Here's an
insightful article from the Wall Street Journal about Lockheed Martin's foray into the robot done market. Lockheed, which helped develop the
Dragon Eye, and the Desert Hawk is trying to play catch-up to larger robotic drone makers, like Northrup Grumman and Boeing. There're working on innovative ideas, like a plane that can be launced from a submarine.
The Skunk Works has fresh Darpa backing for another curious drone, dubbed the Cormorant. It would be fired out of a submarine missile tube, unfurl itself and carry out surveillance or combat sorties over a range of about 500 miles.
Another plane, dubbed the "Falcon", would fly at speeds up to Mach 9 high up in the atmosphere, and act as a bomber. The aircraft pictured has a moveable wing surface which allows it to go from a slow glide into a fast dive-bomb. Since the US Military has proposed increasing spending on unmanned aircraft to 1.9 billions dollars in 2007, there's lots of contracts to be had and money to be made.
Tags: [
Robots | Lockheed Martin | Drone |
Military]