uav

Holiday shopping season is upon us, and in the pell-mell rush to stuff those stockings, we sometimes forget the Hanukkah wing of the family. Don't sweat it, we've got you covered: Here are 10 unique Israeli Defense Force-themed dreidels with a do-it-yourself kit that includes a Merkava tank stand on which to spin them.

These octagon shaped tops feature not only the traditional Hebrew letters on four sides, but also renderings and insignias of different military units--i.e., Sayeret Matkal, Givaati, Golani, paras, etc., so even the goy can keep current on IDF order of battle.

For those … Read more

A next-generation unmanned aerial vehicle piloted from Nevada has fired a weapon in Afghanistan in its first-ever strike on enemy combatants.

The MQ-9 Reaper on Saturday launched a Hellfire missile in a location known as Deh Rawod. The strike, the Air Force reports with great understatement, was successful.

A bigger, more heavily armed follow-on to the Predator UAV, the Reaper has been flying missions in Afghanistan since the last week of September. Until this weekend, however, it had been limited to its secondary role as a tool for surveillance and reconnaissance. With the missile-firing sortie, it has now lived up … Read more

While hardly the Armani of unmanned air vehicles, this Italian robo-plane's gourd-like form and earthy, ochre hue could fit right in with your autumnal cornucopia squash arrangement.

But the plane's paisanos are aiming a bit higher. The Sky-Y Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) unmanned, flying machino is one part of Rome-based Alenia Aeronautica's effort (PDF) to stake a claim in the expanding UAV world market.

Stretching a substantial 10 meters wing to wing, the Sky-Y's main innovations are its all-composite structure, a Dieseljet TDA 1.9 liter, direct-injection engine and its two-part ground station--one for the … Read more

Like its diminutive avian namesake, Boeing's A160T Hummingbird is a whiz at hovering. And it turns out the prototype aircraft can also hoist a hefty load.

The unmanned helicopter this week flew for eight hours--its longest flight to date--and as high as 5,000 feet while burdened with a 1,000-pound payload. The test flight goes a long way toward proving the Hummingbird fit for use in military operations, where it could ferry supplies, sensors or weapons to the battlefield, perform surveillance and target acquisition, or even rescue pilots who've been shot down.

Over time, Boeing wants to … Read more

It looks like a giant version of the $2 styrofoam airplane toys you buy at the hobby shop, put together in two minutes, and render utterly useless after just a pair of overzealous throws. But this bird can soar.

So says its maker, the British defense contractor Qinetiq, which is crowing about the 54-hour flight turned in by its Zephyr High Altitude Long Endurance flyer. That's a record and then some for an unmanned aircraft, the company says, though it acknowledges the official word will still have to be delivered by the Federation Aeronautique Internationale.

And did we mention … Read more

When it comes to hardware with a flair for the dramatic, there's little to compare with military aircraft. After all, just imagine Tom Cruise's career without Top Gun.

The place to be this week for aerospace shoppers is an airfield just outside Moscow, for the MAKS 2007 International Aviation & Space Salon. There awaits a cornucopia of flying weaponry, much of it Russian-made, from MiGs to helicopters to a mock-up of a work-in-progress unmanned stealth craft, the Skat. If you can get there by this weekend, you might still have a chance to admire the craftsmanship, mingle with … Read more

If you see this bird hovering outside your window, you may be in trouble.

The Boeing A160T Hummingbird, the latest in unmanned chopper stealth and endurance, is under serious consideration by the U.S. Special Operations Command. Possible missions would include direct action, precision resupply and hairy extractions from behind enemy lines.

Remote-controlled helicopters are nothing new, as Boeing is quick to point out. This one is based on an old Robinson R22, which is still used as a trainer and to round up cattle. The main feature that makes the A160T unique is that it uses a rigid rotor … Read more

WASHINGTON--A handful of new drones is expected to begin patrolling the nation's northern and southern borders within the next few years.

For the moment, we're not talking swarms, here. But U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials, backed by the Bush administration and some in Congress, are nevertheless hoping to steadily increase the presence of unmanned aerial vehicles aloft in an effort to nab illegal immigrants and drug traffickers more effectively, said Michael Kostelnik, a retired U.S. Air Force official who now serves as assistant commissioner of the CBP's air and marine unit.

For the … Read more

WASHINGTON--We tend to hear more about the growing number of human bodies being shipped off to combat to Iraq and Afghanistan, but the U.S. Army is also dispatching more and more robots.

Since the conflicts began five years ago, the military branch has been steadily stepping up deployment of both unmanned ground and aerial vehicles, Col. John Burke, the Army's director of unmanned systems integration, said Wednesday.

Burke, who was speaking at the second day of a confab here hosted by the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International, touted the machines' surveillance capabilities as a proven success, at … Read more