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Look here to find articles and citings in the press about AV, our people, our products and topics that relate to us. If you find something elsewhere that we have not posted, then let us know by sending us an email at info@avinc.com.Unmanned Aircraft A Controversial Surveillance Tool For N.D. Law Enforcement
January 31, 2012
Grand Forks, N.D. — In a first for local law enforcement in the region, 16 North Dakota counties will soon use two small unmanned aircraft to monitor crime scenes and track suspects.
Much like the unmanned aircraft flying over war zones in Afghanistan or along U.S. borders, these aircraft are small enough to into the back of an SUV. But each carry a camera and can provide streaming video to a police officer piloting the plane from the ground.
Drones Fly Into Nascent Civilian Market Ripe With Energy, Environmental Applications
January 25, 2012
As a Russian tanker plowed through the frozen Bering Sea to deliver fuel to Nome, Alaska, earlier this month, it had an unlikely helper: a small drone that hovered overhead, sending images of the sea ice to researchers onshore who were plotting the vessel's path and planning oil spill contingencies.
Drone technology, which revolutionized the way the U.S. military spies and fights, is now opening vast new opportunities for environmental researchers and the energy industry. And the Arctic -- with its brutal temperatures and vast, unpopulated spaces making manned flight difficult and dangerous -- is ground zero for those efforts.
Channel Nine Australia: New Look At US Military Drones
January 21, 2012
The US military is redeveloping a form of technology that gives them the edge in combat without risking lives.
UAVs Shrink As Technology Grows
January 16, 2012
AeroVironment has captured the imagination of a worldwide audience with news of a major extension of its activities into nano air vehicles (NAVs).
Ever since human beings first discovered the basic principles of lift and the importance of wing shapes, the necessary muscle power and control movements of birds defeated all attempts to emulate the mechanical process of using wing flapping to beat gravity. The hummingbird’s amazing ability to conduct a perfectly stable hover has long fascinated students of aerodynamics, especially when slow-motion film footage displays the complexity and perfection of its ultrahigh-speed wing flapping movements.
The Economist: Civilian Drones Difference Engine: Unblinking Eye In The Sky
January 13, 2012
WHEN drones are used even by environmental activists to track down Japanese whaling vessels, it is a sure sign that UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) are no longer the sole prerogative of the military. Police forces around the world are certainly keen to lay their hands on small pilotless aircraft to help them nab fleeing criminals and monitor crime scenes from above. With price tags of a little more (and, in some case, a good deal less) than the $40,000 of a patrol car, a new generation of micro-UAVs is being recruited to replace police helicopters costing $1.7m and up.
Ugandans Train on Raven UAVs
January 05, 2012
REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala. -- Uganda air force Pvt. Ronald Mudhasi locked his arm as instructed and flung the small remote-controlled airplane into the overcast sky.
The Raven flew majestically above Test Area 3 but Mudhasi's work wasn't finished. He joined his countrymen and their instructors under a nearby canopy to help control the unmanned aircraft system's flight.
Eight members of the Uganda air force received training on the Raven Dec. 12-23. The Uganda defense forces purchased four of the systems in July for $3 million, according to logistics management specialist Cindy Vanburg of AMCOM's Security Assistance Management Directorate.
AeroVironment Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems Featured On BBC News
December 29, 2011
Private companies are developing smaller, more sophisticated unmanned military drones to be used for air strikes or reconnaissance missions.
The technology is big business in the US and California has become a hub for designing and building the devices.
And as Alastair Leithead reports, they could soon be used in the US as well as abroad.
Top 7 ‘Breakthrough’ Military Weapons
December 26, 2011
A kamikaze drone, developed by military contractor AeroVironment, fits easily into a backpack, can be guided via real-time video to hunt down enemies and explode on impact.
