Looking Back At 2019: Unmanned Aircraft

Bell in January began flight tests of the largest version yet of its tail-sitting Autonomous Pod Transport (APT) unmanned cargo aircraft. Capable of carrying payloads up to 70 lb. at speeds exceeding 100 mph, the APT70 will form a key element of a NASA demonstration in 2020 aimed at paving the way for routine flights of unmanned aircraft in U.S. national airspace.

Boeing unveiled the Airpower Teaming System (ATS) in February, a fighter-like unmanned aircraft designed to operate alongside manned combat and intelligence platforms. The aircraft is being developed by Boeing Autonomous Systems and Boeing’s Phantom Works International unit in Australia, where a concept demonstrator is scheduled to fly in 2021.

Kratos’ XQ-58A unmanned combat aircraft demonstrator.

Airbus conducted shore-to-ship trials with its Skyways parcel-delivery drone in Singapore in March. The flight was made to the Swire Pacific Offshore’s anchor handling tug supply vessel M/V Pacific Centurion, 0.9 mi. from the shoreline of Singapore’s Marina South Pier, carrying 3.3 lb. of 3D-printed consumables.

Ghana launched the world’s largest medical drone delivery service in April, operated by Zipline and covering the entire country. The California-based startup has been delivering blood by drone to clinics in Rwanda since 2016 and is set to expand this year into other countries in Africa, Asia and the Americas. Each Zipline distribution center can make up to 500 drone delivery flights a day.

A subsidiary of Google parent Alphabet, Wing began operating delivery drones commercially on April 1 in the suburbs of Canberra, Australia. The company subsequently received approval to extend delivery flights to the suburbs of Logan, south of Brisbane. In October, Wing and FedEx conducted the first commercial drone delivery to a home in the U.S.

Aksungur

Amazon in June revealed the latest design for its Prime Air drone, a shrouded, multirotor aircraft capable of vertical and wingborne flight. It is one of several production designs for delivery drones unveiled in 2019. Flirtey revealed its production design and Uber took the wraps off its Uber Eats drone.

MQ-25

HAPSMobile, the joint venture of AeroVironment and Japan’s SoftBank, flew the prototype Hawk30 high-altitude pseudo-satellite on Sept. 11 at NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center at Edwards AFB in California. The Hawk30, a 260-ft.-span solar-powered flying wing is designed to stay aloft at 65,000 ft. for up to six months, acting as a telecommunications platform.

Urban air mobility startup Volocopter has launched an unmanned cargo aircraft version of its Volocopter electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing air taxi. The VoloDrone demonstrator made its first flight in October. Using the battery-powered, 18-rotor drive system from the two-seat Volocopter, the 1,765-lb. VoloDrone is designed to carry a payload of up to 440 lb. for up to 25 mi.

Airbus flew its VSR700 diesel-powered rotary-wing unmanned aircraft on Nov. 8 at Aix-en-Provence, France, performing several tethered takeoffs and landings. The 1,500 lb. VSR700, designed to meet a French Navy ship-based UAV requirement, is developed from the Guimbal Cabri G2 light piston helicopter.

NATO’s Alliance Ground Surveillance (AGS) platform, a version of the Northrop Grumman RQ-4B Block 40 Global Hawk high-altitude, long-endurance unmanned aircraft, arrived in Europe on Nov. 21—two years later than planned—the first of five aircraft touching down at NAS Sigonella, Sicily.

Turkey’s Baykar Makina flew its Akinci twin-engine medium-altitude, long-endurance unmanned aircraft on Dec. 6. The largest UAV yet produced in Turkey, with a maximum takeoff weight of 5 metric tons, the Akinci is powered by a pair of Ukrainian Motor Sich AI-450C turboprops. The aircraft is expected to enter service in 2021.