Testing
France has conducted a series of experimental trials assessing the feasibility of releasing drones from a military transport aircraft, using an A400M as the test platform.
Testing
Bayraktar KIZILELMA prototypes PT3 and PT5 successfully completed a test formation flight with an autonomous combat pilot.
Testing
PteroDynamics and AeroVironment, Inc. recently collaborated for a joint technology demonstration at Silent Swarm 25, hosted by the Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) Crane Division at the Alpena Combat Readiness Training Center in Alpena, Michigan.
Testing
China Science announced on December 18 that the Lanying R6000, the China-developed world’s first 6-tonne tiltrotor aircraft, has completed its maiden flight in Deyang, southwest China’s Sichuan Province. Boasting both the vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) capabilities of a helicopter and the fast cruising speed of a fixed-wing
Testing
U.S. Marines at Camp Pendleton used the M1014 shotgun in live counter-drone training during Exercise Steel Knight 25. The drills show how frontline units are adding practical, close-range tools to handle fast, low-flying aerial threats.
Testing
Schiebel has successfully completed the first CAMCOPTER S-300 flight test campaign in France, marking an important milestone in the programme’s progression.
Loitering Munitions - One Way Effector (OWE)
General Dynamics Land Systems has announced a successful demonstration of the Precision Effects & Reconnaissance, Canister-Housed (PERCH) system, codeveloped with strategic partner AeroVironment (AV), at the U.S. Army’s Machine Assisted Rugged Sapper (MARS) event at Fort Hood, Texas. PERCH is a modular kit that integrates AV’s Switchblade
Testing
Video and stills just released by Chinese state media show China’s CH-7 stealthy flying-wing drone for the first time, being prepared for flight, taking off, and landing. It appears to be tailored for intelligence, reconnaissance, and surveillance (ISR), as well as possibly a secondary strike role. The video includes
Swarms
China’s heavyweight jet-powered Jiutian drone, said to have a maximum takeoff weight of around 17.6 tons (16 metric tons), has flown. A key mission for the design is expected to be acting as a mothership for swarms of smaller unmanned aerial systems. It has also been shown previously
Weapons Systems / Lasers
In a historic achievement, Boeing and the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) have successfully executed a force integrated air-to-air autonomous weapon engagement from an MQ-28 Collaborative Combat Aircraft. The landmark mission involved an MQ-28 Ghost Bat teaming with a RAAF E-7A Wedgetail and F/A-18F Super Hornet to destroy a
Testing
* Boeing, in collaboration with Insitu and the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO), announced updates from the Multi-function Radar Intelligence Surveillance Reconnaissance (MRaISR) project. This Industrial Participation project, supported by the Dutch Ministries of Economic Affairs and Defence, has been in development for several years, showcasing the culmination of
Testing
* Lockheed Martin Skunk Works successfully completed a live demonstration of artificial intelligence driven mission contingency management (AI/MCM) on a Stalker XE Block 25 Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) and an Alta X 2.0 drone modified by Drone Amplified. This test demonstrates how AI can automatically adjust an unmanned mission