Drone Maker Came of Age After 9/11 Attacks
December 26, 2011
Drone maker AeroVironment Inc. came of age during America's post-9/11 wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
They were the right conflicts at the right time for the Monrovia-based defense contractor, which designs, develops and manufactures drones in Simi Valley, company officials said.
Because of the nature of those wars, in which U.S. troops faced small groups of adversaries embedded in civilian populations or hiding in agricultural areas and caves, drones — or as AeroVironment prefers to call them, small unmanned aircraft systems — proved to be an essential tool in the military's arsenal.
Energy Companies Eyeing Drones to Survey Pipelines
December 18, 2011
New regulatory recommendations expected to be released by the Federal Aviation Administration soon could allow oil-and-gas companies to purchase light-weight unmanned drones akin to those used by the military.
Energy companies already use remotely operated vehicles to monitor and manipulate wells at extreme underwater depths, and unmanned aircraft companies hope that in the coming years, companies will be able to hire or buy aerial drones to survey pipelines, check on hard-to-reach parts of platforms and gather information after an offshore accident occurs.
TÜV SÜD Expands Battery Testing Operation With AeroVironment AV 900
December 17, 2011
TÜV SÜD Canada, part of the global TÜV SÜD testing, inspection, and certification organization, has expanded its battery testing capabilities at its lab facilities in Newmarket ON and Auburn Hills MI.
The expansion includes an increased capacity to handle 100-amp cell channels from 72 to 144. TÜV SÜD America increased its number of pack cyclers to 19, with the addition of another AeroVironment AV 900 testing solution. An additional 10 reach-in thermal chambers have also been added to the facility along with three walk-in units.
AeroVironment Profiled in Bloomberg Businessweek
December 08, 2011
Flight of the Warbots
How a save-the-earth maker of solar-powered aircraft became the world's most prolific manufacturer of military drones.
The members of Apache Troop couldn’t see a thing. It was August 2010, 0200 hours. About 120 U.S. and Iraqi soldiers were silently spreading out over a remote farm in northwestern Iraq. Their objective: a mud hut where, according to intelligence reports, two suicide bombers were planning an attack on a checkpoint to coincide with the end of Ramadan. But the allied soldiers, even wearing night vision goggles, couldn’t locate the hut; eight-foot-tall sunflowers obscured their view.
LA Times: Drone-Maker AeroVironment Reports $6.6-Million Quarterly Profit
December 07, 2011
The Monrovia firm exceeds estimates and says the latest gains show that the Pentagon is increasing its use of small aircraft to compensate as troops are moved out of Iraq.
America’s First ‘Electric Highway’ Will Be Up And Running Within Months
December 06, 2011
As more electric cars begin rolling off production lines, the need for infrastructure to support alternative-energy vehicles becomes increasingly vital.
Washington has been prepping its roadways for the future wave of electric cars for more than a year by planning an extensive network of recharging stations in the nation's first "Electric Highway."
LA Times: Idea of Civilians Using Drone Aircraft May Soon Fly With FAA
November 27, 2011
The Federal Aviation Administration plans to propose new rules for the use of small drones in January, a first step toward clearing the way for police departments, farmers and others to employ the technology.
Mini Unmanned Copters Offer New Eyes in Sky for First Responders
November 22, 2011
Manned choppers have proven their worth many times over in helping law enforcement agencies and other first responders keep our communities safe. But only 1 percent of the estimated 15,000 to 18,000 law-enforcement agencies in the U.S. have access to air assets. They cost too much to buy and operate for most municipalities.
Unmanned Aircraft: Bringing A Switchblade To A Knife Fight
November 18, 2011
In a recent story for Bloomberg Businessweek, Tony Capaccio, one of the best defense reporters in Washington, broke the story about the use by Special Operations Forces in Afghanistan of a Switchblade. As the capitalization of the word might indicate, the Switchblade to which I am referring is not the knife made famous in Hollywood B movies. Rather, it is an ingenious, miniature unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that is also a weapon. According to Capaccio’s sources, just under a dozen Switchblades have been employed to date with great effect and SOF has asked for almost a dozen more. The fielding of Switchblade is the leading edge of what is likely to be the broader, even wholesale, weaponization of unmanned systems.
