Drones able to inspect manned aircraft in record time

Airbus has demonstrated how a drone can conduct a visual aircraft inspection.

At the Farnborough Air Show, a drone with a high-definition camera inspected the upper part of an aircraft on the ground, according to an Airbus announcement. Inspections take 10 to 15 minutes versus two hours for a human inspector, according to Airbus.

The drone was flown "using an automatic flight control system supervised by a human pilot," Airbus said. "The UAV follows a predetermined flight path and takes a series of pictures automatically. All these images and especially those showing any potential non-quality such as scratches, dents and painting defects, are compiled in a 3-D digital model, recorded in a database and then analyzed. This data helps improve traceability, prevention and reduction of damage."

Airbus is now conducting full-scale industrial testing on A330 aircraft.

More In UAS

GCAP fighter jet designers push to keep weapons, drone options open

Integrating a variety of collaborative combat aircraft and optimizing munitions costs are key objectives in the UK-Japanase-Italy program.

Russia starts grading its provinces on drone production, training

Starting next year, participating in the scoring will be mandatory for all of Russia’s constituent parts.

Anduril’s drone wingman begins flight tests

Anduril emphasized the semiautonomous piloting of its YFQ-44A collaborative combat aircraft in its first flight test.

To coordinate strikes from space, US needs space JTACs, experts argue

Soon after planes were first used in war, there were specialists on the ground coordinating strikes. Space-based weapons could one day yield new observers.

Rheinmetall, MBDA tout German shipborne laser gun for zapping drones

The system demonstrated what Rheinmetall described as a first for Europe: successful target engagement “in front of blue sky."