drones

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.

Through its Tactical Technology Office (TTO), DARPA wants to move drones to the next level with its Lift Challenge – a US$6.5-million competition aimed at creating small drones capable of lifting payloads four times their weight.

General Atomics has rolled out the latest iteration of its modular Gambit series of Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA), adapting the common-core airframe for air-to-ground missions while retaining its autonomous core capabilities.

Blurring the line between biology and robotics, Chinese scientists are taking biomimicry to new depths with a small, low-energy bionic jellyfish that's so lifelike in form and movement it’s almost indistinguishable from the real thing.

It seems like autonomous aircraft makers are indulging in a bit of oneupsmanship as Shield AI rolls out its X-BAT VTOL Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) that combines the ability to land and take off without a runway with long-range endurance.

Lockheed Martin subsidiary Sikorsky is blurring the line between helicopter and fixed-wing aircraft with its new Nomad family of Uncrewed Aerial Systems (UAS) that combine the versatility of a helicopter with the speed and endurance of a fixed-wing aircraft.

Like something out of an early Transformers movie, researchers at Caltech have just demonstrated how a humanoid and a drone can team up to accomplish multiple forms of movement. The experiment opens new possibilities in robotic locomotion.

Autonomous fighter planes are popping up all over the place these days as more air forces opt for pilotless loyal wingmen. The latest example is Europe's version, the multi-role Helsing CA-1 Europa, which has just made its public debut.

In a demonstration not so much of marksmanship but more of the advantages of microwaves, an Epirus Leonidas directed energy, high-power microwave (HPM) anti-drone weapon has knocked 49 Uncrewed Aerial Vehicles (UAV) out of the air with one shot.

A super-secret Lockheed Martin Skunk Works project is no longer a secret after the company revealed its Vectis Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) – an autonomous stealth fighter drone developed entirely in-house with company funds.