A leaked U.S. military assessment says the Chinese military may soon deploy a high-altitude spy drone that travels at least three times the speed of sound, the Washington Post reported. The newspaper cited a secret document from the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. The document, which Reuters could not confirm or
VTOL
Specialist consultancy company MGI Engineering has launched its cargo UAV technology demonstrator programme. MGI CEO and Founder Mike Gascoyne officially unveiled its fully functional technology demonstrator at the eVTOL Insights’ London Conference on Wednesday 19 April 2023. This announcement will thrust the well-established specialist engineering consultancy firm into the newly-emerging
AI
Inspired by the adaptable nature of organic brains, researchers from MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) have introduced a method for robust flight navigation agents to master vision-based fly-to-target tasks in intricate, unfamiliar environments. The liquid neural networks, which can continuously adapt to new data inputs, showed
Propulsion
Hypersonix USA, Inc is partnering with established launch provider Rocket Lab USA, Inc for the first launch of DART AE. Defense Innovation Unit’s (DIU’s) hypersonic and high-cadence testing capabilities (HyCAT) project and its mission partners are prototyping a suite of modern, low-cost, high-cadence, dual-use airborne testing platforms (vehicles)
UAM/UTM
Speedbird Aero, a drone delivery company headquartered in Brazil, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with High Lander, an uncrewed traffic management (UTM) developer and service provider from Israel. This international collaboration between the two companies is set to revolutionize the safety and efficiency of drone-based deliveries at a
Video
The McDonnell XF-88 Voodoo was a long-range, twinjet fighter aircraft with swept wings designed for the United States Air Force. Although it never entered production, its design was adapted for the subsequent supersonic F-101 Voodoo. Design and development The XF-88 originated from a 1946 United States Army Air Forces requirement
Inspections
As evidence mounts that gas drilling and sewer systems leak far more greenhouse gases than previously believed, a team of Princeton ECE researchers has developed a method to pinpoint leaks both big and small for speedy repair. Their laser-based sensing approach, detailed in a paper published Mar. 1 in Remote
VTOL
Alpha Unmanned Systems ,an unmanned helicopter manufacturer based in Madrid, has announced that it will increase its manufacturing and support capabilities in SE Asia through a partnership with Indonesian firm PT Indadi Venyro. Adi Haryono CEO of PT Indadi Venyro states, “We are pleased to offer Alpha products throughout Indonesia
Military
Ukraine's National Guard has released footage from its combat training, showing the operation of the Kazhan unmanned aerial vehicle. Although these aircraft have long been used by Ukrainian forces, there is little publicly available information about the systems. The Ukrainian defense website Defense Express collected some of the
Business
DroneShield Ltd has received two orders totalling approximately $2.2 million for a number of its handheld systems, including the recently launched DroneGun Mk4 portable drone countermeasure product. The orders were received from U.S. DoD and another U.S. Federal Government agency. Payments for both orders are expected in
Propulsion
Amprius Technologies, Inc., a manufacturer of next-generation lithium-ion batteries with its Silicon Anode Platform, is preparing to supply commercial level shipments to AeroVironment in support of the company’s Switchblade 300 Block 20 loitering missile system. Amprius is providing high energy density lithium-ion battery cells to power versions of AeroVironment’
BAE Systems and Microsoft have signed a strategic agreement aiming to support faster and easier development, deployment and management of digital defence capabilities in an increasingly data centric world. The collaboration brings together BAE Systems’ knowledge of building complex digital systems for militaries and governments with Microsoft’s approach to