LA Times: Southland Aerospace Innovations Snag Magazine Awards
November 18, 2011
Southern California's aerospace technology has recently received national recognition.
This week's Time magazine cover features Monrovia-based drone maker AeroVironment Inc.’s Nano Hummingbird as one of the best inventions of 2011.
TIME Magazine “50 Best Inventions of 2011”
November 17, 2011
Don’t be fooled by its colorful exterior. This tiny Hummingbird is actually a surveillance prototype for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, developed by the California based AeroVironment. The Hummingbird—officially called the Nano Air Vehicle—is among 50 new inventions, which appear in the new issue of TIME.
Popular Science: Nano Hummingbird Receives “Best of What’s New in 2011” Award & “Grand Award Winner
November 16, 2011
Nano was selected as the "Grand Award Winner" for the Security category.
Most flying robots use rotors or propellers, limiting the craft’s ability to maneuver in tight places. The Nano Hummingbird navigates by changing the angle and shape of its paper-thin wings—which beat 20 to 40 times per second—and can hover in place for up to 11 minutes. It is also small enough to fly through windows or other small openings, strong enough to carry a microphone or camera, and stable enough to maintain a highly controlled hover, even in gusts of wind.
Small UAV Raven
November 15, 2011
Pilots might dismiss Ravens as radio-controlled toys, but they are popular with soldiers in Afghanistan. The American army’s entire annual purchase of almost 1,300 Ravens is thus lighter than a single fully armed Reaper. The two-kilogram RQ-11B Raven from AeroVironment of Monrovia, California looks like a model aircraft and can fit into a backpack.
Big Ideas Need Time To Develop
November 08, 2011
Nov 08, 2011 (The Salina Journal - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- There are lots of great ideas, but turning one into a usable -- and sellable -- product can take years, if not decades.
That was part of the message from Tim Conver, chairman and CEO of AeroVironment, a California-based company known worldwide for its innovations.
AV Talks Small UAS on Federal News Radio
October 27, 2011
Drones — officially known as unmanned aerial systems — have patrolled the U.S.-Mexico border and targeted terrorist leaders halfway across the world. Someday fighters and bombers will likely even be unmanned.
And now one company has learned how to downsize the latest weapon of war to a size small enough to fit in a soldier's backpack.
Popular Mechanics: Nano Hummingbird Receives 2011 Breakthrough Award
October 03, 2011
Flight, Reimagined: The First Robotic Hummingbird
No thrusters, no propellers, just flapping wings. These Breakthrough innovators embraced the challenge of building a tiny aircraft under those constraints. Their creation, a machine that look and flies just like a hummingbird, shows the wild potential of tiny remote-controlled aircraft.
US Geological Survey Uses Raven to Monitor River Erosion on Indian Reservation
September 22, 2011
The US Geological Survey has just released this video of its Raven flights to monitor river bank erosion on the Lower Brule reservation on the bank of the Missouri River that we reported in August.The Lower Brule Sioux Tribe (LBST) Environmental Protection Office asked the USGS for assistance in monitoring erosion of the Missouri River shoreline on the Lower Brule Reservation.
AeroVironment: EV Pioneer Becomes A Charging Leader
September 12, 2011
When Jay Leno wanted a 240-volt charging station for his new Chevrolet Volt, he turned to a neighbor, Monrovia, California-based AeroVironment, a company with a long history of environmental innovation, including building ultra-light aircraft and the prototype of the General Motors EV1.
Los Angeles Times: AeroVironment’s Small UAS Became A Staple Of Post-9/11 Military Operations
September 10, 2011
It wasn't long after the World Trade Center twin towers fell that U.S. Army special forces units were dispatched to the desolate outcroppings of Afghanistan to stalk and eradicate the Taliban.
