drones

China christened a remarkable new 290-foot (88-m) ship last week – the world's first semi-autonomous drone carrier. It'll carry, launch, recover and co-ordinate the actions of more than 50 other autonomous aerial, surface and underwater vehicles.

Teledyne FLIR Defense has developed a multi-role laser designator called the StormCaster-DX. The military targeting system can be attached to a quadcopter small and light enough to be carried in a soldier's rucksack.

This unique heavy-lift UAV out of Edinburgh promises to obliterate the power and range of electric drones using a Rotax engine and bent-axis hydraulic motors similar to those used on huge tree harvesters. It's now lifting 95 kg in testing.

With two successful flight tests in the bag, and just under US$2 million in seed funding, Florida company Undefined Technologies has unveiled the next generation of its "silent" commercial drone, which uses ionic propulsion instead of propellers.

Innovative vertical propulsion company Cyclotech has partnered with Yamato, one of Japan's largest delivery companies, to produce a concept for a very unique-looking mid-capacity delivery drone using Cyclotech's thrust-vectoring propulsion system.

Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works advanced development programs division has set a new world flight endurance record for a Group 2 (5 to <25 kg (11 to <55 lb)) drone after the company's Stalker VXE remained aloft for 39 hours, 17 minutes, and 7 seconds.

The Royal Navy's 700X Naval Air Squadron has completed intensive testing of heavy-lift drones at RNAS Culdrose in Cornwall, UK, to determine their fitness for resupplying aircraft carriers and other frontline naval operations.

Boeing's Loyal Wingman is officially the "MQ-28A Ghost Bat." The new name marks the move out of experimental phase for the autonomous drone, which is the first Australian-produced military combat aircraft in over half a century.

The hoverfly has an extraordinary ability to see and track moving objects in very low light, and Australian researchers have replicated its signal-to-noise-boosting vision systems to process sound data, detecting and tracking drones up to 4 km away.

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. has unveiled its latest jet-powered robotic drone, the Gambit, which is designed to use artificial intelligence and autonomous systems to fly alongside human-piloted aircraft and achieve air dominance.

By using digitally-distributed hydraulic propulsion and combustion engines, Flowcopter says its heavy-lift drones will stay aloft for up to six hours, covering up to 900 km of range on a tank. The first prototype is starting flight tests.

No matter how good our human designs may be, there’s no shame in copying Mother Nature’s homework. A new nature-inspired flying robot can flap its wings even more efficiently than an insect, using a unique electrostatic “zipping” mechanism.