Aircraft

X-47B UCAS_Mission Concept Artist – Northrup Grumman Mysterious Unmanned Aerial Aircraft at Kandahar Reports are coming out of Afghanistan this spring about sightings of a large reconnaissance aircraft unlike any previously known to the military aviation industry. Rumor has it that this aircraft has also been seen by U-2 pilots flying high altitude reconnaissance missions over Iraq. With remote, Taliban controlled areas in Pakistan and Afghanistan inaccessible to ‘boots on the ground’ intelligence, the United States and NATO rely heavily upon aerial reconnaissance using (U)nmanned (A)erial) ((V)ehicles . When aircraft designation includes (C)ombat then it is weaponized, can release bombs and is not restricted ... Read Full Story

Laser Defense: Boeing’s MATRIX high-energy directed weapon knocks a UAV out of the sky. U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory From Popular Science: Boeing has just announced it successfully tracked and shot down an unmanned aerial vehicle with a laser weapon. Actually, it shot down five UAVs at various ranges with the trailer-mounted Mobile Active Targeting Resource for Integrated eXperiments (MATRIX). Developed at the request of the Air Force Research Laboratory, MATRIX integrates with standard test-range radar, focusing a single energy beam on moving aerial vehicles and blasting them out of the sky. It’s the future of aerial seek and destroy, defending against always-orbiting unmanned ... Read Full Story

The Boeing Company in May demonstrated the ability of mobile laser weapon systems to perform a unique mission: track and destroy small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). During the U.S. Air Force-sponsored tests at the Naval Air Warfare Center in China Lake, Calif., the Mobile Active Targeting Resource for Integrated eXperiments (MATRIX), which was developed by Boeing under contract to the Air Force Research Laboratory, used a single, high-brightness laser beam to shoot down five UAVs at various ranges. Laser Avenger, a Boeing-funded initiative, also shot down a UAV. Representatives of the Air Force and Army observed the tests. Read more Read Full Story

An MQ-9 Reaper remotely piloted aircraft prepares to taxi out of a hangar at Joint Base Balad in Iraq. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Erik Gudmundson) From The U.S. Air Force: WASHINGTON (AFNS) — As Pentagon officials look for ways to increase intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance support for warfighters in Afghanistan, the Air Force’s first unmanned aircraft systems wing already is on the case in its never-ending quest to provide more and better intelligence through the systems they fly. “I don’t have to tell them to try to make it better,” Col. Peter E. Gersten said of his 432nd Wing and 432nd Air Expeditionary ... Read Full Story

The first Saab 340 Erieye AEW, Airborne Early Warning, for Thailand completed its maiden flight together with the first Royal Thai Air Force Gripen on November 13. The Saab 340 Erieye AEW flight took two hours and 14 minutes and was executed by Magnus Fredriksson and Åke Wargh from Saab. "The flight went as expected and we tested all the basic aircraft systems. We now look forward to continuing the tests in order to then be able to deliver the aircraft to Thailand," says Magnus Fredriksson. Read more Read Full Story