From the decks of military ships to the atmosphere and further on into space.
Unmanned aircraft are taking over flight for pilots and giving us greater
capabilities.
This is Glenn and today we are bringing you 15 innovative unmanned
aircraft.
Number Fifteen
Facebook bought Ascenta, a small British company in 2014 to build what
founder Mark Zuckerberg hoped would bring internet access to impoverished
parts of the world.
With drones that could fly 60,000 feet above the ground
while flying four months without landing.
Facebook has made splashy announcements
over the last four years about building a fleet of solar-powered drones with
wingspans bigger than a Boeing 737, but weighing just as much as a grand piano.
After a successful test flight in 2016, the drone initiative project Akia
suffered several setbacks, with one test flight ending with a crash landing, and a
broken wing.
2018 Facebook announced it would no longer build the drones but
would instead rely on other companies to build aircraft.
Number Fourteen
The Chevelle
group focuses on the development testing and production of the revolutionary cam
copter S-100.
unmanned air system that has a proven capability for civilian and
military applications.
It operates under adverse weather conditions, day or night,
with a range of up to 125 miles on land or at sea, and needs no staging area or
supporting launch and recovery equipment, for the vertical takeoff and landing.
The S-100 can be operated with a pilot control unit or automatically via
pre-programmed GPS waypoints.
And using fly-by-wire technology, controlled by
redundant flight computers, it can complete its mission in the most complex
electromagnetic environments.
Number Thirteen
Incorporating an innovative modular
design concept that combines a short turnaround time and built-in test
functionality.
The modified R3 50 was used as an unmanned test helicopter and
included two specific payloads from ESG using light detection and ranging lidar
with an EO IR geo stabilized camera.
It has a max airspeed of 75 miles per hour
can deploy multiple payloads at the same time
and because it weighs under 330 pounds maximum takeoff weight it only needs
national certification to be able to fly.
This includes a jet turbine that can be
changed in less than 15 minutes and a propulsion unit that can be replaced in
less than 45 minutes.
Both of them running on jet A1 and JP-8 heavy fuels.
Number Twelve
The magma is an unmanned aircraft manufactured by BAE Systems
which will use a unique blown air system to maneuver the plane, and will pave the
way for future stealthier aircraft designs.
Two methods are used to steer
the craft.
Wing circulation control takes air from a jet engine and blows it at
supersonic speeds over the trailing edge of the wing and another system fluidic
thrust vectoring uses jets of air to deflect the engine exhaust which can
make the drone change course.
When there are no hinge lines or large moving
surfaces of plane is less likely to be detected by radar with the aim of
creating an aircraft that flies without using any moving surfaces.
Number Eleven
The MQ8C Fire Scout unmanned helicopter
the Navy hopes will increase the lethality of the services new combat
ships.
According to Northrop Grumman the MQ-8C
can take off and land autonomously from any aviation capable ship and can carry
out search and rescue operations, anti-surface, anti-submarine, and mine
warfare.
Fire Scout can fly for 11.5 hours for a range of 300 miles by
providing targeting data for the LCS's over the horizon surface missile.
Company plans to upgrade to a new radar and datalink allowing it to send air to air
and surface targeting information to surface ships.
Number Ten
The MQ-9B Sky Guardian is produced by General Atomics Aeronautical
Systems Incorporated and is the first medium-altitude long-endurance
remotely piloted aircraft to fly across the Atlantic non-stop.
Piloted by an
operator located at its base in Grand Forks North Dakota the sky guardian flew
three thousand seven hundred sixty miles landing in Fairford Gloucestershire in
just 24 hours and two minutes.
With a wingspan of 79 feet and the capability
of flying non-stop for over 40 hours this has an extensively tested collision
system and type certification, allowing for unrestricted operations in any
airspace.
Number Nine
NASA's Prantle D is based on a concept that can
significantly enhance control and eliminate the need for a vertical tail
while leading to new aircraft designs.
The aircraft could reduce drag by 11
percent with a new method of determining the wing shape with a twist.
The first two
subscale aircraft had a 12 and a half foot wingspan, with number three first
flown on October 28, 2015, having doubled the wingspan, twenty-five feet, of the
earlier versions.
Each aircraft was radio operated with a hobby-grade controller
and launched with a bungee cord system.
Looking like a giant boomerang and
constructed of carbon fiber, fiberglass, and foam, this is lightweight at 28
pounds, has an airspeed of 18 knots, and a maximum test altitude of 220 feet.
Number Eight
Martin's V Bat Series aircraft is the only single-engine
ducted fan VTOL that can take off and land from a hover, and can make
mid-flight transitions to hover and stare, at any time throughout a given
mission set.
The drone is 84 pounds, has a total flight time of 8 hours with an
hour of reserve fuel, has a top speed of 90 knots, a maximum altitude of 15,000
feet, and a maximum range of 350 miles.
