A-160T Hummingbird

Region: USA and Canada Country: USA Category: UAV Company: Boeing

Use(s): ISR, precision resupply, attack, communications/data relay and remote delivery of UGV/unmanned ground sensors Manufacturer: Boeing Powerplant: Pratt & Whitney 207D, heavy-fuel turboshaft engine Dimensions: length: 35ft, height: 9.7ft, rotor diameter: 36ft Weight: empty: 4,000lb, MTOW: 6,500lb, max payload: 2,500lb Performance: speed: 165kt (142kt demonstrated), endurance: >20hr, ceiling: 30,000ft Payload: EO/IR and SAR Launch: VTOL Recovery: VTOL Structure Material: composite GCS: provides autonomous vehicle flight control with flight waypoint control or vehicle vector control and assessment of most efficient flight path Status: in production

2014-02-11

UAV successfully sees and avoids another aircraft while in flight

In a recent flight test in Australia, a Scan Eagle UAV succeeded in visually identifying an approaching Cessna aircraft, and letting its own ground-based operators know that evasive action was required.

2014-02-05

Air Force's Unmanned Plane Passes 400 Days in Orbit

The U.S. Air Force's unmanned X-37B space plane has now circled Earth for more than 400 days on a hush-hush mission that is creeping closer and closer to the vehicle's orbital longevity record.

2013-02-27

Boeing Phantom Eye Completes Second Flight

ST. LOUIS, Feb. 26, 2013 — Boeing’s [NYSE: BA] liquid hydrogen-powered Phantom Eye unmanned airborne system completed its second flight Feb. 25, demonstrating capabilities that will allow it to perform intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) missions for up to four days without refueling.

2012-12-19

Boeing Names Michael Kurth as VP/GM Unmanned Airborne Systems

The Boeing Co. announced that company veteran Michael Kurth will oversee Boeing’s unmanned airborne systems as of Jan. 1. Kurth, currently managing director of Boeing Defence UK Ltd. (BDUK), will relocate to St. Louis as vice president and general manager of Unmanned Airborne Systems Programs, reporting to Boeing Military Aircraft President Chris Chadwick. David Pitchforth, managing director for UK Rotorcraft Support, a division...

2012-08-07

Boeing Demonstrates Autonomous Ship-based Capability of Unmanned Little Bird Rotorcraft

The Boeing Unmanned Little Bird H-6U successfully performed 14 autonomous takeoffs and landings from a ship during flight tests in July, a significant milestone for a medium-size vertical-takeoff-and-landing unmanned...

2012-08-02

Boeing Will Display Wide Range of Military and Commercial Unmanned Systems at AUVSI12

Boeing will spotlight several unmanned systems that meet a variety of customer needs during the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) Unmanned Systems North America 2012 conference and exhibition....

2012-06-05

First flight for hydrogen fuelled Phantom Eye

Boeing’s Phantom Eye unmanned airborne system (UAS) completed its first autonomous flight June 1 at NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. The 28-minute flight...

2011-10-04

Unmanned Insitu aircraft tracks whales off Australia

Insitu Pacific, the Bingen, Wash., company’s Australia-based subsidiary, has finished the second phase of a trial with Australia’s Murdoch University to see if unmanned systems are a cost-effective, capable alternative to surveying marine mammals with manned aircraft.

2011-03-21

2nd Boeing-built Orbital Test Vehicle X-37B begins flight

Boeing announced the successful launch of the second Boeing-built X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV) for the US Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office (RCO). The OTV was launched on an Atlas V rocket into a low-Earth orbit today at 5:46 p.m.

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Reports

2017-09-11
FAA Small Drone Rule Lets Unmanned Aircraft Soar

A host of new users is changing the world of commercial aviation thanks in large part to the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) small unmanned aircraft rule, Part 107 (PDF), which has now been in place for a year.