Science & Tech
US Testing Autonomous Border-Patrol Drones
Planck Aerosystems gets funding to try its small rotorcraft in operational environments over the next three to six months.
Science & Tech
How AI Will Help Radar Detect Tiny Drones 3 Kilometers Away
Small drones are becoming a big problem. Here’s how next-generation neural networking techniques could help.
Science & Tech
Interior Dept. Will Buy Chinese Drones Despite Spy Concerns
Agency officials say they have taken various technical precautions to keep DJI from gathering intelligence with their drones.
Science & Tech
Russian Troops Will Be Getting Tactical Bomb Drones
Having learned from ISIS attacks in Syria, Russia is rushing to put armed drones on the front lines.
Science & Tech
How the Pentagon Nickel-and-Dimed Its Way Into Losing a Drone
The lion’s share of the U.S. drone fleet is easy prey for advanced air defenses. It didn’t have to be that way.
Ideas
Some Cautionary Notes on the New ‘Knife Missile’
Will the blade-wielding Hellfire variant actually reduce civilian casualties? Maybe.
Science & Tech
US Military Testing Whether Human Pilots Can Trust Robot Wingmen in a Dogfight
DARPA’s Air Combat Evolution program aims to find out — and so shape America’s future arsenal.
Science & Tech
DIU Is Helping the US Army Field More Backpack-Sized Drones
The Pentagon’s internal startup accelerator wants to get consumer quadcopters in the hands of soldiers in a matter of months, not years.
Science & Tech
US Drones May Soon Run on Open-Source Software
The Defense Innovation Unit is exploring whether a popular commercial platform could help the military keep up with the rapidly advancing drone industry.
Science & Tech
Air Force to Begin Shifting Research Funds to These Kinds of Next-Gen Weapons
The Pentagon’s continues to shift focus toward Moscow and Beijing with a new push for tomorrow’s drone swarms and smart missiles.
Ideas
In Somalia, US Air Strikes Rise and Transparency Declines
The 2019 tally is on track to more than double last year’s total.
Science & Tech
The Navy Is Assembling a Hacker Team to Fight Off Small Drones
Engineers, researchers, and hackers will seek ways to protect warships and bases from hobby-type drones modified to kill.
Ideas
Will Kalashnikov's New Drone Be the AK-47 of Indirect Fire?
The company that made assault rifles ubiquitous says its KUB can put a warhead on a miles-distant target.
Threats
How Many Civilians Die in Covert US Drone Strikes? It Just Got Harder to Say
Trump has revoked an Obama-era reporting requirement even as the CIA has resumed lethal strikes.
Science & Tech
Ukraine Is Buying New Combat Drones…From Turkey
The skies over Eastern Ukraine are becoming more crowded as Kiev looks to Ankara for weapons.
Science & Tech
Russia’s New Arctic Drones Are Built to Spot Ships
Its maker says the two aircraft can ID vessels approaching oil and gas facilities from 100 kilometers away.
Science & Tech
The US Military’s Drone Swarm Strategy Just Passed a Key Test
DARPA-funded drones worked together despite heavy electronic-warfare defenses.
Science & Tech
State Department Relaxing Rules on Transfer on Drone, Chip Technology
The rules will pave the way for 5G cellphones — and even drones that talk to each other in midair.
Science & Tech
China’s Beating the US to Market on Combat Drones, By Copying US Technology
America seems to have squandered a 10-year head start.
Ideas