Boeing pays premium for unmanned aircraft partner

Boeing Paying a PremiumBoeing had been working with Insitu, a Washington state company, on unmanned aircraft. Now it just bought the company. See an article here. Based on reports, Boeing payed quite a premium for the company. Insitu had an estimated earnings last year of $80 M and Boeing reportedly payed five times that for the company. Of course all this is based on anonymous reports as the details have not been made public yet. So if you were able to invest money in Insitu you made it back.

Picture by pfala

Boeing wins one

Boeing was awarded a $3.8 M contract by DARPA to begin development of a ultra-high endurance unmanned aircraft. Boeing teamed with a British company, QinetiQ Ltd., for the program. The Vulture will be an aircraft that can loiter for years and carry a payload. It would then be activated when necessary. QinetiQ had been working on solar powered aircraft under other contracts that might have applications to this mission.

Riste of the Machines: Do Automated Weapons Threaten Humanity?

February 27, 2008 by admin · Comment
Filed under: Industry Analysis 

According to University of Sheffield professor Noel Sharkey, an artificial intelligence expert, “Increasingly autonomous, gun-totting robots developed for warfare could easily fall into the hands of terrorists and may one day unleash a robot arms race.” Read more