Unmanned

US Navy injects first-of-kind unmanned experiments into multinational exercise

Look no further than the Rim of the Pacific drills for clues about the sea service's future fleet.

Which drone was used in Al-Zawahiri strike? Experts point to General Atomics’ Reaper

The MQ-9 Reaper, which is made by unmanned aerial vehicles company General Atomics, has been used in many notable strikes across recent presidential administrations.

RIMPAC lessons will inform Navy’s pursuit of a program-of-record unmanned ship in 2025

Four unmanned surface vessels are operating at RIMPAC -- and the lessons they generate will inform the path to a Large USV program of record in the next three years, and help determine if there's a future for a Medium USV.

Want to chat with a drone? Israeli troops could soon do that.

Israel is working on a system that will enable ground forces to use voice commands for unmanned systems.

Army pursues shared software among uncrewed vehicles

The Army will focus on light robotic combat vehicles.

Up, up and away: Airbus’ Zephyr drone breaks flight record high above Arizona

Army Futures Command launched a record-breaking test of the Zephyr, a UAS designed by Airbus.

Contractors look to lasers for unmanned systems

Laser technology’s ability to play a growing role in the military drone sector made a showing at the Farnborough Airshow this week.

Battlefield 360

Marine Corps wants to test out partner drones, new MQ-9 Reaper payloads

The Marine Corps wants to increase its rapid prototyping fund by nearly a factor of six in 2023.

Valkyrie success may push Skyborg drone concept to other programs, Kratos says

“This is getting to the end of the Skyborg program, is where we are,” Kratos executive Jeffrey Herro said at Farnborough.

Lockheed working on expendable, advanced drones to team up with Air Force fighters

Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works hopes to have expendable drones ready for the Air Force to use in the next few years, if a war with China breaks out.

Britain’s Royal Air Force chief says drone swarms ready to crack enemy defenses

The conundrum of overcoming enemy air defenses is currently on display in Ukraine, where Ukrainian and Russian air-defense capabilities are effectively canceling out the other side's air power arsenal.

Iranian envoy responds to US claim it’s selling drones to Russia

Earlier in the war, Iran was criticized in the West for not condemning Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine.

Iran to deliver armed drones to Russia, White House says

The White House says it believes Russia is turning to Iran to provide it with “hundreds” of unmanned aerial vehicles for use in its ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

Air Force rethinks combat rescue for major war — but what will it look like?

The Air Force's hunt for a combat search and rescue approach that would work in a war against China or Russia will likely be a two-pronged effort: Help downed aviators survive longer behind enemy lines, and find new ways — perhaps using drones — of finding and reaching them.

Teledyne wins Pentagon order for hundreds of bomb disposal robots

The U.S. Armed Services placed an order for 500 robots from Teledyne FLIR Defense.

See the TB2 drone heading to Ukraine after a Lithuanian crowdfunding drive

Lithuania will present a combat drone to Ukraine that was donated by the Turkish manufacturer after a private crowdfunding campaign among ordinary Lithuanians, who raised nearly $6.1 million for the purpose within days.

See India conduct first flight of autonomous technology demonstrator SWiFT

The 1-ton SWiFT platform is powered by a Russian NPO Saturn 36MT turbofan engine.

US Navy, Air Force running ‘capstone test’ of new high-power microwave missile

The High-Powered Joint Electromagnetic Non-Kinetic Strike Weapon (HiJENKS) uses microwave technology to disable an adversary’s electronic systems.

French Navy eyes US progress in unmanned, ‘data-centric’ operations

France believes U.S. advances in unmanned systems, artificial intelligence and networked operations could shape its naval tech investments and concept development work.

South Korea develops robot for autonomous tunnel exploration

The robot can explore underground tunnels without topographic information, detecting risks and generating a 3D map of the exploration area, a government agency says.

France requests Switchblade loitering munition to fill ‘urgent’ capability gap

The French Army has started the process of quickly procuring American-made loitering munitions as part of a longer-term effort to field remotely operated weapon systems, according to officials.

Manned-unmanned teaming at core of French Army’s future helicopter programs

As the French Army moves ahead to field three new rotary-wing platforms by 2025, the ability to partner those systems with autonomous and semiautonomous technology will be a gamechanger, a senior military official said.

Elbit unveils new armed robotic vehicle that Israel will test in 2023

The M-RCV, shown off by Elbit Systems at the Eurosatory defense expo in Paris this week, is based on the BLR-2 unmanned ground vehicle made by Israeli firm BL.

See the show floor and live drills at Eurosatory

Whether you were able to attend Eurosatory this year or not, you won't want to miss these highlights.

HII develops unmanned launch and recovery system for amphib ships

The Marine Corps wants the option to covertly launch unmanned boats out the back of its amphibious ships. HII has tested that enabler for the first time.