The commandos were outfitted with radios, night vision goggles and automatic rifles. But a select few carried a new high-tech tool to hunt down the enemy.
“Spy in the Sky” - AV’s UAS Featured on KTLA
September 06, 2011
MSNBC: Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems - The Future of Technology
September 06, 2011
AeroVironment, Inc. Releases 2011 Annual Report
August 18, 2011
The Economist: Joining The Drones Club
August 15, 2011
THE future of air power is likely to be unmanned. It may also be surprisingly small. Reapers and Predators grab the headlines, but these big, high-profile drones are already outnumbered by small and cheap but capable craft.
One good example is the RQ-11B Raven, made by AeroVironment of Monrovia, California, and widely used by America’s armed forces. It looks like a model aircraft. When disassembled it fits into a backpack. Launching it is just a matter of snapping the parts together and throwing it into the air, whence it is carried aloft by an electric propeller. It weighs just two kilograms. That means the American army’s entire annual purchase of almost 1,300 Ravens is lighter than a single fully armed Reaper. Pilots might dismiss Ravens as radio-controlled toys, but they are popular with soldiers and more are being rushed to Afghanistan.
Paul MacCready - Biographical Memoirs
August 11, 2011
Perhaps no one since Leonardo da Vinci was more facinated by aviation, and the excitement of soaring through the skies like birds, than Dr. Paul MacCready.
Nissan and AeroVironment Expand to Canada in Support of the Nissan LEAF
July 25, 2011
- Leading Infrastructure provider AeroVironment selected to supply home charging solutions -
Today Nissan Canada announced the reservation process for the Nissan LEAF, which will see the first Canadian consumers in the all-electric car this fall. Nissan will carefully manage the purchase process from the first step, when consumers sign up on www.nissan.ca/leaf, until the customer drives the Nissan LEAF home and plugs it into a personal charging dock. Early interest in the Nissan LEAF has been highly encouraging with over 15,000 Canadians registered on the microsite.
AV Aggressively Building Out Its Electric Vehicle Charging Business
July 20, 2011
As I continue covering the electric vehicle (EV) space, I will offer Seeking Alpha readers interviews with some of the industry's major players. In this article, I present a Q&A, conducted via email, with the SVP of AeroVironment's (AVAV) Efficient Energy Systems (EES) segment, Mike Bissonette. EES focuses on the electric vehicle charging market.
Coming Soon: Hummingbird-sized Drone
July 15, 2011
AV's Nano Hummingbird UAS featured on Fox News.
AV Joins Sierra Club & A Broad Coalition of Industry, Local Government & Public Interest Groups
July 07, 2011
Today more than 180 local and national companies and organizations joined together to show their support for plug-in electric vehicle (EV) policies and infrastructure –demonstrating the groundswell of support in all regions of the country for EV innovation and the types of policies needed to make it successful.
Scientists Use AV’s Puma AE UAS to Study Stellar Sea Lions in Alaska
July 07, 2011
Between June 14-15, researchers from the Poker Flat Research Range tested the AeroVironment Puma AE, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that they hope will aide scientists in studying the decline in western Alaska’s Stellar sea lion population.
Time Magazine: Gears Of War: Inside America’s Incredible Military Arsenal
June 28, 2011
From high-tech stealth bombers, to the latest night-vision rifles and assault helicopters, the U.S. armed forces have the most sophisticated military hardware in the world. Here are some of the niftiest pieces of equipment used in recent missions from Operation Odyssey Dawn in Libya to the Osama bin Laden raid in Pakistan.
