Meet the world’s first satellite launching drone. Ravn X was developed by Aevum, a U.S. based startup, and will be able to carry new payloads into orbit every 180 minutes. Ryan Morrison from DailyMail.com writes (abridged): Aevum says the massive 80ft long drone, named the Ravn X, is fully autonomous, 70 per cent reusable, and can take off and land on runways as short as a mile long. Come join our team in Jacksonville, FL and help us launch autonomous UAVs and orbital rockets! Tell us about you by sending your resume/CV to careers@aevum.us with a professional statement and what it means to … [Read more...]
Meet Russia’s Terrifying BMPT-72 “Terminator”
Russia is repurposing the chassis of T-72 battle tanks with a-whole-lotta firepower. The new BMPT “Terminator” is designed to support tanks and infantry in an urban combat environment, and it is classified as an armored fighting vehicle (AFV). The Terminator carries Ataka-T Guided Weapons Systems, armed with four 9M120 Ataka missile launchers, two 30mm 2A42 autocannons, two AG-17D grenade launchers, and one coaxial 7.62mm PKTM machine gun. The Terminator can engage targets in the air and on the ground, as well as enemy troops. Alexander Bratersky of Defense News writes (abridged): The Russian … [Read more...]
China Conducts Coordinated Mutli-Layered Suicide Drone Test
China’s Academy of Electronics & Information Technology (CAEIT) carried out the test in September 2020. The test involved a swarm of suicide drones also known as loitering munitions. China plans to overwelm its adversaries with operational drone capabilities deployed from multiple platforms. Joseph Trevithick of The Drive writes (abridged): The China Academy of Electronics and Information Technology (CAEIT) reportedly carried out the test in September. CAEIT is a subsidiary of the state-owned China Electronics Technology Group Corporation (CETC), which carried out a record-breaking drone … [Read more...]
News of Secret 6th- Generation Fighter Jet Takes Flight
News that the United States Air Force (USAF) is test flying a Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) fighter has recently surfaced. The NGAD prototype, a 6th- generation fighter, would be a follow-on to Lockheed Martin’s F-22 stealth fighter jet. "The NGAD has come so far that the full-scale flight demonstrator has already flown in the physical world. It's broken a lot of records," Air Force acquisition chief William Roper said during the Air Force Association's annual Air, Space & Cyber Conference. "A lot of the mission systems that we require for next-generation air dominance have been … [Read more...]
AI Beats Human in F-16 Dogfight
Heron Systems was selected as one of eight companies/universities to participate in DARPA’s AlphaDogfight Trials. Each team went head-to-head in a round-robin tournament; the top four teams then moved on to the next round. Those four teams--Lockheed Martin, Physics AI, Aurora Flight Sciences, and Heron Systems--then competed in a single-elimination tournament. In the end, it was Lockheed Martin vs Heron Systems to see who would move onto the finals. Heron Systems defeated Lockheed 16-4 to advance to the championship round, where they took on “Banger” (call sign), a USAF weapons … [Read more...]
Turkey’s Drones: A Game Changer
Libya’s air space is filled with Chinese and Turkish drones, Russian MiGs and Sukhoi 24s, and Emirati Mirage 2000s, and soon to join the fight are Turkish F-16s and Egyptian Rafaels, writes Tom Kingston of DefenseNews. In short, Libya has been transformed into what seems like an air warfare laboratory and there are lessons to be learned here. Since May 2019 Turkey has used Libyan air space to fly its TB2 drone, and it’s been a game changer, pushing back Haftar’s forces and knocking out Russian air defenses. Turkey has boosted its TB2’s effectiveness and capabilities with new software and … [Read more...]
Production of Israel’s Iron Dome Weapon System Coming to U.S.
Raytheon and RAFAEL Advanced Defense Systems are teaming up to produce the Iron Dome Weapon System in the U.S. This will be the first Iron Dome production facility outside of Israel and will expand availability to the U.S. and its allies. Iron Dome is a mobile all-weather short-range air defense system with a success rate exceeding 90 percent. Each battery can defend up to 60 square miles, determining if an incoming threat will land in populated areas or uninhabited areas to minimize unnecessary countermeasures, effectively lowering its operating cost. Read more from Raytheon’s press … [Read more...]
Russia Tests Anti-Satellite Weapon
U.S. Space Command has reported that Russia has just conducted an anti-satellite test in space on July 15. Russia and China have both been pursuing technology capable of jamming or destroying U.S. military and commercial satellites. A report published on February 13, 2018, “Threat Assessment” by Daniel R. Coats, Director of National Intelligence, warned of the destructive anti-satellite (ASAT) weapons and that they would reach operational capability sometime in 2020. The U.S. Space Command Public Affairs Office writes (abridged): U.S. Space Command has evidence that Russia conducted a … [Read more...]
America’s Largest Nuke – The B83 Bomb
At nearly one and a half megatons, the B83 is the largest bomb the United States keeps in its arsenal. The bomb is 12 feet long and 18 inches in diameter and weighs approximatly 2,400 lbs. Caleb Larson, a defense writer for The National Interest, writes (abridged): At nearly one and a half tons, the B83 is the largest nuclear bomb that the United States currently keeps. Its nuclear tiled is 1.2 megatons—significantly more powerful than either of the nuclear bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II. It’s big, it’s powerful, and it’s had a colorful history. Though … [Read more...]
China is Fortifying its Coastline
China’s recent advancements in space technology and missiles are creating a defensive bubble that will be difficult to penetrate. China has dramatically expanded its firepower, most notably with its satellite networks and missiles, pushing the boundaries of its anti-access/area denial strategy (A2/D2) to new ranges. The news of an air-to-air missile in development, the “PL-XX,” which could target vital air tankers, AEW&C aircraft, JSTARs, and even high-flying unmanned aircraft at a range of 188 miles, could put U.S. fighter jets at a disadvantage. Mike Yeo of DefenseNews writes: The U.S. … [Read more...]