Successfully conducting ISR missions
it ranges more than 50 miles.
The V-Bat performed at a more strategic altitude
and demonstrated its capability of integrated flight with the tracking
antenna.
Number Seven
The Predator Sea Avenger drone is manufactured by General
atomic aeronautical systems and has demonstrated its ability to handle
itself on an aircraft deck.
Including taxi capability and transitioning from
launch to recovery phases.
This drone can integrate with flight deck operations
and follow the directions of the director who can control the drones taxi
operations including spreading and folding the wings, lowering and raising
the launch bar, and raising the arresting hook.
The drone can also talk back to the
controller and other flight deck personnel using LED lights that change
colors and/or flash to indicate the aircraft's operating state or condition
and show that they have received a command.
Number Six
Making its international debut at the 2017 Paris Air Show the
Night Warden Tactical Unmanned Aircraft System is manufactured by Textron
systems and is the production-ready version of the Shadow M2 which was first
flown in 2012.
This unmanned aircraft has a blended wing and an improved
propulsion system that uses a new reduced noise water-cooled rotary engine
that has a higher electrical output than previous versions with a payload
capacity of 130 pounds.
It has a range of 683 miles and a top speed of 90 knots.
The Nght Warden has already undergone testing and has 400 flight hours in the
Mideast and Asia-Pacific region and in Europe.
Where it demonstrated its ability
to operate independent of runways, using its automated takeoff and landing system,
remote taxi system, enhance landing gear, and air vehicle parachute for emergencies.
Number Five
The high-altitude Pseudo-Satellite AAPIS Duo is a solar
aircraft manufactured by UAV OS.
A 10 meter prototype was made for testing
control algorithms including takeoff and landing and full-scale verification of
HAPS Aerodynamics.
Once developed the opposite view AAPIS Duo HAPS
will be used for a wide range of tasks such as video surveillance and monitoring,
drone communication systems, broadband coverage, frequency jamming, and target
destination.
This is intended for long-term monitoring at various
latitudes around the globe and will serve as a telecommunication hub.
That will carry a 2-kilogram payload for up to 365 days
at a latitude of 20 degrees,
have a wingspan of 91 feet, a weight 50 pounds, and can perform flights at an
altitude up to 65 thousand 600 feet.
Number Four
the X-37B a semi secret space plane headed yet
again to earth orbit where he can find the International Space Station and all
sorts of commercial and military satellites.
The mission was slated to
last 270 days depending on test objectives, on-orbit vehicle performance,
and conditions the landing facility.
According to the Air Force the primary
objectives of the X-37B are operating experiments which can be returned to and
examined on earth and reusable spacecraft technologies for America's
future in space.
Tarmac weighing in at just 11,000 pounds and a wingspan of
fewer than 15 feet.
It circled the earth and obscurity for more than half a year
before being identified by some amateur satellite observers.
Number Three
Developed by the American Defense Technology Company Northrop
Grumman the X-47B is an unmanned combat air vehicle demonstrator designed for
aircraft carrier-based operations.
The X-47B is a tailless blended wing body
aircraft capable of subsonic speed, semi-autonomous operation, and aerial
refueling.
It has a length of 38 feet, a wingspan of 62 feet, a range of 2,100
nautical miles, and a maximum altitude of 40,000 feet.
Using the hand controller
the deck operator can maneuver the X-47B onto the catapult, run the engine to
tension the cat, check the flight surfaces are clear, and indicate that the
aircraft is ready to launch then and over control to the mission operator
below decks.
Number Two
Sikorsky now owned by Lockheed Martin is nearing completion
of the first UH-60 outfitted with an aftermarket robotic co-pilot kit.
That can help plan and execute missions with pilot either in the cockpit or remotely
operating the aircraft.
Sikorsky has taken a standard UH-60 A and installed
fly-by-wire flight controls and supervised dectatamy, that includes
degraded visual environment mitigation and other technologies.
Marking the
culmination of about a decade of work by Sikorsky, the US Army, and the Defense
Advanced Research Projects Agency.
The optionally pilot at blackhawk is nearly
complete and going through ground check.
The army also plans to build its own experimental Blackhawk using the
technology for potentially using it on the entire legacy UH-60 fleet.
Number One
A major victory for Boeing that has in recent years struggled to
win combat aircraft contracts the company has won the Navy's tanker drone
contract.
Bringing the future of unmanned aircraft carrier aviation to the US Navy
with its MQ 25.
An unmanned aircraft system designed for US Navy missions it
will provide the needed robust refueling capability, thereby extending the combat
range of deployed Boeing EA-18G Growler Lockheed Martin F-35 C fighters and the
Boeing F-18 Super Hornet.
Delivering carrier aircraft to the Navy for more
than 90 years Boeing's MQ 25 is ready.
The 805 million dollar contract covering
the fabrication development design delivery and testing for stingray
aircraft.
Hey guys.
This is Cassie.
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