RQ-11 Raven Drone, Puma AE Drone, Wasp Drone
The New U.S. “Smalls” Air Force Over Afghanistan
June 27, 2011
We've all seen the airplane-sized Predator and Reaper drones now flying and fighting over Afghanistan, Libya, Pakistan and Yemen. They're fairly big (the Predator has a 48-foot [15-m.] wingspan) and costly ($5 million each). But there are fleets of smaller and cheaper man-launched drones that have been, um, flying under the radar in Afghanistan and elsewhere. Even as U.S. troops begin pulling out of Afghanistan, the Army is preparing to send a veritable air force of an additional 300 such small drones into the Afghan campaign over the next three months. These hand-launched Raven and Puma drones provide security for forward operating bases, and the convoys streaming to them carrying everything from fuel to food.
Army Surging Hundreds of Small UAV’s to Afghanistan
June 24, 2011
Even as President Obama draws up plans to start bringing some combat troops home form Afghanistan next month, the reality is the vast majority of troops aren’t going anywhere for at least another year. As a result, the Army is sticking with its plans to surge hundreds of hand-launched Raven and Puma unmanned aerial systems (UAS) to Afghanistan this summer
American Micro-Drones As Small As A Humming Bird
June 20, 2011
American military engineers are developing a new generation of aerial micro-drones, shrinking the unmanned aircraft to the size of insects and birds.
Black Sea Rotational Force 11 Brings the Raven to Romania
June 06, 2011
BUZAU, Romania - Recently, U.S. Marines and soldiers with Black Sea Rotational Force 11 travelled to Buzau, Romania, to provide the Romanian army a familiarization course to display the capabilities of the Raven-B, unmanned aerial vehicle.
This familiarization course was presented over five days and was split between classroom lectures and practical application exercises, where Romanian soldiers were given some stick time on the Raven system.
BMW Picks Home Rechargers For Next Electric-Car Foray
May 18, 2011
If you're going to get in the electric-car business, you'd better partner up with an outfit that knows something about recharging. That's what BMW is doing.
The German luxury brand has chosen a company called AeroVironment to install home recharging units when it starts its next big test of electric vehicles, its BMW ActiveE program.
It’s A Bird … It’s A Plane … No, It’s the Wasp III
May 06, 2011
CAMP TAJI, Iraq – In today's warfare, being able to put a set of eyes on the enemy first, without the enemy knowing, greatly increases the success rate of the mission.
Soldiers with the 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division were the first U.S. Army Soldiers in Iraq to receive training on the Wasp III, an unmanned micro-aerial surveillance system, and take it for a test flight April 24 around Camp Taji.
"This system is effective, lightweight and very adaptable," said Staff Sgt. Brian Phillips, a Raven unmanned aerial surveillance master trainer with Company C, 1st Battalion, 38th Inf. Regiment, 4th SBCT, 2nd Inf. Div. "A single Soldier, at the company or platoon level can throw the whole system on their back and carry it into the field,"
Army Rushes to Deploy Small Drones to Afghanistan, But Needs Better Trained Operators
April 20, 2011
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The demand for small unmanned aircraft continues to grow. Hundreds of new systems are being shipped to Afghanistan, officials said, but training enough operators before they deploy remains a challenge.
“We’ve had a tremendous request from theater to increase the number of small UAS that are going to brigade combat teams, particularly in the southern part of Afghanistan,” Col. Greg Gonzalez, project manager for Army UAS, said April 19 at the Army Aviation Association of America’s annual forum. “That terrain, that mission down there lends itself to these.
The Future of Transportation is Here: eVgo Freedom Station Video
April 15, 2011
Marine Special Operators Rely Heavily on Hand-Launched Drones
April 14, 2011
If every marine is a rifleman, then every marine special operator is an unmanned aircraft system pilot.
The newest component of U.S. Special Operations Command has quickly embraced drone technology, particularly the small hand-launched aircraft that weigh less than 20 pounds and fly at speeds under 100 knots.
“They are being used actively in theater by our guys. We’re having a lot of success with them,” said Jon “Blade” Hackett, unmanned aircraft systems program manager at Marine Corps Special Operations Command.
