Northrop Grumman wins third-phase Tern DARPA contract

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the Office of Naval Research have awarded Northrop Grumman Corp. the third phase of the Tern unmanned systems program. Phase three plans to include final design, fabrication, and a full-scale, at-sea system demonstration.

Tern seeks to develop an autonomous, unmanned, long-range, global, persistent intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance (ISR), and strike system intended to deploy and recover from small-deck naval vessels with minimal ship modifications. Designed to operate in harsh maritime environments, Tern aims to enable greater mission capability and flexibility for surface combat vessels without the need for establishing fixed land bases or requiring aircraft carrier resources.

“We intend to highly leverage our Unmanned Systems Center of Excellence to develop and demonstrate this type of demanding unmanned systems capability,” says Chris Hernandez, vice president, research, technology, and advanced design, Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems.

“Using an innovative design that integrates vertical take-off and landing transitioning to an efficient flying-wing for cruise, our team is creating a system that we believe would achieve Tern’s revolutionary performance objectives in support of our combatant commanders,” says Ralph Starace, director, advanced design, Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems.

The Northrop Grumman Tern team includes its wholly owned subsidiary Scaled Composites, as well as General Electric (GE) Aviation, AVX Aircraft Co., and Moog. www.northropgrumman.com

AUVSI applauds FAA reauthorization bill for advancing UAS integration

Brian Wynne, president and CEO of AUVSI, issued the following statement on the introduction of the Aviation Innovation, Reform, and Reauthorization (AIRR) Act, a six-year reauthorization of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

“AUVSI is committed to ensuring that UAS are integrated in a manner that ensures the safety of all aircraft – manned and unmanned. The FAA reauthorization is critical for expanding the commercial use of UAS that pose no additional risk to the nation’s airspace.

“The legislation includes provisions that AUVSI has been advocating during the last year. These policies will accelerate the safe use of commercial UAS as well as expand collaborative research and operational efforts. First, the bill seeks to expedite the safe deployment of commercial UAS by creating a risk-based permitting process. A flexible regulatory framework for UAS will allow the FAA to accommodate innovation, rather than require new rules each time a new technology emerges.

“Second, the bill calls for an advisory committee to focus on developing a UAS traffic management system that will help integrate UAS into the existing national airspace infrastructure and ensure the continued safety of the airspace.”

He added that AUVSI hopes to work with FAA committee members to enhance the UAS rules in the legislation.

More information on AUVSI’s priorities for FAA reauthorization is available at http://goo.gl/08cfFa.

Possible Global Hawk sale to Japan

The State Department has approved a possible foreign military sale to the government of Japan for RQ-4 Block 30 (I) Global Hawk remotely piloted aircraft and associated equipment, parts and logistical support for an estimated $1.2 billion.

The Government of Japan requested:

• 3 RQ-4 Block 30 (I) Global Hawk remotely piloted aircraft with enhanced integrated sensor suite (EISS)
• 8 Kearfott inertial navigation system/global positioning system (INS/GPS) units (two per aircraft with two spares)
• 8 LN-251 INS/GPS units (two per aircraft with two spares)

Also included with this request are support, test, and communications equipment, training, technical data, and other logistics support. The estimated value of major defense equipment is $689 million. The total estimated value is $1.2 billion.

This proposed sale will contribute to the foreign policy and national security of the United States. This transaction is consistent with U.S. foreign policy and national security objectives and the 1960 Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security. www.northropgrumman.com

Tekever drones to detect vine disease

To reduce wine production costs, the PARRA project aims to detect early signs of flavescence dorée disease, a relatively new vine illness with no known cure.

“Flavescence dorée is what everybody talks about right now, but this project may help with other diseases too,” says Ricardo Mendes, Tekever COO. “This project will develop automatic detection technologies of this disease in the vineyard, exploring different types of sensors that will be incorporated into Tekever’s unmanned systems.”

Data will be processed through a set of analysis and detection algorithms that will automatically analyze data and detect areas with high probability of incidence of flavescence dorée.

“This project in the wine-growing region of Minho (Portugal) is a step forward for Tekever’s UAV in civil market,” Mendes sayss. www.tekever.com

Measure, Robotic Skies team for drones

As part of its effort to provide businesses with turnkey drone solutions, drone operator Measure has partnered with Robotic Skies, a maintenance services provider for commercial unmanned aerial systems (UAS). With Robotic Skies, Measure will provide companies with a combined package of services through the drone-as-a-service model, incorporating drones into business operations while avoiding large capital expenditures.

“Measure allows companies to take advantage of the opportunities drones provide,” says Measure CEO Brandon Torres Declet. “Our partnership with Robotic Skies allows us to deliver best-in-class data collection services.”

Robotic Skies President and CEO Brad Hayden says, “Our companies’ collaboration will make it even easier for enterprise and public-use organizations to implement UAS based services.” www.measure.aero; www.roboticskies.com

Korean Air to mass-produce unmanned aerial vehicle

Korean Air Lines Co. has signed a $333.5 million deal with the Korean military procurement agency to mass-produce reconnaissance unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) as part of the government’s plan to build up its aerial mission capability.

Under the contract with the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) signed last year, Korean Air will mass-produce the reconnaissance drones from 2016 to 2020.

The military earlier announced a plan to deploy UAVs to army and marine divisions near the border with North Korea on search and reconnaissance missions, following a series of North Korean drones found near the western and eastern border areas.

Korean Air completed the development of a UAV in 2014. The aircraft is about 4.2m in width and 3.4m in length, capable of making sudden nosedives with an automatic tracking system.

“Nearly 95% of the aircraft’s components were made by South Korean suppliers,” a Korean Air official says. www.koreanair.com

Wind turbine UAV sales to $6B by 2024

A Navigant Research report examines the global market for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for wind turbine blade inspection, including revenue forecasts by segment and region through 2024.

There are more than 270,000 wind turbines operating globally, and technicians traditionally rely on binoculars and field scopes or scaling turbines for inspections. UAVs provide a safer option with higher-resolution imaging.

“The use of drones for wind turbine blade inspection is proving to be more than a novelty,” says Jesse Broehl, senior research analyst with Navigant Research. “Inspection techniques from the ground and by rope or platform access will not be replaced, however, they will increasingly be augmented by drone inspections.”

The emerging wind turbine UAV market is driven by the number of blades that need to be inspected for normal deterioration and for pre-end-of-warranty inspections. If uninspected, deterioration caused by the elements can result in reduced energy production and blade collapse. www.navigant.com