AeroTime
• Clement Charpentreau
Latvia identified a drone shot down in its airspace as Ukrainian, while Romania used an F-16 to destroy an explosive-laden maritime drone near the Neptun Deep gas platform. Separately, Ukrainian forces said a Sting interceptor drone downed a Russian UAV at 7,472 meters.
UAV Development & Drone Programs
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Latvia identified a drone shot down in its airspace as Ukrainian, while Romania used an F-16 to destroy an explosive-laden maritime drone near the Neptun Deep gas platform. Separately, Ukrainian forces said a Sting interceptor drone downed a Russian UAV at 7,472 meters.
PDW is seeking a loan from the Pentagon’s Office of Strategic Capital to expand beyond its 90,000-square-foot Drone Factory 01 in Huntsville, Ala. The financing would support additional capacity for manufacturing drones and key components as the company targets production supporting U.S. output of one million drones annually.
The contract funds Elroy Air’s development of the Chaparral, an autonomous hybrid-electric VTOL cargo aircraft, with work focused on jam-resistant navigation and hardened communications links. The award signals continued Army investment in resilient, unmanned logistics capabilities for contested operating environments.
Germany has launched a drone security center that uses space-based systems, bringing satellite-enabled capabilities into efforts to address drone-related security concerns. The initiative highlights the growing overlap between space infrastructure, unmanned systems and national security operations.
High activity
Amazon plans to expand Prime Air to nearly 500 U.S. cities and towns by the end of 2026, bringing drone delivery to tens of millions of customers and suburban areas. The push comes as the FAA prepares a final rule for routine commercial beyond-visual-line-of-sight operations, while Uber partners with Zipline on a network targeting 1 million daily deliveries.
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.
The U.S. Air Force plans to field a more affordable, mass-producible successor to the MQ-9 Reaper by 2031 while developing a broader family of aerial targets. The systems would range from expendable quadcopters to reusable drones capable of mimicking fifth-generation fighters and UAV swarms.
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