Popular Mechanics gets an AV Level 2 EV Charging Station - One Of The First NY Office Towers
March 29, 2011
Popular Mechanics' New Electric Vehicle Charging Station
Downstairs in Popular Mechanics' home base in New York, our newest pride and joy is online: PM's new charging station gave its inaugural charge to our Nissan Leaf, and our office at 300 West 57th Street became one of New York's first office towers with the capability to charge an electric car.
Here at Popular Mechanics, we've test-driven electric cars and covered the latest in car-charging tech. But now, if we want to charge up an electric vehicle, we can do it right in our own garage.
Downstairs in PM's home, at 300 West 57th Street in New York City, electricians have just completed the installation of a 208-volt charging station, making our home base one of the first office towers in the city with that capability. PM editor-in-chief James B. Meigs pulled up in our white test-drive edition of the Nissan Leaf so the station could let its inaugural burst of electrons flow.
AV’s CEO Profiled in the Los Angeles Times
March 21, 2011
Timothy E. Conver, CEO of drone maker AeroVironment, thinks small AeroVironment is the nation's largest provider of tiny robotic spy planes, which play a crucial role in modern warfare. It also produces charging stations for electric cars.
AeroVironment Inks Deal with Hawaii to Install Charging Stations for Electric Vehicles
March 18, 2011
Monrovia-based technology company AeroVironment Inc. announced a deal with Hawaii Thursday to install 320 electric charging docks throughout the state. The $820,000 deal is the latest in a string of key contracts for the company, which comes as more electric vehicles arrive to the marketplace and more states move to build an infrastructure to support them.
Send Out Ravens, Save Soldiers
March 17, 2011
FORT HOOD, Texas — It’s a bird. It’s a plane. It’s actually both, sort of.
Soldiers from the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division and the 41st Fires Brigade re-certified on the Army’s smallest unmanned aerial vehicle, the Raven RQ-11B.
The master Raven trainers from the 41st Fires Brigade trained with Rail Gunner Raven operators and several of 2nd BCT Raven operators to re-certify and obtain more Raven flight time during the two-day re-certification course at House Creek Urban Assault Range located on Fort Hood, Texas, March 10-11.
CNN: The U.S. Military Is Testing Tiny Drones Shaped Like Hummingbirds
March 10, 2011
Hummingbird spy drone tested.
Fox News: New Drones Mimic Nature
March 01, 2011
ABC World News Bird’s Eye View At AeroVironment’s Nano Hummingbird
February 19, 2011
A Bird's Eye View
A robotic hummingbird may soon be the Pentagon's latest weapon.
Jay Leno Installs An AeroVironment EV Charger For His Chevy Volt In His Big Dog Garage
February 18, 2011
Made in America: Electric Charging System
It comes in a little box, it's not heavy at all, it installs in an hour or so... that's right it's your very own electric charging dock for your electric vehicle! Now you can go from discharged to full charge in three hours or less!
Fortune Magazine: From Electric Cars To Military Ops
February 17, 2011
General Motors pulled the plug on its first electric car, but supplier AeroVironment used some of that experience to build a very different kind of vehicle for the U.S. military.
AeroVironment, a firm based in Monrovia, Calif., whose products include gear for electric, hydrogen, and hybrid cars, is applying its environmentally friendly research to a technology that at first blush might make some tree huggers tremble: a military drone that could be used to assist in battle.
LA Times: It’s a bird! It’s a spy! It’s both
February 17, 2011
Backed by the Pentagon's research arm, Monrovia firm AeroVironment has developed the Nano Hummingbird, an experimental miniature drone that could one day do reconnaissance by landing on a window ledge.
A pocket-size drone dubbed the Nano Hummingbird for the way it flaps its tiny robotic wings has been developed for the Pentagon by a Monrovia company as a mini-spy plane capable of maneuvering on the battlefield and in urban areas.
