Aerospace Diary

Neelam Mathews April 11, 2017 China -based e-commerce retailer JD.com has carried out thousands of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) delivery tests in remote rural areas of four provinces since June 2016. It is also adding 150 UAV stations in Sichuan Province "in the short-to-medium term," a JD.com representative told  Jane's   , referring to the plan as an "aspirational goal". 1699710 A JD.com delivery UAV, pictured in November 2016 on take-off in Suqian, Jiangsu Province,  China . (JD.com) This expansion would enable JD.com - the second largest online retailer in  China  behind Alibaba - to serve more provinces and villages. "We'd rather not call the facilities 'airports', as some publications have referred to them," the official added. The UAV infrastructure plan was developed by JDX, the logistics research and development arm of JD.com. JDX focused on innovative solutions to transport items from warehouses to cus...

Neelam Mathews Feb 17 2017 Sing Air Show The Indian government is considering comprehensive Civil Aviation Requirements to regulate small, unmanned aerial vehicles ( UAV s, or “drones”), following recent incidents of their flying close to the airport, and Indian parliament. Guidelines could include registration, tracking, implementation, and penalties for offenders. Drones are “being discussed internally and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation has to work on this [further],” said to R.N. Choubey, Secretary of the Ministry of Civil Aviation, speaking to  AIN . He acknowledged that the ministry was facing “technical challenges like tracking…how does one track recreational drones? Tracking costs money and increases the weight of a drone. It needs to be monitored, and tracking devices will have to be put across the country,” he added. Administrative issues are getting in the way, too, regarding which authority gives permission for drones to ...

Neelam Mathews Oct 11, 2014 We’re a strange complicated bunch. We tolerate matters that affect our own security without as much a whimper. We either have a death wish or believe –somewhat rightly- that the Gods are watching over us. They must be. The way we are flouting use of civil drones not allowed over our airspace, is cause for serious concern. DGCA in all its wisdom has woken up as usual too late with typically, a public notice with no teeth. ICAO has “yet to publish Standards and Recommended Practices as far as certification and operation of civil use of UAS is concerned,” says DGCA covering its back. It recognizes “due to lack of regulation, operating procedures/standards, and uncertainty of the technology, UAS poses threat for air collisions and accidents.” So, why not dear regulator, put some procedures in place? We at AerospaceDiary learn, this was proposed by the then DGCA Naseem Zaidi. What happened dear august body after he left? Best to let sleeping dogs...er...

Neelam Mathews Aug 29, 2012 The drone fever is on. The Polish military is looking to replace its Su-22Ms with unmanned combat aerial vehicles. The Heron, Hermes 900, MQ-9 and TAI Anka are said to be contenders. A scary fact is that civilian operated drones are now being used. Last year in Nov, a civilian operated ISR drone filmed riots in Warsaw , Poland .  Video-