Drones & Air Force
News about military drones, UAVs, air force projects, and unmanned systems.
Germany tests large transport drone for evacuating casualties from war zones (video)
Germany is testing the Grille, a heavy electric multicopter from Avilus that can carry one wounded person lying down, up to about 175 kg, over around 50 km.
Drone swarms, ballistic missiles and fast boats: this is the threat scenario for America around Iran (video)
As US pressure on Iran rises, so does the risk: Iran is betting on mass, Shahed drones, ballistic missiles and fast-boat swarms to overload American defences.
Russia launches ‘Barrage-1’: unmanned 5G balloon to replace Starlink on the battlefield (video)
Russia says it has launched Barrage-1, a stratospheric 5G balloon at about 20 km altitude that should act as a flying cell tower now that Starlink access is restricted.
The drone problem forces extreme solutions: Russia comes up with a bizarre fix (video)
Footage shows a Russian vehicle with steel plates and spinning chains around it, meant to knock away approaching drones. A crude sign of how urgent the drone problem is.
Ukraine deploys Black Hornet Nano drone also used by Dutch special forces (video)
Ukrainian special forces use the Black Hornet Nano, a micro drone weighing a few dozen grams that Dutch commandos and marines also use. It has day and thermal cameras and is almost silent.
Drone catches drone: Iron Drone Raider safely takes UAVs out of the sky (video)
The Iron Drone Raider launches an autonomous interceptor drone from a container that catches unwanted drones in a net, a safe option above airports and cities.
Israel presents QuadiKaze drone with tilting propellers and vertical attack capability (video)
Trim Robotics’ Peregrine MR ‘QuadiKaze’ is a 6 kg portable attack drone whose four propellers tilt 90 degrees, letting it hover, fly fast and dive straight down onto targets.
Camcopter S-301: armed drones are on the rise
Schiebel’s Camcopter S-301 helicopter drone now appears with rocket pods. Like the Dutch MQ-9 Reaper, reconnaissance drones are increasingly getting weapons of their own.
The MQ-9 Reaper as flying air defence against massive drone attacks (video)
General Atomics shows the MQ-9 Reaper as a counter-UAS platform that spots Shahed-type drones from above, designates them by laser and shoots them down with Hellfire or cheaper APKWS rockets.
700 km/h: Fury, the French drone hunter meant to stop kamikaze drones (video)
Small Alsatian firm ALM Meca developed Fury in under a year: a kerosene micro-jet drone interceptor reaching about 700 km/h and 20G, designed to stop Shahed- and Geran-type drones.
Notable: France follows the US and starts producing Shahed-136-style attack drones
Renault will build long-range Chorus attack drones, inspired by the Shahed-136, in Le Mans and Cléon with Turgis & Gaillard, potentially up to 600 a month.
The Netherlands gets the V-BAT drone, while South Korea is already arming it with missiles
The Royal Netherlands Navy will get the V-BAT drone in 2026, which takes off and lands vertically from small decks. South Korea is already arming the same type with guided missiles.
Mark I missile shoots down Shahed-like drone in test (video)
Estonian firm Frankenburg Technologies has tested its compact Mark I missile against a Shahed-like drone. The 650 mm missile flies over 1,000 km/h and costs about a tenth of a Stinger.
New technologies against drones: how Raytheon Coyote and Roadrunner-M are changing the airspace (videos)
Tests at Yuma Proving Ground show Raytheon’s Coyote interceptor taking out drones of all sizes. With Anduril’s reusable Roadrunner-M and Europe’s DefendAir and Mark 1, cheap counter-drone weapons are on the rise.
China expands military influence with Egyptian drone deal
Egypt is buying ten Chinese WJ-700 jet-powered combat drones, a notable step for a country that relies heavily on American equipment. China uses arms exports as a geopolitical tool.
You may also like
Robotics How thousands of drones create a moving picture in the sky (video)
A drone show starts as a computer animation. Individual flight paths, precisely timed colours and satellite navigation turn it into a moving picture in the sky.
Robotics From Philips to Nvidia: the Dutch roots of the AI chip (video)
An AI chip with 208 billion transistors needs more than a clever design. Factories must be able to make all those tiny switches. That is where a familiar Dutch name appears: Philips helped both ASML and TSMC get started.
Robotics This robot dog hauls luggage along mountain steps (video)
The luggage rises high above its back, yet the robot dog places its feet on the stone steps one by one. Among visitors, the four-legged machine becomes a small mechanical porter.
Robotics Google boss Pichai praises what Elon Musk gets done (video)
Bringing a rocket back is one thing; making it work repeatedly is another. Google chief Sundar Pichai admires Elon Musk’s ability to turn ideas into working technology.
Robotics Human-shaped robot practises on a computer, then lands seven throws in a row (video)
Apollo is a robot with a human-shaped body. In a Google test, it learned to throw bean bags through a hole in a wooden board, using a person’s throw as a starting point.
Robotics This Meta glasses model sees what you see — and responds to tiny finger movements (video)
AI answers in front of your eye, on-screen translation and control through small finger movements. Here is how Meta Ray-Ban Display and its wristband work.