UAS

Growing demand for high-end uncrewed aircraft is prompting MTU Aero Engines to explore at least a partial reset of its design philosophy in an effort to establish itself as a major propulsion provider for such systems.

Palladyne AI has signed an exclusive agreement to manufacture and market IAI’s Harpy, Harop and Mini Harpy loitering munitions to the U.S. Defense Department.

The U.S. Army’s new Amazon.com-like website for drone acquisition is challenging industry business models and supply chains.

The Pentagon’s strategy to acquire 340,000 drones by the end of next year requires industry to scale production up while driving prices down.

Existing infrastructure to support electric aircraft in the U.S. is limited and airports face challenges installing the foundations, a report says.

A German developer of a military rotary-wing uncrewed aircraft system has completed two first flights in just three days.

SOFWerx plans to assess the capabilities of uncrewed aircraft with hybrid-electric propulsion and channel wings for vertical takeoff and landing.

A European Defense Fund (EDF)-supported anti-submarine warfare project is to make use of Schiebel’s new S-300 rotary-wing uncrewed aircraft system.

Taiwan’s Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC) has validated a jointly developed drone visual navigation and positioning system.

Honda eVTOL flies; helping to avoid contrails; bio-based carbon fiber advances; Korea’s engine independence bid; and Airbus’ Canadian tech hub.

A Russian one-way attack drone hit a residential building in Romania, injuring two people.

Roughly 100 days after the APAC AAM Leadership Summit at the Singapore Airshow, the region’s focus has shifted from big promises to “boring yet indispensable groundwork."

Canada is fast-tracking the acquisition and testing process for multidomain and autonomous surveillance systems compatible with harsh arctic conditions.

Electric seaplane family plan; battery team for hybrid regional; U.S. quantum computing boost; and folding-wing eVTOL UAS.

For Russia and Ukraine, the battle of electronic warfare tools versus drones is a seemingly neverending cycle of evolution.

China on May 23 completed the first flight test of its domestically developed F406 turbofan for small- and medium-sized uncrewed aircraft systems.

Dyzne Technologies has unveiled a new expendable drone, the Blitz, and a shipping container-based launch system to deploy “high-volume” swarms of UAVs.

Scaled Composites built the flying-wing UAS under a DARPA project to demonstrate hybrid propulsion.

Our roundup of the main aerospace and defense stories making the news this week.

Rafael is proposing to equip UAVs with some of the self-protection equipment more typically associated with combat aircraft.

Battery exhaustion after encountering poor weather was the reason the Skydweller large solar-powered UAS was lost in the Gulf of Mexico on May 4.

Rheinmetall and Deutsche Telekom have teamed on an initiative to improve drone defense of urban areas and critical infrastructure.

The Pentagon’s Drone Dominance program is expanding to include the acquisition of recoverable “bomber” types of uncrewed aircraft systems.

U.S. Air Force Futures has approved a requirements document for an aircraft that will replace the General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. MQ-9A Reaper.

AIRO unveils Jaunt UAS with five-fold range increase, adds ISR variant for military and civil uses and targets delivery by 2027.