Tag Archives: UAV

US Navy’s X-47B is the first unmanned plane launched from an aircraft carrier (video)

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After limbering up with taxi tests since December, the X-47B unmanned combat air system has finally taken off from an aircraft carrier, making it the first pilotless plane to have successfully done so, and with a catapult launch to boot. Despite t…


Drone fitted with terrifying claw snatches objects at high speed

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Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania have created a bird-like claw that can be attached to an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to enable it to pick up objects at high speed. Inspired by how an eagle uses its talons to grab pre…


Privacy bill aims to outlaw killer drones in the US, regulate UAV surveillance

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The leak of a confidential memo detailing the US government’s justifications for drone strikes on American citizens opened the floodgates for new criticism of the Obama administration’s secretive counterterrorism program. Now …


Iran claims to have produced and deployed UAV based on captured US ScanEagle drone

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The United States Navy and the Obama administration have denied Iran’s claim that it captured a ScanEagle surveillance drone in December, 2012, but according to the Fars News Agency, Iran is insistent that it has put clones of…


MIT researchers develop highly agile autonomous plane (video)

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If you’re flying a robot indoors, chances are it’s a quadrocopter. The ability hover and maneuver on a dime is essential to whipping around the confined spaces of a lab. Researchers have figured out a way to overcome such obstacles with a fixed-wing …


Army seeking proposals for casualty-carrying UAVs

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Combat is a grizzly business, and despite the best efforts of medical evacuation crews, it’s not always feasible to send rescue teams into the fray. The US Army is seeking to address this with “autonomous vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) unmanned …


Drone-maker Parrot invests $7.5 million in two EPFL spin-offs, sets sights beyond toys

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Switzerland’s EPFL has managed to catch our attention with its various UAV-related activities, and it looks like it’s also been the radar of Parrot, maker of the AR.Drones. EPFL announced today that the French company is investing 7.4 million Swiss F…


Fire Shadow missile can remain aloft for six hours before obliterating a moving target (video)

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If we were making a list of terrifying airborne war machines, this would probably rank near the top. You certainly won’t want to be targeted by the Fire Shadow, but from the safety of a web browser, it’s impossible not to marvel at the craft’s versat…


Lockheed Martin Stalker drone stays airborne 48 hours using laser power, all-seeing eye gets literal (video)

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Aerial drone designers have been pushing hard to get devices that can stay airborne for days. After all, what’s the point of having an observer that routinely lets its guard down? Lockheed Martin must have this question forever etched in its collecti…


Lockheed Martin Stalker drone stays airborne 48 hours using laser power, all-seeing eye gets literal (video)

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Aerial drone designers have been pushing hard to get devices that can stay airborne for days. After all, what’s the point of having an observer that routinely lets its guard down? Lockheed Martin must have this question forever etched in its collecti…