01 June 2022
by Gareth Jennings
Seen at its unveiling at the DSEI exhibition in late 2021, the T-650 heavy-lift UAS should fly for the first time in the coming weeks. (Janes/Richard Fowler)
BAE Systems plans to fly the T-650 all-electric heavy-lift unmanned aircraft system (UAS) that it first unveiled in September 2021 in the coming weeks, a company official said on 24 May.
Neil Appleton, head of Electric Products, BAE systems, told Janes and other defence media that it will fly a demonstrator version of the T-650 that it is developing with Malloy Aeronautics before the end of the third quarter of 2022.
First showcased at the 2021 DSEI exhibition in London, the T-650 is an electrically powered heavy-lift UAS capable of lifting 650 lb (295 kg) out to a range of 30 km (or a radius of 15 km), at 140 km/h. As Appleton noted, BAE envisages a range of applications for the UAS, including automated resupply, casualty evacuation, anti-submarine warfare using the Sting Ray torpedo, maritime mine countermeasures using the Archerfish expendable mine clearance ordnance, maritime search and rescue, surveillance tasks, and close air support.
24 April 2024
by Jeremy Binnie
A still from a video released on 21 April shows the Iraqi Army Aviation Command stand at IQDEX in Baghdad. (Iraqi Ministry of Defence)
Iraqi Army Aviation Command (IAAC) has confirmed it has ordered, if not already received, Chinese-made CH-5 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
The command's stand at the International Defense Exhibition in Iraq (IQDEX) held in Baghdad from 20 to 23 April was decorated with posters that showed all the aircraft it has in service, which included the CH-5 next to the CH-4 UAV operated by its 100 Squadron.
Earlier reports that Iraq had acquired CH-5s were based on a photograph that circulated on social media in September 2023 showing a man holding a certificate in front of a projected image that identified the event as the “closing ceremony for CH-5 training” above Iraqi and Chinese flags.
A second photograph purportedly of the certificate showed it was for the successful completion of the CH-5 theoretical, practical, and flight training courses. While the graduate's name was obscured, it had stamps from the Iraqi military attaché office in China as well as the Chinese companies Poly Technologies and CH UAV Science and Technology Company.
24 April 2024
by Zach Rosenberg
A GA-ASI Mojave UAV performs a gun-run with a Dillon DAP-6 podded minigun. (GA-ASI)
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc (GA-ASI) has tested a podded gun on its Mojave short take-off and landing (STOL) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), the company said in a 23 April release.
GA-ASI mounted two Dillon DAP-6 podded miniguns to the Mojave and tested the combination at the Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona on 13 April. The Mojave performed seven gun-runs during two flights, expending around 10,000 rounds of ammunition against “a variety of targets”, according to GA-ASI. A video accompanying the release showed the UAV destroying a pickup truck.
“For this live-fire demonstration, our goal was to validate the [Mojave's] battlefield relevance,” GA-ASI told Janes on 23 April. “As such, the effort was done completely using GA-ASI's [internal research and development funding], but we believe that successfully demonstrating this capability is of considerable interest to potential customers.”
Integrating the gun pods took “about 70 business days” to complete, added the company.
23 April 2024
by Jeremy Binnie
Chad's new Aksungur is seen warming up for take-off in a still from a video released by the AAT. (Armée de l'Air Tchadienne)
The Chadian Air Force (AAT) has revealed it has received at least one Turkish Aerospace (TUSAŞ) Aksungur unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV).
It released a video on 21 April that included footage of an Aksungur with AAT markings and the Turkish-format serial 23013 taking off from Adji Kosseï Air Base at N'Djamena International Airport armed with eight MAM-L small laser-guided bombs. The video also featured AAT personnel being trained by TUSAŞ in Türkiye.
The AAT operates at least two TUSAŞ Anka UAVs and three TUSAŞ Hürkuş-C turboprop light-attack aircraft, which were unveiled when President General Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno visited Adji Kosseï Air Base in July 2023.
BAE Systems plans to fly the T-650 all-electric heavy-lift unmanned aircraft system (UAS) that it fi...
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