has raised $28 million in an early funding round that will allow it to…