Unmanned(Page 3)

Latest in Unmanned

Ground testing has begun on the production representative MQ-25 Stingray tanker drone for the U.S. Navy, which comes ahead of an expected first flight before the end of this year.
MQ-25

MQ-25 Stingray Carrier-Based Uncrewed Tanker Ground Testing Now Underway

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Jul 29, 2025

Army promotes grenade dropping drone
Unmanned

Army Touting Grenade Dropping Drone Shows Just How Alarmingly Behind The Curve It Still Is

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Jul 21, 2025

Satellite imagery of preparations for a major upcoming military parade in China points to the possibility that one or more 'loyal wingman' type drones, or at least mockups thereof, are set to be revealed.
Unmanned

China’s New Drone Wingmen Look Set For Military Parade Unveiling

By Joseph Trevithick

Updated on Jul 21, 2025

XQ-58 is being offered to Europe via a partnership with Airbus.
XQ-58

XQ-58 Valkyrie Heading To European Market With Kratos-Airbus Team-Up

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Jul 18, 2025

L3Harris has formally rolled out its modular Wolf family of "launched effects vehicles," which includes the Red Wolf, configured for long-range precision strikes against targets on land or at sea, and the Green Wolf fitted with an electronic warfare payload.
Unmanned

‘Wolf Pack’ Of Modular Mini Cruise Missiles Unveiled By L3Harris

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Jul 18, 2025

U.S. special operations Long Endurance Aircraft (LEA) surveillance drones, which are based on a popular civilian powered glider design, are set to gain the ability to launch smaller uncrewed aerial systems.
Loitering Munitions

Super Quiet Special Operations Drones Being Modified To Launch Smaller Drones

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Jul 11, 2025

The Pentagon has announced sweeping new changes intended to surge the fielding of small drones, including weaponized types, across the entire U.S. military.
Loitering Munitions

Pentagon Just Made A Massive, Long Overdue Shift To Arm Its Troops With Thousands Of Drones

By Joseph Trevithick

Updated on Jul 11, 2025

F-22 Raptors Will Be First To Control ‘Fighter Drone’ Collaborative Combat Aircraft
Loyal Wingman

F-22 Raptors Will Be First To Control ‘Fighter Drone’ Collaborative Combat Aircraft

By Joseph Trevithick

Updated on Jul 3, 2025

The U.S. Air Force has developed a means to launch small drones from its KC-135 aerial refueling tankers, and is now looking at adding that capability to the fleet.
Unmanned

KC-135 Tankers Set To Get Drone Launchers

By Joseph Trevithick

Updated on Jul 2, 2025

North Korea is reportedly sending 25,000 workers to Russia to build and learn how to operate drones.
Unmanned

North Korea Sending Russia Thousand Of Workers To Build Shahed Drones: Report

By Howard Altman

Posted on Jun 19, 2025

MQ-28 Ghost Bat drones have demonstrated their ability to engage an aerial target while under the direction of the crew of a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) E-7 Wedgetail airborne early warning and control aircraft.
MQ-28

MQ-28 Ghost Bats Controlled From E-7 Wedgetail In Loyal Wingman Test

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Jun 19, 2025

The latest addition to General Atomics' MQ-9B medium-altitude long-endurance drone family is set to be an airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) configured version.
Q-9

MQ-9B Airborne Early Warning Variant Could Fill Major Aerial Surveillance Gaps

By Thomas Newdick, Tyler Rogoway

Posted on Jun 17, 2025

Mysterious chinese flying wing aircraft that could be the H-20 bomber appears in satellite image.
Unmanned

Massive Stealth Flying Wing Emerges At Secretive Chinese Base

By Tyler Rogoway

Updated on Jun 14, 2025

A Prediator-B drone, most likely operated by Customs and Border Protection, flew deep into Mexico on Wednesday.
Q-9

Department Of Homeland Security Predator B Drones Are Orbiting Over Los Angeles

By Howard Altman, Joseph Trevithick

Updated on Jun 11, 2025

APKWS rockets were kept from Ukraine to be used to defend US in the Middle East.
Unmanned

Counter-Drone Weapons Diverted From Ukraine To Middle East Amid Rising Tensions, Hegseth Confirms

By Howard Altman

Posted on Jun 11, 2025

Royal Navy wants to arm carriers with drones and long-range missiles
Loyal Wingman

Royal Navy To Arm Its Carriers With Long-Range Missiles

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Jun 3, 2025

Hardened aircraft shelters are up for debate as Russia experienced a major attack from Ukrainian drones.
Unmanned

Mass Drone Attack On Exposed Russian Bombers Puts Spotlight On Hardened Aircraft Shelter Debate

By Joseph Trevithick

Updated on Jun 3, 2025

Ukraine's Defense Intelligence Directorate (GUR) claims it show down a Russian jet target drone converted to be a weapon.
Unmanned