The battery-powered drone was built by AeroVironment Inc. for the Pentagon's research arm as part of a series of experiments in nanotechnology. The little flying machine is built to look like a bird for potential use in spy missions.
CNN Money: Tiny Spy Planes, Big Business
February 11, 2011
Soldiers use small, remote-controlled airplanes made by California-based Aerovironment to spy on enemies in battle.
Smaller Is Better For Army UAS
February 04, 2011
The US Army wants to increase dramatically the number of small unmanned aircraft in the hands of its solders (you can read Amy Butler's story here). Where now there are 17 RQ-11 Ravens in a brigade combat team (BCT), the Army plans to increase this to 49 "family of systems" SUAS.
Initially the family will comprise AeroVironment's 4.2lb Raven plus its bigger 13lb Puma and smaller 0.95lb Wasp, but the Army has its eye on a new family of systems. And it could be big business.
AeroVironment Receives Award For Bay Area Electric Car Charging Stations
February 02, 2011
Hoping to spur the purchase and use of new electric vehicles, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District is awarding $3.9 million to four California-based companies to boost installation of private and public charging stations around the region.
With Nissan rolling out the all-electric Leaf and Chevrolet selling plug-in hybrid Volt, the nine-county agency plans to fund 30 public fast-charge systems to extend the range of those and other electric vehicles, district representatives said.
It also plans to offer $700 rebates to the first 2,750 consumers who come on board to help fund personal residential charging equipment to new electric car owners.
ABC News Gets An Exclusive Look At An Aircraft That Could Revolutionize Surveillance
January 23, 2011
Eye in the Sky: Pentagon Tests New Spy Plane
ABC News Gets an Exclusive Look at an Aircraft That Could Revolutionize Surveillance
High over the Mojave desert, the Pentagon has been quietly testing a new generation of unmanned plane that flies higher, soars longer and runs greener than anything in the Pentagon's arsenal.
"This will really change the way we think about aviation," Assistant Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering Zachary Lemnios told ABC News. "And it's going to open up an entirely new future."
Army Pilots: Flying Drones Tougher Than It Looks
January 14, 2011
Flying unmanned aircraft over war zones may seem to outsiders like playing a tricked-out video game. But these operations can be, indeed, dangerous, aviators contend. Bad weather, makeshift runways and close calls with friendly aircraft are among the hazards that put missions at risk.
LA Times: New Generation of Unmanned Spy Planes Is Being Tested
January 11, 2011
An experimental spy plane with a wingspan almost the size of a Boeing 747's took to the skies over the Mojave Desert last week in a secret test flight that may herald a new era in modern warfare with robotic planes flying higher, faster and with more firepower.
The massive Global Observer built by AeroVironment Inc. of Monrovia is capable of flying for days at a stratosphere-skimming 65,000 feet, out of range of most antiaircraft missiles. The plane is built to survey 280,000 square miles — an area larger than Afghanistan — at a single glance. That would give the Pentagon an "unblinking eye" over the war zone and offer a cheaper and more effective alternative to spy satellites watching from outer space.
The Little Plane That Could
December 07, 2010
As a war-fighting technology that fosters new doctrine, organizations, and requires specialized training, the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is arguably the military’s newest example of a Revolution in Military Affairs (RMA).
From the strategic level drone weapons platform to the tactical Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) collection platforms, the UAV has become a driving force of change in modern warfare. The UAV’s versatility and utility will likely become an icon of the Global War on Terror (GWOT) era and a RMA of a generation of unmanned war-fighting enablers.
AV’s Fast Charge Systems Profiled on ABC TV
November 30, 2010
LA Times: Charging Network a Goal as Electric Vehicles Come On Line
November 29, 2010
Visitors to the Los Angeles Auto Show are wooed by the vehicles' futuristic designs and the promise of fuel savings, but many tire-kickers raise worries about how they would keep the cars powered up.
OEF-Bound Soldiers Train On Raven
November 29, 2010
Raven is one of the smallest vehicles in the Army, but its value to commanders on the battlefield is disproportionate to its size.
