FlightGlobal
• Ryan Finnerty
Regent demonstrated its autonomous Squire seaglider at a U.S. Navy drone event, highlighting a ground-effect vehicle designed to reach 70 kt, fly more than 100 nautical miles and carry a 22-kilogram payload. The demonstration positions the platform for evaluation in maritime and other defense missions.
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Regent demonstrated its autonomous Squire seaglider at a U.S. Navy drone event, highlighting a ground-effect vehicle designed to reach 70 kt, fly more than 100 nautical miles and carry a 22-kilogram payload. The demonstration positions the platform for evaluation in maritime and other defense missions.
REGENT has demonstrated Squire, its autonomous wing-in-ground-effect seaglider, during an exercise with the U.S. military. The event marks an operational test of the vehicle’s ability to operate close to the surface while supporting emerging defense applications for amphibious and coastal transport.
Airbus’s System Development Lab generated virtual allies and threats inside Timber Express, the German Air Force’s annual data-link exercise. The demonstration shows how synthetic aircraft can be introduced into live military training environments to expand scenarios and test networked operations without requiring additional physical platforms.
Slingshot Aerospace is adding AI-powered space traffic monitoring capabilities to its Portal platform, aimed at helping satellite and other space operators better monitor an increasingly crowded orbital environment. The announcement expands Portal’s role in tracking and managing space traffic for commercial and government users.
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A UK-led consortium will begin a 30-month trial in Shanwick oceanic airspace later this year, directing hundreds of commercial flights to make minor altitude or route adjustments to avoid climate-warming contrails. The operational evaluation will test whether airspace-scale rerouting can reduce aviation’s climate impact without disrupting traffic flows.
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Uber and Zipline are partnering to bring autonomous drone delivery to millions of U.S. customers through Uber Eats. The rollout will begin in markets where Zipline already operates, including Dallas and Houston, before expanding nationwide, with the companies targeting 1 million deliveries per day by the end of 2029.
NASA is testing technologies aimed at reducing dependence on Earth-based infrastructure and improving mobility beyond Earth. The agency demonstrated GPS-free optical navigation on its Starling CubeSat swarm, evaluated wheel designs for lunar bases, and developed a fabric-based ground-penetrating-radar antenna for SkyFall Mars helicopters.
The U.S. Air Force is seeking advanced target drones able to reproduce the performance characteristics of a broad range of aircraft, from stealth fighters to small unmanned systems. The effort points to a requirement for more representative and adaptable threat-replication capabilities in testing and training.
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