Weaponized Russian Jet-Powered Target Drone Shot Down Over Black Sea: Ukraine

By Howard Altman

Posted on May 30, 2025

Pilot-optional F-35 Joint Strike Fighters could be coming in the future as Lockheed Martin looks for ways to ensure the jets remain relevant for decades to come.
Unmanned

What We Just Learned A More Advanced “Ferrari” F-35 Could Include

By Thomas Newdick, Joseph Trevithick

Posted on May 30, 2025

The U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory has awarded General Atomics a contract for work on what is described as a "hybrid-electric propulsion ducted fan next-generation intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance/strike unmanned aerial system," or GHOST.
Avenger

Hybrid-Electric GHOST Strike-Recon Drone In The Works For USAF

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on May 28, 2025

A front view rendering of PA-Ng, dated 2022.
UCAVs

French Navy Offers Sneak Peek Of Its Future Carrier Air Wing

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on May 22, 2025

We now have our first look at an actual prototype of General Atomics' YFQ-42A 'fighter drone.'
Loyal Wingman

Our First Look At The YFQ-42 ‘Fighter Drone’ Collaborative Combat Aircraft

By Joseph Trevithick

Updated on May 19, 2025

Russia has followed Ukraine’s lead in adapting the propeller-driven Yak-52 primary training aircraft as an ad-hoc drone-killer. The Yak-52B2 includes a sensor turret to help detect long-range one-way attack drones and has a shotgun mounted under the wing for shooting them down. While it appears that Ukrainian Yak-52s have had some success in the counter-drone role, the appearance of the Yak-52B2 provides more evidence of the pressure that Ukrainian drone strikes are placing on Russia’s traditional air defenses.
Unmanned

Russia Testing Shotgun-Armed Yak-52 Trainer Aircraft To Down Ukrainian Drones

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on May 19, 2025

The future of the Navy NGAD crewed aircraft program remains in limbo.
Loyal Wingman

Fate Of Navy’s F/A-XX Future Fighter Is In Limbo (Updated)

By Howard Altman

Posted on May 14, 2025

General Atomics Long shot drone.
Loyal Wingman

Air-Launched ‘Fighter Drone’ Collaborative Combat Aircraft Being Eyed By Air Force

By Joseph Trevithick

Updated on May 13, 2025

The U.S. Air Force’s new Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) drones are being developed around fundamentally different understandings of maintenance, logistics, and sustainment, with a heavier focus on commercial-off-the-shelf components, than the service’s existing crewed and uncrewed platforms.
Loyal Wingman

USAF Wants Collaborative Aircraft Fleet To Stress Parts Commonality For Forward Operations

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on May 9, 2025

Two new drone designs, Apollo and Athena, are in development at Kratos with a particular focus on collaborative operations with other crewed and uncrewed aircraft, and an eye toward sales in Europe.
Loyal Wingman

Two Secretive Loyal Wingman Drones Aimed At European Market In Development From Kratos

By Joseph Trevithick

Updated on May 9, 2025

Red Cat drone interview.
Unmanned

We Talk About The U.S. Army’s New Black Widow Short-Range Recon Drone With Red Cat

By Jamie Hunter, Tyler Rogoway

Posted on May 8, 2025

Stealthy Special Operations Speedboats Are Getting Kamikaze Drone Launchers
Loitering Munitions

Stealthy Special Operations Speedboats Are Getting Kamikaze Drone Launchers

By Joseph Trevithick

Updated on May 7, 2025

AeroVironment has rolled out a new long-range loitering one-way attack drone called Red Dragon that the company designed to operate with very "limited user interaction."
Loitering Munitions

Red Dragon Highly-Autonomous One-Way Attack Drone Unveiled

By Joseph Trevithick, Howard Altman

Posted on May 6, 2025

Raytheon has begun test flights of its compact PhantomStrike radar, which features an active electronically scanned array (AESA) and gallium nitride (GaN) technology. Most significantly, the manufacturer claims that PhantomStrike — which has already been ordered by Poland — brings all the benefits of an AESA antenna at a much lower price point than other radars in its class.
Loyal Wingman

PhantomStrike Low-Cost Lightweight AESA Radar Flies For First Time

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on May 6, 2025

XQ-58 rocket launch from its rail launcher system.
XQ-58

Kratos Close To “A Couple” Final Versions Of XQ-58 Valkyrie For The Marines

By Tyler Rogoway

Posted on May 5, 2025

Marine AH-1Z Attack Helicopter’s Mystery Missiles Identified
Unmanned

Marine AH-1Z Attack Helicopter’s Mystery Missiles Identified

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on May 1, 2025

The U.S. Air Force and Anduril have offered what appears to be the first look at a "production representative" example of the YFQ-44A drone, also known as Fury.
Loyal Wingman

