Drones & UAVs News & Discussions

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caltrek
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3D Printing Drones Work Like Bees to Build and Repair Structures
September 21, 2022

Introduction:
(EurekAlert) The technology, which has been tested in the lab, could ultimately be used for manufacturing and building in difficult-to-access or dangerous locations such as tall buildings or help with post-disaster relief construction, say the researchers.

3D printing is gaining momentum in the construction industry. Both on-site and in the factory, static and mobile robots print materials for use in construction projects, such as steel and concrete structures.

This new approach to 3D printing - led in its development by Imperial and Empa, the Swiss Federal Laboratories of Materials Science and Technology - uses flying robots, known as drones, that use collective building methods inspired by natural builders like bees and wasps who work together to create large, intricate structures.

The drones in the fleet, known collectively as Aerial Additive Manufacturing (Aerial-AM), work co-operatively from a single blueprint, adapting their techniques as they go. They are fully autonomous while flying but are monitored by a human controller who checks progress and intervenes if necessary, based on the information provided by the drones.

Lead author Professor Kovac, of Imperial’s Department of Aeronautics and Empa’s Materials and Technology Center of Robotics said: “We’ve proved that drones can work autonomously and in tandem to construct and repair buildings, at least in the lab. Our solution is scalable and could help us to construct and repair building in difficult-to-reach areas in the future.”
Read more here: https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/965223
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Russia’s Drone War Erupts Thanks To Iran
by Emma Helfrich and Tyler Rogoway
September 23, 2022

Introduction:
(The Drive) Key areas in southern Ukraine came under attack from a number of Iran-supplied Shahed-136 'kamikaze' or 'suicide' drones today. It is by far the most high-profile and concentrated use of these types of weapons by Russian forces. Video evidence also emerged in recent hours showing an Iranian Mohajer-6 medium-altitude, long-endurance (MALE) unmanned aerial vehicle being recovered from the water by Ukrainian forces, serving as the drone’s first recorded sighting on the Ukrainian battlefield.

The evidence of Mohajer-6’s presence was shared by the Southern Air Command of the Ukrainian Air Force. Up until now, only Shahed-136s had been spotted in Ukraine, making it so the recent Mohajer-6 retrieval would confirm that both Iranian drones were included in deliveries from Iran to Russia that had occurred earlier this month. This matches our report on what drones would likely end up being used by Russia in Ukraine as part of a deal between Iran and Russia that had been in the works since at least July. The employment of these Iranian drones has the potential to disrupt the conflict in multiple ways.
Read more here: https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/ ... s-to-iran
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This Drone-Versus-Drone Kill In Ukraine Could Be An Air Combat First
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine earlier this year and the fighting that has followed has yielded some remarkable imagery, sometimes providing suggestions of what future warfare might look like, and other times seemingly recalling warfare of a previous age. Among the latest such video shows a close-quarters ‘duel’ fought between a pair of quadcopter unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs, the kind that are familiar to hobbyists, but which now are also firmly established as critical capabilities in conflicts in all corners of the globe.

The video, just 16 seconds long, began to circulate widely on social media today and has attracted much commentary in the process. The footage is reportedly shot from a Ukrainian Armed Forces UAV, a Chinese-made DJI Mavic-type quadcopter, but no details about the type are discernable from the video. The camera aboard the drone observes what is purported to be a Russian (or pro-Russian) controlled quadcopter, which approaches the Ukrainian UAV before seemingly moving to collide with it, losing at least one rotor blade as a result, then plummeting toward the ground. The footage is undated but is said to have been taken in the skies over the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine.
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China’s Four-Engine ‘Scorpion D’ Cargo Drone Has Flown

by Emma Helfrich
October 26, 2022

Introduction:
(The Drive) A cargo drone dubbed TB0D Scorpion D and built by China’s Tengden Technology company completed its maiden flight in Sichuan on October 25. The company says Scorpion D will be able to carry payloads weighing up to 1.5 tons.

Scorpion D is equipped with four propellers driven by gas engines, two under each of its wings, which are fitted high atop the drone’s fuselage. The company has also shared the Scorpion D’s supposed technical specifications, which detail that the cargo drone clocks in at 34 feet (10.5 m) in length, stands at 10 feet (3.1 m) tall, and has a 65-foot (20 m) wingspan.

Along with its substantial payload capacity, reportedly up to 1.5 tons, Scorpion D’s maximum takeoff weight is 4.35 tons. Scorpion D’s cargo hold is said to measure out to about 31 square feet and about 5 cubic meters, which would leave ample room for a variety of equipment and supplies be it civilian or military depending on the use case.
It would also appear that the cargo drone will serve as another variant in a growing series of aircraft being produced by the company. This ‘family’ of Tengden drones began with a separate system designated as the TB-001 Scorpion medium-altitude, long-endurance (MALE) drone, which is also Tengden’s flagship aircraft. Considering that information about how exactly Scorpion D will be controlled and operated as well as the drone’s range doesn't appear readily available, its progenitor's specifications could be beneficial in better understanding how Scorpion D will perform once operational.
Read more here: https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/ ... has-flown

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Crewless Black Hawk Helicopter Pulls Off Complex Mission Autonomously
by Tom Hale
November 4, 2022

Introduction:
(IFL Science) An autonomous Black Hawk helicopter has cracked on with its latest test flight and shown it safely and reliably perform cargo resupply missions – all without the need for human pilots.

