DID - US Army Finishes Live-Flight Demo Of Zephyr UAS | Iran Launched Two-Day Drone Drill | Britain To Supply Micro-Drones To Ukraine

Americas

Dyncorp International won a $30.3 million modification, which exercises an option to extend services to provide continued organizational level aircraft maintenance and logistics support for aircrew systems and subsystems, search and rescue equipment, and support equipment for the P-3 Orion, C-130 Hercules, F/A-18 Hornet, E/A-18 Growler, AV-8B Harrier II, H-60 Seahawk, and E-2D Hawkeye aircraft in support of the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division (NAWCWD) Naval Test Wing Pacific. Work will take place in California, Hawaii, Florida, New Mexico and Maryland. Estimated completion will be in April 2023.

A recent US Army Futures Command live-flight demonstration of a solar-powered, stratospheric unmanned aerial system (UAS) could play into service-led efforts to extend intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities, as well as enable new long-range, beyond-line-of-sight communications programmes. Officials from the command’s Assured Positioning, Navigation and Timing/Space (APNT/Space) Cross-Functional Team conductedan over two-month flight test of the Airbus-built Zephyr 8 ultra-long-endurance UAS, launched from the service’s Yuma Proving Ground experimentation facility in Arizona.

Middle East & Africa

The Iranian army launched a major nation-wide, two-day drone drill on Wednesday morning, using nearly 150 drones of various types, and including all four army branches as well as the Iranian air force. “These joint drills of the drones at the level of the four forces of the army and the joint air defense headquarters will take place for the first time, in the waters of the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman, from the south to the east, west, north and center of the country,” Rear Admiral Habibullah Sayyari, the Coordinating Assistant to the Commander of the Iranian Army, was quoted in the Tehran Times.

Europe

Britain is to supply a further package of weapons to Ukraine, including target-spotting micro-drones, outgoing U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced during a surprise visit to Kyiv. Ukraine’s Independence Day on August 24 saw Johnson reveal the planned delivery of unmanned surveillance systems, anti-tank loitering missiles and other equipment, adding to a long list of weapons contributed by the British government since Russia invaded its neighbor six months ago.

Asia-Pacific

South Korea scrambled F-16s after Russian Tu-95 bombers entered the Korea Air Defense Identification Zone (KADIZ) on August 23. Although South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) did not identify the type and number of aircraft, Russia’s Sputnik confirmed it was the Tu-95 and the planes flew over the Sea of Japan.

An improved version of the Cai Hong 4 (Rainbow 4, or CH-4) armed reconnaissance medium-altitude long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle (MALE UAV) equipped with an indigenously manufactured heavy fuel engine (HFE) has completed its maiden flight, its manufacturer China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) announced. According to company specifications, the Lark HFE is a liquid-cooled engine with a dry weight of 98kg and includes features such as a high-pressure common-rail (HPCR) fuel system, full-authority digital electronic control (FADEC), and a mean time before overhaul rating of 2,000 hours.

Today’s Video

WATCH: The world record go-getters – Zephyr Solar powered UAS

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