Unmanned Aircraft Systems News

Wilhelmsen Ships Service has been selected to help develop the future Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) regulatory framework for Singapore and will receive dedicated funding for their shore-to-ship delivery project.Wilhelmsen Ships Service is one of only four companies to have received the funding, following a Call-For-Proposal (CFP) by CAAS and the Ministry of Transport. The CFP aims to support the development of systems and technologies to enable innovations within the wide-ranging use of UAS. The maximum funding available for each project is SGD1.5 million, or up to 50% of the total project qualified costs.Outlining the potential development of UAS for shore-to-ship deliveries…

Emerging spill response trends fit into two big categories: technology and a combination of economic and social forces. Both will shape what comes next.Florida’s stunning Tampa Bay stands out as exactly the kind of place where you have to think about hazardous materials emergencies. It was 25 years ago, on August 10, 1993, that a freighter collided with two barges near the entrance of Tampa Bay, causing a fire and spilling over 32,000 gallons of jet fuel, diesel, and gasoline and about 330,000 gallons of heavy fuel, devastating beaches, wildlife and habitat.

The U.S. Coast Guard Research and Development Center (RDC) in New London, Connecticut, is the service's only command conducting research, development, test and evaluation (RDT&E) support for all 11 statutory missions. Since its commissioning in 1972, RDC has been involved in over 2,000 projects and initiatives that have significantly benefited the Coast Guard and the components of the Maritime Transportation System. As the demand for research and development capability grows within the service…

Thales is announcing a major commitment to develop future autonomous and unmanned technology across air and sea by investing in two new UK-based trials and training centers. Following Thales’s successful trials during the Royal Navy’s Unmanned Warrior exercise in 2016, Thales is now investing in two trials and training centres based in West Wales and in South-West England to test and develop autonomous systems for both military and civil activities. "Investing in these facilities enables the safe test…

Cyberhawk Innovations, the world leader in aerial inspection and survey using Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS), otherwise known as drones, has welcomed Oil & Gas UK’s new guidelines on the use of drones in offshore environments. Cyberhawk played a key role in the drafting of the ‘Unmanned Aircraft Systems Operations Management Standards and Guidelines’, which were produced by Oil & Gas UK in conjunction with a working group. As well as Cyberhawk, this group included duty holders who have used UAS, industry and aviation safety experts and a limited number of additional UAS operators. Cyberhawk were the first company to operate UAS in the North Sea back in early 2012, and has been one of the most significant contributors to the development of the guidelines.

Unmanned aerial systems (UAS), or “drones” in common parlance, are not a part of the historical maritime vocabulary. At least not yet. While the term “drones” may conjure images from science fiction, the reality is that companies are designing commercial UAS for the private sector, and they are gradually permeating our daily life. Henry Ford is rumored to have opined on his invention of the automobile that if he had asked people what they wanted, they would have said “faster horses.” In the case of UAS…

Navy League’s Sea-Air-Space Exposition – AeroVironment, Inc. has announced the United States Navy plans to deploy its “Blackwing,” a small, tube-launched unmanned aircraft system that deploys from under the surface of the sea, on manned submarines and unmanned underwater vehicles. Blackwing builds on AeroVironment’s extensive operational experience with small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and its Switchblade Lethal Miniature Aerial Missile System (LMAMS) to provide the Navy with a low cost, submarine launched unmanned aircraft system optimized for Anti-Access/Aerial Denial (A2/AD) environments. AeroVironment developed the Blackwing…

Israel’s Elbit Systems unveiled a prototype of what it claims is the world’s first unmanned system for anti-submarine warfare (ASW) missions. Developed in less than three years with technical and performance input from the Israeli Navy and Israel’s Ministry of Defense, the self-funded Seagull can complement or even replace expensive, manpower-intensive frigates or aircraft currently used to hunt submarines at sea, according to executives in Israel. "Drawing on world class know-how derived from generations of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) design, development and operation and its naval capabilities, Elbit Systems’ newest offering in the unmanned platform field is Seagull - an organic…