Camp Atterbury Joint Maneuver Training Center, Ind. - In May, the Army marked over one million flight hours on unmanned aerial systems. At Camp Atterbury, Soldiers are training now to operate the Raven UAS and will add to that Army milestone next year when they fly missions over Afghanistan.
Hybrid Hydrogen Power For A New Satellite Alternative
November 22, 2010
A new and promising "eye in the sky" inches closer to reality with successful testing of AeroVironment Inc.'s Global Observer high-altitude unmanned aircraft, designed to loiter above an area for up to a week at a time. On Oct. 26 the company said the 70-foot, propeller-driven aircraft, with a wingspan of 175 feet, had completed low-altitude airworthiness tests under battery power at Edwards Air Force Base in California.
Over the next six months, the plane's actual powerplant will be used in further flight-testing. It's a liquid-hydrogen-fueled internal combustion engine driving a generator that produces electricity to turn the four props. We do live in the age of hybrids, after all.
Warplanes: Is There Anything The Clever Raven Can’t Do
November 22, 2010
November 20, 2010: U.S. Army troops have developed new tactics for their lightweight, hand launched Raven UAV. While the Raven can only stay airborne about an hour per sortie, troops have found that this is enough time to do all sorts of useful work, even when there's no fighting going on. This is most of the time.
In Iraq and Afghanistan, the enemy does not want to confront U.S. troops directly (this tends to get you killed). So there is an unceasing effort to set up ambushes, plant mines and roadside bombs and fire rockets or mortars at American bases.
AV Receives Frost & Sullivan’s N.A. Customer Service Leadership Award for EV Charging
November 04, 2010
AeroVironment Receives Frost & Sullivan’s North American Customer Service Leadership Award for Electric Vehicle Charging Station Solutions
Quality, Timeliness and Cost of Service, Customer Value Receive High Marks
MONROVIA, Calif., Nov. 4, 2010 – Frost & Sullivan, a global research organization of 1,800 analysts who monitor more than 300 industries and 250,000 companies, has awarded its 2010 North American Customer Service Leadership of the Year Award for Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging Stations to AeroVironment, Inc. (AV) (NASDAQ: AVAV). AV is a Southern California-based technology company whose electric transportation solutions include electric vehicle home charging, public charging and fast charging systems for consumers, automakers, utilities and government agencies.
AV Makes Nissan Dealers EV-Ready With Level 2 Charging Docks
November 01, 2010
Nissan Dealers Install First Charging Stations for All-Electric Nissan LEAF
- Dealer charging stations open to usage by Nissan LEAF drivers -
FRANKLIN, Tenn., Nov. 1, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- As Nissan prepares for Nissan LEAF vehicle deliveries in December, select dealers across the country have completed electric vehicle (EV) readiness training and are among the first to add EV charging infrastructure to their dealership operations.
Aviation Week: Drone-Specific Technologies Emerge
October 29, 2010
An underlying theme of the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) show, which took place here in August, is the advance of unmanned vehicle technology—i.e., the research, development, application and deployment of technologies specifically for unmanned systems, rather than the creation of unmanned systems based on existing airplane, ground or sea technology.
Flight Global: AeroVironment Offers US Army ‘Family’ Of Unmanned Systems
October 27, 2010
With the US Army shifting operations from Iraq to Afghanistan, the demand for small unmanned air vehicles is moving into higher gear as well.
The army plans to buy 3,000 Raven small UAVs - and already has 2,000 in hand - from California-based AeroVironment.
During the Association of the US Army exposition in Washington, DC, another $7.2 million order for the company's Puma air vehicle was announced, expanding an August deal with the US Special Operations Command worth $35.3 million. It also received a $4.4 million order last month for a digital-datalink equipped version of the close-range, hand-launched Puma, which weighs about 5.9kg (13lb).