In mid-October, the helicopter managed to fly without any crew onboard for 133 kilometers (83 miles) around the Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona while carrying 400 units of real and simulated blood weighing 226 kilograms (500 pounds). Part of this journey even involved the helicopter descending into a valley as low as 61 meters (200 feet) above ground level.

In another flex last month, the crewless helicopter lifted off with a 1,179-kilogram (2,600-pound) load attached to a 12-meter (40-foot) sling and flew at 100 knots for 30 minutes toward a landing zone.

A training mission was also designed to simulate the evacuation of an injured soldier, in which a model of a causalty was loaded on the helicopter and flown to a field hospital.

“We showed how the optionally piloted Black Hawk helicopter can be flown by human pilots, who then land the aircraft and simply flip a switch to activate flight with zero pilots,” Igor Cherepinsky, Sikorsky Innovations director, said in a statement.
Read more here: https://www.iflscience.com/crewless-bl ... sly-66063

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Iranian Mohajer-6 Drones Used by Russia Are Loaded With Western Parts
by Emma Helfrich
November 16, 2022

Introduction:
(The Drive) Documentation obtained by the Wall Street Journal shows that a number of electronic components powering the Iranian-made Mohajer-6 drones used by Russian forces in Ukraine were actually produced in the United States and other allied nations. In order to make these discoveries, it is claimed that the Ukrainian military ‘hacked’ one of the drones while in flight and ‘landed’ it where it was then recovered and inspected by Ukrainian military intelligence officials. Other Iranian drones downed by Ukrainian forces have been and continue to be inspected, and the ongoing investigation points to serious vulnerabilities in the global supply chain that are allowing adversarial nations like Iran to gain from the West’s technological advancements.

Iran first began supplying Russian forces with combat drones early this fall. Just weeks after rumors suggested that the weapons transfer had begun, the drones started making their appearance in Ukraine in big ways. The first hard evidence that Iran’s Shahed-136 loitering munition, also referred to as a ‘kamikaze’ drone due to its dive-bomb attacks that destroy not only its target but the aircraft itself in the process, had begun striking targets in Ukraine emerged in September. At least one Mohajer-6 reconnaissance and attack drone was also downed and recovered by Ukrainian forces that month, which was later dissected for inspection, but is unclear if this is the same uncrewed aircraft at the center of the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) report.

According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) piece, which is worth its own read, the recent findings gathered by Ukrainian intelligence reveal that approximately three-quarters of the electronics discovered inside captured Iranian drones employed against Ukraine were made in the United States. WSJ noted that each of the components identified by Ukrainian military intelligence was then verified by the Independent Anti-Corruption Commission (NAKO), which is a Kyiv-based nonprofit that seeks to reduce opportunities for corruption in the Ukrainian defense sector by reviewing military contracts and arms. These findings are especially noteworthy considering the strict international sanctions that have been imposed against Iran, as it suggests that either the proper sanctions aren’t being implemented or that Tehran is more than capable of skirting them, which in itself isn’t all that surprising.
Read more of The Drive article here: https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/i ... ern-parts

Read the Wall Street Journal article on this topic here: https://www.wsj.com/articles/ukrainian ... 668575332

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Taiwan Shows Off Its Radar-Killing Kamikaze Drones
by Emma Helfrich
November 16, 2022

Introduction:
(The Drive) Taiwan this Tuesday invited the media to an exhibition of various capabilities from its locally developed drone arsenal. Two specific systems that were pointedly highlighted in coverage of the event were the vehicle-launched Chien Hsiang loitering munition and the Teng Yun reconnaissance drone that is known for bearing a resemblance to the MQ-9 Reaper. The exhibition showcased diverse uncrewed developments in Taiwan, which could be a factor in a future conflict with the mainland as threats to the island's sovereignty grow.

The drone exhibition event was hosted by the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST), a Taiwanese government-owned military technology manufacturer that develops a wealth of the Republic of China Armed Forces’ weapons like the Hsiung Feng anti-ship missile and the Yun Feng supersonic cruise missile.

NCSIST provided an especially rare look at one weapon in particular: the truck-launched Chien Hsiang. These indigenous anti-radiation loitering munitions are designed to take out enemy radars positioned at sea, on the coast, or inland, according to NCSIST. The company also claimed that Chien Hsiang can strike other unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), but it wasn't made clear exactly how this is achieved. It's possible it could home in on the emissions of slower-moving drones and attack them, but that would be a relatively limited and questionable use case.

The Taiwan government-owned news outlet Focus Taiwan covered a press briefing held at the event during which Chi Li-ping, head of the NCSIST’s Aeronautical Systems Research Division, revealed that Chien Hsiang has a maximum flight time of five hours and can strike targets approximately 621 miles away (1,000 km).
Read more here: https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/ ... ze-drones
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