British Army troops in Mali are now reportedly using tiny unmanned aircraft that can be fired from standard 40mm grenade launchers. These diminutive quad-copter-type drones can be fitted with various payloads, ranging from full-motion electro-optical video cameras to small high-explosive or armor-piercing warheads, and that can fly together as a swarm after launch. Overt Defense Read more about British Troops Get Small Swarming Drones They Can Fire From 40mm Grenade Launchers[…]

The U.S. Air Force has described its bedeviled KC-46A Pegasus tanker as a “lemon,” amid ongoing problems that prevent it from performing its primary aerial refueling mission on a day-to-day basis. Now the Air Force is trying to find other ways to make use of these aircraft, of which it has already received 42 examples Read more about Air Force Says KC-46 Is A “Lemon” That It’s Trying To Make Lemonade Out Of[…]

The uncrewed combat aircraft will be designed to fly at high-speed alongside fighter jets, armed with missiles, surveillance and electronic warfare technology to provide a battle-winning advantage over hostile forces. Known as a ‘loyal wingman’, these aircraft will be the UK’s first uncrewed platforms able to target and shoot down enemy aircraft and survive against Read more about £30-million injection for UK’s first uncrewed fighter aircraft[…]

In a setback for the Lockheed Martin F-35 stealth fighter program, the U.S. Department of Defense has formally decreed that a decision on full-rate production of the jet is on indefinite hold. The Milestone C decision on whether or not to ramp up the manufacture of Joint Strike Fighters had been due in or before Read more about Pentagon Puts F-35 Full-Rate Production Decision On Hold[…]

Italian defense contractor Leonardo says that it has conducted a successful demonstration in cooperation with the U.K. Royal Air Force of an autonomous swarm of unmanned aircraft, each carrying a variant of its BriteCloud expendable active decoy as an electronic warfare payload. Using the BriteClouds, which contain electronic warfare jammers, the drones were able to Read more about RAF Uses Autonomous Drone Swarm Loaded With Decoys To Overwhelm Mock Enemy Air Defenses[…]

The Air Force was already familiar with the possibilities of the ‘SmartShooter’ smart aiming system. The only thing that was unknown was whether it is also effective in combination with the Colt C7 5.56mm long-range automatic rifle. Operation The system uses video analysis. A shooter aims his weapon at the target with the SmartShooter. So Read more about SmartShooter ‘Automatically’ Shoots Drones Out of the Sky using Colt personal gun[…]

The British Army has reportedly developed AI-equipped killer drones armed with twin-linked shotguns designed for blasting enemies of the Queen hiding inside buildings. As if that wasn’t terrifying enough, the Army is already looking at strapping a chain gun or rocket launcher to its i9 drone instead of the shotguns, according to The Times. “It Read more about British Army develops AI shotgun drone with machine vision for indoor use[…]

The U.S. Air Force has quietly built and flown a brand-new aircraft prototype that could become its next-generation fighter, the service’s top acquisition official announced Tuesday. Dr. Will Roper, assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition, technology and logistics, revealed during the virtual 2020 Air, Space and Cyber conference that the new aircraft is Read more about The Air Force Has Already Flown a Secret Plane That Could Be Its Next Fighter[…]

The most widely used variant of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is currently unable to fly in thunderstorms after the discovery of damage to one of the systems it uses to protect itself from lightning, its prime contractor Lockheed Martin said Wednesday. To safely fly in conditions where lightning is present, the F-35 relies on Read more about The F-35 Lightning II can’t fly in lightning once again[…]

India claims it flew a perfect scramjet test at Mach 6 on Monday. A government announcement says the vehicle hitched a ride on a rocket that ascended to an altitude of 30km before launching the “Hypersonic Technology Demonstrator Vehicle “The cruise vehicle separated from the launch vehicle and the air intake opened as planned. The Read more about India flies Mach 6 scramjet for 20 seconds[…]

