drones

The US Army is turning its AH-64 Apache attack helicopter into a drone hunter thanks to a new 30-mm round for its M230 chain-gun that can take out Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) using a proximity fuse that unleashes a blast of high-velocity shrapnel.

Watch as a team of drones destroys their target in a demonstration of Fury. That is, the Fury Autonomous Vehicle Orchestrator by Scout AI that uses proprietary AI software to carry out autonomous combat based on simple verbal orders from a human.

DARPA and Raytheon have teamed up to tackle a growing threat to commercial and logistical shipping: attacks by drones. The Pulling Guard project aims to develop a towed platform that trails behind ships, providing detection and countermeasure capabilities.

With a single invisible shot, Raytheon's Coyote Block 3 UAV zapped swarms of drones out of the sky in a US Army demonstration showing that a reusable drone with electromagnetic weapons is an economical alternative to explosive interceptors.

Naval warfare goes a bit clingy as Lockheed Martin unveils its robotic Lamprey Multi-Mission Autonomous Undersea Vehicle (MMAUV), which can hitch a ride on friendly ships or submarines by latching onto their hulls to conserve power.

The British Army is pushing the concept of the Loyal Wingman combat drone into new territory as Project NYX, with the help of seven industry partners, looks to develop a rotary drone that can work in concert with the Apache AH-64E attack helicopter.

The software and hardware that will control tomorrow's combat drones got a workout on January 18, as a General Atomics MQ-20 Avenger showed off its capability by autonomously intercepting a crewed aggressor aircraft in an air combat exercise.

Ukraine has, for the first time, sent into combat a hybrid drone powered by hydrogen fuel. According to the builder Skyeton, a variant of its Raybird was deployed for full-scale combat duty with the Ukrainian Armed Forces in an active war zone.

You can't even hide from drones under the sea now, with General Atomics flight-testing its MQ-9B SeaGuardian maritime patrol craft. It was trying out the new Expanded Sonobuoy Dispensing System (ESDS) for hunting submarines where they hide.

As combat drones continue to move from the laboratory to the battlefield, the US Navy is exploring how to use a digitally simulated F-35 Lightning II aircraft to develop new tactics to go with the new technology.

Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works has shown how combat drones can think on the fly with a demonstration of its AI-Driven Mission Contingency Management (AI/MCM) system that can adjust missions in the face of unforeseen events.

The Loyal Wingman concept has taken a major step toward reality as Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works pulled off an aerial demonstration where a 5th-generation F-22 Raptor interceptor took command of a drone for the first time.