FINDER'S UNMANNED FLIGHT IS A KEEPER.Byline: Daily News EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE Edwards Air Force Base, U.S. military installation, 301,000 acres (121,805 hectares), S Calif., NE of Lancaster; est. 1933. It is one of the largest air force bases in the United States and has the world's longest runway. - General Atomics Aeronautical aer·o·nau·tic also aer·o·nau·ti·cal adj. Of or relating to aeronautics. aer  o·nau Systems said a Predator unmanned spy plane successfully launched a miniature unmanned aerial vehicle A powered, aerial vehicle that does not carry a human operator, uses aerodynamic forces to provide vehicle lift, can fly autonomously or be piloted remotely, can be expendable or recoverable, and can carry a lethal or nonlethal payload. in flight. This is the first time in history in which an operational UAV UAV Unmanned Aerial Vehicle UAV Unmanned Air Vehicle UAV Unmanned Aerospace Vehicle UAV Unmanned Airborne Vehicle UAV Uninhabited Air Vehicle UAV Urban Assault Vehicle UAV Unpiloted Aerial Vehicle (less common) has demonstrated the capability to carry and launch another UAV, the company said. Known as a Flight Inserted Detector Expendable for Reconnaissance, the 57-pound mini-UAV was carried on a pylon under Predator's wing and released at an altitude of 10,000 feet. FINDER conducted a 25-minute preprogrammed mission before control was passed from the operators who control Predator from the ground to a flight technician who landed FINDER on a dry lake bed at Edwards Air Force Base. Predator is capable of carrying two FINDERs on operational missions, General Atomics said. FINDER was produced by the Naval Research Laboratory Noun 1. Naval Research Laboratory - the United States Navy's defense laboratory that conducts basic and applied research for the Navy in a variety of scientific and technical disciplines NRL as part of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency The Defense Threat Reduction Agency (or DTRA) is a combat support agency of the United States Department of Defense (DoD) whose primary function is to analyze potential threats to the United States, both homeland and abroad, and provide contingency plans for all such Airborne sensor program. The program is designed to evaluate Predator's capability to carry and launch independently controlled and self-propelled mini-UAVs into hazardous conditions. To extend the capability of the FINDER mini-UAV, the next phase of the program will include the integration of PIRANHA, or Predator Infrared Narrowband Hyperspectral Combat Assessor. Future plans are to demonstrate the ability to near-simultaneously launch a FINDER mini-UAV from each wing to extend Predator's range for checking out targets after an attack. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: (color) The Predator unmanned spy plane, seen in this 2001 file photo, launched the FINDER. Jeff Goldwater/Staff Photographer |
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