drones

These strangely-shaped twisted-toroid propellers look like a revolutionary (sorry) advance for the aviation and marine sectors. Radically quieter than traditional propellers in both air and water, they're also showing some huge efficiency gains.

The US Army has awarded Eprius a contract worth US$66.1 million to deliver prototypes of a new microwave weapon called Leonidas that is capable of bringing down entire swarms of enemy drones in a single burst, while leaving friendly aircraft intact.

Racing quadcopters are insanely light, quick and agile, but they're not typically known for their top-speed figures. Mechanical engineer and hobbyist Ryan Lademann builds his own frames to push the limits, and he's now bagged a Guinness World Record.

Researchers at Northwestern Polytechnical University in Xianyang, China, have demonstrated a drone that never needs to land, thanks to a remote charging system that delivers power via an adaptive, target-tracking laser on the ground.

Startup Skydio’s latest approach to self-charging drones involves affordable and compact base stations that can be deployed in a variety of settings, as it looks to put self-sufficient aircraft in the hands of more and more users.

NASA has contracted Virginia's Advanced Air Company to design and build a prototype of a new type of transition-capable eVTOL drone – a tilt-wing concept that uses aerodynamic forces instead of actuators to tilt the wings and propulsion systems.

Israeli defence tech company Elbit Systems has launched a lethal, autonomous suicide drone. The Lanius is an agile racing quad with a range of AI-powered scouting, mapping and target classification abilities, and the ability to explode when required.

If someone were planning on burglarizing a building, it would help if they knew where valuable gadgets such as smart TVs were located. A drone equipped with a cheap "Wi-Peep" device could allow them to do so, by seeing through the building's walls.

To counter increasingly dangerous low-level, close-quarters surface and aerial threats, Nexter and Thales have unveiled the latest version of the RAPIDFire autonomous gun turret at the Euronaval 2022 naval defense exhibition in Paris.

Foster + Partners has created a new headquarters for drone manufacturer DJI. The ambitious project consists of two adjacent skyscrapers that incorporate dramatically cantilevering sections and host offices, research areas, and drone test areas.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has again joined forces with Saildrone to chase hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean using unmanned surface vehicles, and captured footage from inside the first Category 4 storm of the 2022 season.

The recent turnabout in northeastern Ukraine shows that this is a war full of surprises. Not the least of these is that the conflict is shaping up as the first true drone war, giving new insights into the battlefield of the future.