In an extraordinary reversal, the U.S. Navy has recommended reinstating the fired captain of the coronavirus-hit aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt, whose crew hailed him as their hero for risking his job to safeguard their lives, officials said on Friday. The Navy’s leadership made the recommendation to reinstate Captain Brett Crozier to Defense Secretary Mark Esper Read more about US Navy wants to reinstate fired captain of coronavirus-hit aircraft carrier as another destroyer has a breakout of covid-19[…]

The US Navy (USN) flew two Boeing EA-18G Growlers as autonomous unmanned air vehicles (UAVs), using a third Growler as a flight controller. In total, four flights were conducted at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, with tests starting in September 2019, says manufacturer Boeing on 4 February. The aircraft demonstrated 21 missions during flights that Read more about US Navy flies two EA-18G Growlers autonomously; third Growler used as controller[…]

The retaliation for the killing last week of 33 Turkish soldiers by Syrian forces involved an unprecedented number of drones in coordinated action, said the senior official in Turkey with direct knowledge of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Syria policy. It was the first time a country had commanded the air space over such a large Read more about Turkey’s Killer Drone Swarm Poses Syria Air Challenge to Putin[…]

The US Department of Defense’s Director of Operational Test and Evaluation (DOTE) warned that the multinational F-35B fighter jet fleet is lagging behind a key flight-hours metric needed to show maintenance maturity. On top of that, the supersonic stealth jet project’s move towards Agile methodology for “minimum viable product” (MVP)-phased development of critical flight and Read more about Uncle Sam tells F-35B allies they probably won’t make minimum viable product unless they fly them a whole lot more[…]

Here’s something the public didn’t know until today: If one of the U.S. military’s new F-35 stealth fighters has to climb at a steep angle in order to dodge an enemy attack, design flaws mean the plane might suddenly tumble out of control and crash. Also, some versions of the F-35 can’t accelerate to supersonic Read more about F-35: a $400 Billion Stealth Fighter That Can’t Climb, accellerate, shoot straight or be resupplied using the mandatory software[…]

In its third field experiment, DARPA’s OFFensive Swarm-Enabled Tactics (OFFSET) program deployed swarms of autonomous air and ground vehicles to demonstrate a raid in an urban area. The OFFSET program envisions swarms of up to 250 collaborative autonomous systems providing critical insights to small ground units in urban areas where limited sight lines and tight Read more about Swarm Drones Demonstrate Tactics to Conduct Urban Raid[…]

The Air Force Research Laboratory demonstrated a new and ultra-responsive approach to turbine engine development with the initial testing of the Responsive Open Source Engine (ROSE) on Nov. 6, 2019, at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. The Aerospace Systems Directorate’s ROSE is the first turbine engine designed, assembled, and tested exclusively in-house. The entire effort, from Read more about AFRL tests in-house, rapidly developed small engine[…]

As part of the Combat Air Forces Contracted Air Support programme, the companies will fly their own fleets of fighter aircraft against USAF types during Red Flag-series exercises, the USAF says in an online award notice posted on 18 October. Such activities are meant to help the service improve its performance fighting against a growing Read more about USAF awards 7 companies $6.4bn for mock dogfighting services[…]

Yesterday afternoon, the Pentagon notified Congress of its purchase of a microwave weapon system designed to knock down swarms of enemy drones with pulses of energy. The purchase comes with an intent to deploy the PHASER system overseas for a year-long assessment, making it the first directed energy defense weapon to ever be fielded. […] Read more about The US Air Force Is Deploying PHASER Microwave Weapon to kill drones[…]

The UK Armed Forces’ privatised pilot training system is taking nearly seven years to turn new recruits into frontline-ready aviators, according to the National Audit Office (NAO). The NAO investigation into the UK Military Flying Training System (UKMFTS) contract, which is let to a consortium backed in part by US arms multinational Lockheed Martin, thundered Read more about Privatised RAF pilot training takes 7 years to produce combat-ready aviators, has a shortfall of 86% with RAF needs[…]