Lifeboat Foundation

R550X can carry loads of up to 1,200 pounds, boasts a flight time exceeding three hours, and a top speed of 150 miles per hour.

Rotor Technologies Inc., a firm engaged in the development of autonomous vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft, has unveiled and commenced the production of what it claims to be the “largest uncrewed civilian helicopter on the market.”

Continue reading “Rotor: World’s largest uncrewed drone helicopter enters production” »

The use of drones capable of deciding whether to kill humans is alarming critics.

The Chinese firm, Unitree, claims that its upgraded humanoid robot, “powertrain provides the highest level of speed, power, maneuverability and flexibility.”

Chinese robotic systems firm Unitree marks a groundbreaking development with the upgrade of its humanoid robot.

Continue reading “Watch ‘world’s most powerful’ humanoid robot withstand brutal kicks” »

Optical scientists have found a new way to significantly increase the power of fibre lasers while maintaining their beam quality, making them a future key defence technology against low-cost drones and for use in other applications such as remote sensing.

Researchers from the University of South Australia (UniSA), the University of Adelaide (UoA) and Yale University have demonstrated the potential use of multimode optical fibre to scale up power in fibre lasers by three-to-nine times but without deteriorating the beam quality so that it can focus on distant targets.

The breakthrough is published in Nature Communications.

Anduril Industries says it wants to become the Lockheed Martin of the 21st century.

The fast autonomous drone, called Roadrunner, is designed by Luckey’s Anduril Industries to intercept and blow up enemy aircraft.

NASA’s maiden mission to explore Saturn’s moon, Titan, has progressed to the next phase of development.

If everything goes as planned, the launch of this car-sized nuclear-powered drone will take place in 2028.

Continue reading “NASA’s nuclear-powered drone mission to Saturn’s moon now set for 2028” »

Number 4 Hamilton Place is a be-columned building in central London, home to the Royal Aeronautical Society and four floors of event space. In May, the early 20th-century Edwardian townhouse hosted a decidedly more modern meeting: Defense officials, contractors, and academics from around the world gathered to discuss the future of military air and space technology.

Things soon went awry. At that conference, Tucker Hamilton, chief of AI test and operations for the United States Air Force, seemed to describe a disturbing simulation in which an AI-enabled drone had been tasked with taking down missile sites. But when a human operator started interfering with that objective, he said, the drone killed its operator, and cut the communications system.

In my 2015 exploration with General John R. Allen on the concept of Hyperwar, we recognized the potential of artificial intelligence to unalterably change the field of battle. Chief among the examples of autonomous systems were drone swarms, which are both a significant threat and a critical military capability. Today, Hyperwar seems to be the operative paradigm accepted by militaries the world over as a de facto reality. Indeed, the observe-orient-decide-act (OODA) loop is collapsing. Greater autonomy is being imbued in all manner of weapon systems and sensors. Work is ongoing to develop systems that further decrease reaction times and increase the mass of autonomous systems employed in conflict. This trend is highlighted potently by the U.S. Replicator initiative and China’s swift advancements in automated manufacturing and missile technologies.

The U.S. Replicator Initiative: A Commitment to Autonomous Warfare?

The Pentagon’s “Replicator” initiative is a strategic move to counter adversaries like China by rapidly producing “attritable autonomous systems” across multiple domains. Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks emphasized the need for platforms that are “small, smart, cheap, and many,” planning to produce thousands of such systems within 18 to 24 months. The Department of Defense, under this initiative, is developing smaller, more intelligent, and cost-effective platforms, a move that aligns with the creation of a Hyperwar environment.

Hydrogen is having a moment, thanks to Biden administration incentives to boost production — and that’s spurring development of hydrogen-powered transport, including drones.

Why it matters: Hydrogen-powered drones could potentially fly farther and carry bigger payloads than those relying on heavy electric batteries. That opens doors to new uses, like advanced logistics.

Driving the news: Israeli startup Heven Drones unveiled today two new hydrogen-powered drones that it says represent “a significant leap in endurance and precision.”