Also: Ampaire Test, FLIR Acquires Altavian, AMA Works With Congress, New Drone Advocacy Group

The Navy announced a new warrant officer specialty designator whose job will be to operate carrier-based MQ-25 Stingray unmanned aerial vehicles, which are expected to start appearing in fleet carrier air wings sometime in 2024.

The establishment of the Aerial Vehicle Operator (AVO) warrant officer specialty became a reality Dec. 9 with Secretary of the Navy approval of the new designator. Over the next 6-10 years, the Navy will recruit, train and send to the fleet, a community of roughly 450 warrants in grades W-1 through W-5. The MAHEPA consortium has confirmed the successful proving flight of a fascinating technology aboard an Hy4 aircraft. In November 2020, the (Hy4) high 4 hydrogen powered hybrid-electric aircraft successfully flew from Maribor airport, in Slovenia, demonstrating capabilities with immense potential for the unmanned aviation segment. More than 500 people around the world have been rescued from danger by drones, according to new statistics collected by DJI. This milestone came in mid-October, when sheriff's deputies used a DJI drone with a thermal imaging camera to find a missing 93-year-old woman in a dark field in Missouri. Thermal video from the rescue released by the Cass County Sheriff's Office shows how the drone spotted Chris Fairchild as a bright yellow dot in the darkness. All this -- and MORE in today's episode of Airborne-Unmanned!!!

Airborne-Unmanned 12.16.20 is chock full of info in this Weekly News Episode, Wednesday, December 16th, 2020... Presented by Aero-TV veteran videographer and Airborne Hosts Kimberly Kay, Sophie Hurlock, Brianne Cross, Christopher Odom, and Laura Hutson, and is supported by ANN CEO/Editor-In-Chief Jim Campbell, and Chief Videographer Nathan Cremisino, this episode covers:

• Navy Announces Aerial Vehicle Operator Warrant Officer Specialty
• MAHEPA Hydrogen Fuel Cell Driven Hy4 Has Flown
• DJI Counts More Than 500 People Rescued By Drones Around The World
• Ampaire Conducts First 'Airline' Flight Trials
• FLIR Systems Acquires Altavian
• AMA Works With Congress to Secure Educational Protections for UAS Operations
• New Drone Advocacy Group Launched

Get Comprehensive, Real-Time, 24/7 coverage of the latest aviation and aerospace stories anytime, at aero-news.net. And be sure to join us again next week for the next edition of "Airborne-Unmanned" here on Aero-TV. Thanks for watching. See you, again, next week!

@2020, Aero-News Network, Inc., ALL Rights Reserved.

FMI: www.airborne-unmanned.net, www.airbornetv.net, www.aero-news.net, www.amadronereport.com, www.aero-tv.net, www.youtube.com/aerotvnetwork, https://vimeo.com/aerotvnetwork, http://twitter.com/AeroNews