The U.S. Navy and Republic of Singapore Navy completed the 21st annual Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) Singapore after 11 days of comprehensive training both at sea and ashore, July 24. CARAT Singapore featured a series of dynamic training engagements including a five-day sea phase involving ships, submarines and aircraft from both countries. "Having arrived in Southeast Asia in 2012, this was my third time participating in CARAT Singapore and each year, the exercise gets better and better," said Capt. Fred Kacher, commodore, Destroyer Squadron 7 and co-commander of the exercise task group. Building on CARAT's emphasis of increasing the complexity of combined scenarios each year…

The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) will evaluate unmanned aircraft system (UAS) capabilities, benefits, risks and technical limitations of operating UAS from land and/or off a Coast Guard Cutter in a maritime environment. The USCG said it intends to enter a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with Conoco Phillips Company for the assessment, under which it will conduct flight testing and evaluation of UASs under a variety of simulated but realistic and relevant real-world maritime operational scenarios, such as ice operations, marine environmental monitoring, marine safety, search and rescue and potentially other coast guard mission sets.

The U.S. Coast Guard completed Arctic Shield 2013 after a successful summer season of sustained operations and outreach efforts in the Arctic region Friday. Arctic Shield focused on Western Alaska and the Bering Strait and consisted of a three-pronged approach of operations, outreach and an assessment of the Coast Guard's capabilities in the Arctic. This regional operation aligns with the Coast Guard Arctic Strategy and its three key objectives: improving awareness, modernizing governance and broadening partnerships.

Members of the Coast Guard Research and Development Center, under the guidance of the Coast Guard’s recently released Arctic Strategy, worked with partner federal agencies and scientific organizations to successfully complete a simulated spilled oil response and recovery exercise aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Healy on the Arctic ice field Tuesday. The exercise involved air, surface and underwater assets to simulate the detection and recovery of oil from ice-strewn water. Assets…

Raven Aerostar recently concluded a successful maritime operation in response to an urgent requirement from the Commander, U.S. Navy South for a maritime persistent surveillance solution aimed to enhance security in the Caribbean Basin. Quickly meeting the requirements provided by U.S. Navy South, Raven Aerostar deployed a turnkey Maritime Persistent Surveillance Solution featuring a Raven Aerostar Tethered Aerostat System integrated with a state-of-the-art Vista Smart Sensing Radar System…

Aboard the SSV Robert C. Seamans last November, 1,500 miles from land, 38 researchers from Sea Education Association (SEA) studied a Brobdingnagian swath of Pacific Ocean that has become the temporary resting spot for thousands of tons of plastic. Commonly called the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch,” the area has attracted significant media attention in the last decade but a surprising dearth of scientific attention. Contrary to popular opinion, the “Patch” is not a continuous field of debris, is not visible from space, nor is it an “island of trash.”  But it’s there.

The Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation, chaired by U.S. Rep. Frank LoBiondo (R-NJ), held a hearing this morning to examine the fiscal year (FY) 2013 budget requests for the United States Coast Guard, Federal Maritime Commission (FMC), and Maritime Administration (MARAD). “The Subcommittee is meeting today to hear testimony on the President’s fiscal year 2013 budget request from the leaders of the three federal agencies which promote, protect, and regulate vessels and mariners in U.S. waters and international trade. “As my colleagues know, our nation is facing a very tough budget climate as we try to control our exploding national debt. This Congress must continue to make extremely difficult decisions to bring our spending under control and cut the deficit.

MOSS POINT, Miss., March 16, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) completed the first of three fuselages for the Broad Area Maritime Surveillance Unmanned Aircraft System (BAMS UAS) System Development and Demonstration (SDD) program. The MQ-4C fuselage will undergo final assembly and system checkout at the company's Palmdale, Calif. facility ahead of its first flight next year. "This milestone follows our successful Critical Design Review held last month and shows we are on track to meet our demonstration objectives…