In his new report entitled “Consolidating the Revolution: Optimizing the Potential of Remotely Piloted Aircraft,” Lt. Gen. David Deptula, USAF Ret., dean of the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, argues that the US needs to revamp its use of remotely piloted aircraft, or RPAs, since demand for them will stay high despite falling defense budgets.
Steve Whitby, head of business development and sales for Airbus Defence and Space’s Zephyr program, says the company has made the UAS lighter and larger, invested in battery technology that it says will extend the Zephyr’s battery life to 30 days and nights — thereby breaking its own world record — and more during a June 29, 2017 interview with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian. The interview was conducted during the Autonomy & Innovation Across the Defence, Security and Civil Sectors – Demonstration event at the British Embassy in Washington.
Lyle Heckman, unmanned aerial systems instructor and operator at Insitu, updates Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian on developments with the company’s ScanEagle unmanned aerial systems program — including “purpose-built engines” designed to boost performance, RPM, fuel efficiency and allow for longer flight times, a smaller UAS launcher, a SkyHook recovery system redesign and more during a June 29, 2017, interview. The interview was conducted during the Autonomy & Innovation Across the Defence, Security and Civil Sectors – Demonstration event at the British Embassy in Washington.
On this week’s episode of the Defense & Aerospace Business Report, sponsored by Bell Helicopter, a Textron company, we discuss the potential impact of Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Sen. John McCain’s brain cancer diagnosis on major defense deliberations on Capitol Hill — including US Defense Department confirmations, the defense mergers and acquisitions outlook and more. This week’s guests include Byron Callan of Capital Alpha Partners, Ron Epstein of Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Steven Grundman of the Atlantic Council and Todd Harrison of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Lt. Gen. David Deptula, USAF Ret., dean of the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, discusses his new report entitled “Consolidating the Revolution: Optimizing the Potential of Remotely Piloted Aircraft,” and says the US Defense Department needs to make its use of RPA use “more economical, efficient” and “effective,” by improving technology, organization and acquisition, during an interview with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian at the Institute’s headquarters in Arlington, Virginia.
Hollie Pietsch, WIAMan ATD Team Lead at the US Army Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center, discusses how the WIAMan, or the Warrior Injury Assessment Manikin, is helping TARDEC improve transportation-technology design to keep soldiers safe during a May 18, 2017, interview with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian during the US Defense Department’s DoD Lab Day at the Pentagon.
Lana Baydas, PhD, research fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies’ Human Rights Initiative, says “there is no competition between human rights and security” and that the US needs to tell its strategic partners that counterterrorism efforts must still respect people’s human rights during a June 7, 2017, interview with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian at CSIS headquarters in Washington. The interview was conducted right after the launch of Vision of Humanity’s 2017 Global Peace Index.
Rob Chambers, Orion production strategy lead & senior manager for systems engineering at Lockheed Martin, discusses the company’s Generation Beyond space-education initiative and its Mars Experience Bus during a May 9, 2017, interview with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian, held during the 2017 Humans to Mars Summit at George Washington University in Washington.
Gal Papier, head of marketing and business development in the Land & Naval Division of Rafael Advanced Defense Systems’ Precision Tactical Weapon Systems Directorate, discusses the Spike LR2’s advantages over older missiles in the Spike family — including its extended range and ability to be launched from the ground or a helicopter — during an interview with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian at the 2017 Paris Air Show at Paris-Le Bourget Airport. Defense & Aerospace Report’s Paris Air Show coverage is sponsored by L3 Technologies & Leonardo DRS.
Magnus Nordenman, director of the Transatlantic Security Initiative at the Atlantic Council’s Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security, discusses his takeaways from Exercise Baltic Operations (BALTOPS) 2017 during a July 11, 2017, interview with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian at the think tank’s Washington headquarters. BALTOPS is an annual NATO training exercise in which ally and partner nations practice maritime-centric defense in the Baltic Sea. Fourteen countries took part in this year’s iteration, which ran from June 1-16, 2017, according to the US Navy.