While not exactly FPV related, this is a multirotor: The Advanced Tactics Black Knight Transformer adds VTOL capabilities to a land vehicle using several rotors. According to AT, it can survive the loss of one engine without problems, and the whole system is modular so it may be bolted onto other vehicles in the future.
Remember the famous “Skunk Works” labs, which produced groundbreaking technology like the F117A? Well the Navy has their own department called “Swamp Works” which does the same, only with more water. And recently, they launched a UAV from a diving submarine, which is an interesting tactical option for future submarine commanders.
Operating under support of the Los Angeles class USS Providence (SSN 719) and the Naval Undersea Warfare Center-Newport Division (NUWC-NPT), the NRL developed XFC UAS—eXperimental Fuel Cell Unmanned Aerial System—was fired from the submarine’s torpedo tube using a ‘Sea Robin’ launch vehicle system. The Sea Robin launch system was designed to fit within an empty Tomahawk launch canister (TLC) used for launching Tomahawk cruise missiles already familiar to submarine sailors.
Once deployed from the TLC, the Sea Robin launch vehicle with integrated XFC rose to the ocean surface where it appeared as a spar buoy. Upon command of Providence Commanding Officer, the XFC then vertically launched from Sea Robin and flew a successful several hour mission demonstrating live video capabilities streamed back to Providence, surface support vessels and Norfolk before landing at the Naval Sea Systems Command Atlantic Undersea Test and Evaluation Center (AUTEC), Andros, Bahamas.
Interestingly the airborne surveillance vehicled called “XFC” doesn’t run off normal LiXX batteries but fuel cells. Launches can be performed from stationary pickup tricks or other small vehicles, not just submarines.
The US army recently awarded a 6.5 million dollar contract to Florida-based company Prioria Robotics. Their product is a peculiar bird-shaped airplane called “Maveric” that features flexible wings and inoculously bird-like looking flight characteristics. And yet, it can carry a variety of payloads ranging from simple stabilized telezoom cameras to thermal imaging. Thanks to the flexible wings the drone can even be launched from a small vehicle-mounted launch tube.
According to Prioria Robotics, “there was a Special Operations requirement for a plane that had a natural, biological look – it wasn’t supposed to look DoD-ish”
The army gets 36 drones as well as 12 ground control stations. Each Maveric drone costs to the tune of $100.000-$200.000.
A demo reel from 2011, which still looks kinda cool, can be found after the break.
The X-47B is the Navy’s Unmanned Combat Air Systems Demonstrator, and it recently completed a series of tests of automated catapult starts, touch and go’s, landings and other flight procedures on the USS Theodore Roosevelt. Aside from the GPS autoland function and other systems enabling autonomous flight, the main focus of the tests was to see how such self-piloting drones integrate with normal carrier operations and how they fit in the military airspace.
This is all part of the ongoing effort to move from piloted jet fighters towards unmanned drones that are capable of carrier operations and actual air combat. And judging from the successful carrier operations tests, the times of human pilots having to manually remote-control drones may soon be a thing of the past. Whether that’s a good thing or not is another matter.
Is it a toy? Is it a RC model? No, it’s a $200.000 drone for the military! Read on how these ebay toys suddenly look like even more of a steal.
Read more and comment
Connect
Connect with us on the following social media platforms.