This week, dramatic videos emerged from both Russian and Ukrainian sources of an attack by unmanned kamikaze boats on the Russian surveillance vessel, the Ivan Khurs. Unmanned drone boats are rapidly changing the dynamics of naval warfare. Recently the U.S. Marine Corps showed off its Metal Shark-built long-range unmanned surface vessel (LRUSV) carrying Hero-120 loitering munitions. LRUSV’s capabilities are limited at the moment. Metal Shark said in January of 2021 it would develop the USMC’s network of unmanned vessels built to travel autonomously for extended ranges carrying loitering … [Read more...]
Meet KEMANKEŞ: An Intelligent Mini Cruise Missile
Private Turkish defense company Baykar Technologies, specializing in UAVs, C4i (Command, Control, Communications, Computers & Intelligence), and AI, just unveiled a new intelligent mini cruise missile at the 2023 Teknofest Aerospace and Technology Festival in Istanbul. As the maker of the Bayraktar TB2 drone, which has been a menace to opposing forces, Baykar thrust itself onto the world stage as a top drone maker. KEMANKEŞ, with its AI-driven guidance system, will increase TB2’s lethality as it will be able to hit targets behind enemy lines, all while keeping the TB2 at standoff range. … [Read more...]
Power Beaming: Is the Worldwide Energy Web Coming?
After decades of space and military agencies work, power beaming is finally becoming a reality. The highly secretive X-37B was used to test a Photovoltaic Radio-frequency Antenna Module (PRAM) on its last mission. PRAM-FX is a Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) experiment that's investigating transforming solar power into radio frequency (RF) microwave energy and broadcasting it to earth. Power beaming could revolutionize energy much like the worldwide web revolutionized communications. Read more from DARPA: Energy is a fundamental currency in the battlespace. The POWER program will leverage … [Read more...]
First Ever eVTOL Authorized to Operate in the U.S.
FAA approval allows Woburn, MA based Guardian Agriculture to operate its fully autonomous, electric, American-made aircraft in the U.S., leading the way in a $5.7 billion aerial crop protection market. The FAA approval makes Guardian Agriculture the first commercially authorized eVTOL in the U.S. Read the press release below: WOBURN, Mass., April 24, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Guardian Agriculture, the leading developer of Electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing (eVTOL) systems for commercial-scale sustainable farming, today announced that it has received approval from the U.S. Federal Aviation … [Read more...]
Ukraine Killing Russians with Drone Dubbed “Origami of Death”
A waxed cardboard drone produced by an Australian company SYPAQ Systems comes in a flat-pack and is assembled like something from IKEA. The drone called "Corvo Precision Payload Delivery System" (PPDS) can fly 75 miles and is launched by hand or catapult. They can deliver ammunition, food, and medicine to the front lines. The PPDS also can perform reconnaissance flights in contested airspace and can be configured to carry payloads. They can even fly without an operator. The PPDS is stealthy, as radar signals can’t see cardboard, and they have the ability to fly even in GPS-jammed environments. … [Read more...]
Northrop Grumman Unveils Its New Long-Range Maritime Strike Missile
Northrop Grumman recently showed off its new maritime strike missile at the Navy League Sea-Air-Space Expo 2023. Although details were limited, the missile looks to have an intake under the nose, which could mean it has a ramjet or scram-jet engine and possible hypersonic speed capabilities. The strakes on the missile could help reduce drag, increase range, and boost overall speed. Joseph Trevithick at The War Zone writes abridged: Northrop Grumman has unveiled a new long-range, fast-flying maritime strike missile concept that features an air-breathing propulsion system. This comes after a … [Read more...]
Is America about to Deploy Star Wars-like X-Wings on the Battlefield?
Is the U.S. military about take a page out of a George Lucas screenplay and deploy X-Wings on the battlefield? Sort of. A 15-pound portable hand-launched hybrid missile, designed to increase precision strike capabilities, could soon be in the hands of soldiers. Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) recently unveiled a new miniature Star Wars X-Wing fighter lookalike, known as “Point Blank.” The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) has already signed a multi million dollar contract to provide prototypes and testing in fiscal year 2023. Point Blank, armed with a 2kg warhead, can fly at speeds of up to … [Read more...]
Pentagon Fights Hypersonic Threat with New Satellite Network
In an effort to counter the rising threat of hypersonic weapons, the Space Development Agency is accelerating its plan to launch 28 new satellites by 2025. Theresa Hitchens of BreakingDefense.com writes (abridged): Raytheon Technologies today announced it has been awarded a contract worth more than $250 million from the Space Development Agency (SDA) to build seven missile warning/tracking satellites — an award that stems from a congressional funding boost in the fiscal 2023 defense appropriations act, an SDA spokesperson told Breaking Defense. Raytheon Press release March 2nd, … [Read more...]
Dragon Tours Open for Business
Zumwalt-Class Guided Missile Destroyers to Get Hypersonic Weapons
The U.S. Navy plans to remove the Advanced Gun System (AGS) from its Zumwalt-class destroyers and replace them with four 87-inch tubes for hypersonic missiles. Three Common Hypersonic Glide Bodies (C-HGB) and their boosters could fit in each 87-inch tube – or 12 missiles per Zumwalt, USNI News understands. Richard Scott of Janes.com writes: The US Navy (USN) still plans to fast-track the integration of the Conventional Prompt Strike (CPS) hypersonic weapon system into its DDG 1000 Zumwalt-class guided missile destroyers, with the aim to complete the first live-fire tests in 2025, according to … [Read more...]
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