Science & Tech
Special Operators Are Getting a New Autonomous Tactical Drone
A prototype microdrone that maps a building’s rooms will change the urban battlefield.
Science & Tech
These Swarming Drones Launch from a Fighter Jet’s Flare Dispensers
The Pentagon’s Strategic Capabilities Office is building — and rapidly improving — them with commercial parts and 3D-printed fuselages.
Ideas
‘Autonomy’: A Smart Overview of the Pentagon’s Robotic Plans
But the long-awaited Defense Science Board study tiptoes around the question of armed autonomous systems.
Science & Tech
The Pentagon Needs You To Help Them Take Down Small Drones
As tiny drones proliferate and make their way onto the battlefield, the Pentagon calls for solutions.
Threats
As Wars Demand Intel, Air Force Boosts Drone Pilot Bonuses
Secretary James hopes an extra $10,000 will ease the strain on careers and families.
Science & Tech
The Navy’s Future Submarines May Go to Sea with Robot Remoras
The sucker-headed fish are drawing attention as the fleet imagines ways to bring drones to the undersea domain.
Policy
All of Cleveland Will Be a 'No Drone Zone' for the GOP Convention
The Secret Service says the rule—which covers 82.47 square miles of land and water—is just business as usual.
Science & Tech
The Navy Is Making a New GPS for Drone Submarines
Right now, GPS signals can barely travel below the surface of the ocean.
Threats
The Drone War Crosses Another Line
America took an unprecedented step over the weekend when Obama authorized the Pentagon rather than the CIA to carry out an airstrike inside Pakistan.
Science & Tech
Pentagon Testing Small Robot to Help Hunt Naval Mines
The US military has been looking for an underwater bomb disposal robot for years. It finally has one.
Science & Tech
Let’s Talk About the Federal Drones Flying Over US Soil
An alphabet soup’s worth of government agencies are exercising their ability to look down on ordinary citizens.
Ideas
Michael Hayden's Defense of Drone Warfare Doesn't Add Up
Today, drone strikes are a settled policy in Washington circles, but that does not mean Americans should accept everything a former CIA director says about them.
Ideas
Drone Pilots Are Breaking the Old Definitions of Valor
Traditional notions of heroism don't always leave room for those U.S. troops engaged in high-tech, cutting edge warfare.
Ideas
In an Era of Cheap Drones, US Can’t Afford Exquisite Weapons
Various technological advances are about to make hundred-drone swarms a reality, and a nightmare for today’s top-of-the-line weapons.
Science & Tech
FAA Gets Serious About Drones
If your new Christmas toy outweighs two butter sticks, you need to register it with the feds. Do it now for free.
Science & Tech
US Air Force to Ask for More Drones
Plan would add 3,500 Reaper pilots and up to five more ops centers around the country.
Ideas
Drone Strikes Are Creating Hatred Toward America That Will Last for Generations
'The resentment created by American use of unmanned strikes,' said retired four-star Gen. Stanley McChrystal, 'is much greater than the average American appreciates.'
Ideas
Why is Obama Letting China Beat the US at Global Drone Sales?
Blocking Jordan’s purchase of Reaper UAVs is just one example of unwise reticence to sell more arms abroad.
Policy
An Emerging US 'Drone Hub' Is Making New Yorkers Nervous
The unmanned-aircraft industry could help to revive a struggling region. But what are the consequences?
Science & Tech