Our First Look At The YFQ-44A ‘Fighter Drone’ Collaborative Combat Aircraft

By Joseph Trevithick

Updated on May 1, 2025

Future versions of the Precision Strike Missile (PrSM) short-range ballistic missile for the U.S. Army could carry Coyote drones or Hatchet miniature glide bombs, according to Lockheed Martin.
Loitering Munitions

PrSM Ballistic Missiles Loaded With Coyote Drones, Hatchet Mini Smart Bombs Eyed By Army

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on May 1, 2025

Making Sure Wingman Drones Don’t Hit Their Crewed Companions Still A Challenge Marines Say
XQ-58

Making Sure Wingman Drones Don’t Hit Their Crewed Companions Still A Challenge Marines Say

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Apr 30, 2025

Lumberjack strike munition from Northrop Grumman
Loitering Munitions

Lumberjack Jet-Powered One-Way Attack Munition Can Drop Its Own Precision Bomblets (Updated)

By Tyler Rogoway

Updated on Apr 30, 2025

New Views Of China’s Next Generation Fighters
Unmanned

New Views Of China’s Next Generation Fighters

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Apr 24, 2025

The MQ-1C Gray Eagle Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) addresses the need for a long-endurance, armed (up to four HELLFIRE missiles), UAS that offers greater range, altitude, and payload flexibility.
Q-1

MQ-1C Gray Eagle Is Shooting Down Drones With Hellfire Missiles In Tests

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Apr 18, 2025

XQ-58 with landing gear.
XQ-58

XQ-58 Valkyrie With Built-In Landing Gear Shown In New Rendering

By Joseph Trevithick

Updated on Apr 16, 2025

FAA drone testing New Jersey
Unmanned

FAA Testing Drone Detection Systems In New Jersey

By Howard Altman

Updated on Apr 16, 2025

The U.S. Navy is touting the U.S.-Australian MQ-28 Ghost Bat ‘loyal wingman’ type drone program as a model for future industrial partnerships, while confirming continued U.S. military interest in the drone. The fact that the Navy is now speaking about this is notable, on the one hand because the MQ-28 has so far been seen primarily as a program of interest for the U.S. Air Force, and on the other because the Navy is currently still trying to nail down its carrier-based Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) plans.
MQ-28

MQ-28 Ghost Bat Is Of “Strong Interest” To The U.S. Navy

By Thomas Newdick

Updated on Apr 15, 2025

An unknown weapon seen being fired from a U.S. Bradley Fighting Vehicle's BGM-71 TOW anti-tank guided missile launcher at a major test event earlier this year has now been identified.
Unmanned

Mysterious Weapon Fired From M2 Bradley Fighting Vehicle Identified

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Apr 14, 2025

Every Marine A Drone Pilot: Individual Lethality To Go From Meters To Kilometers
Loitering Munitions

Every Marine A Drone Pilot: Individual Lethality To Go From Meters To Kilometers

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Apr 9, 2025

Shield AI V-BAT
Unmanned

MQ-35 V-BAT’s Capabilities Grow, Micro Guided Munitions Coming Next Year

By Tyler Rogoway

Posted on Apr 8, 2025

Ongoing work on the U.S. Army's Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) tiltrotor is helping the U.S. Navy refine its next-generation Future Vertical Lift-Maritime Strike (FVL-MS) plans.
Unmanned

Navy MH-60 Seahawk Replacement Will Leverage Army’s Future Vertical Lift Tiltrotor Plans

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Apr 8, 2025

CCAs and super hornet
Loyal Wingman

Navy Won’t Scramble To Field Loyal Wingman Drones Like The Air Force

By Tyler Rogoway

Updated on Apr 8, 2025

The U.S. Navy expects its future F/A-XX sixth-generation stealth fighters to offer just a 25 percent increase in range over the existing tactical combat jets in its carrier air wings.
MQ-25

F/A-XX Will Have Just 25% More Range Than Existing Navy Fighters

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Apr 7, 2025

MQ-25 has a lot of potential beyond it's core tanker mission.
MQ-25

MQ-25 Stingray’s Extreme Range Gives It Massive Potential Far Beyond A Tanker

By Tyler Rogoway

Updated on Apr 7, 2025

Officials in the Russian border city of Shebekino have installed netting on buildings to protect against Ukrainian drone attacks.
Unmanned

Anti-Drone Nets Now Being Used To Protect Buildings In Russia

By Howard Altman

Posted on Apr 3, 2025

U.S. Soldiers from the 716th Military Police Company, 89th Military Police Brigade, assigned to Joint Task Force - Southern Border, patrol along the southern border near San Diego, California, on March 23, 2025. On March 20, 2025, the Secretary of Defense authorized enhanced detection and monitoring support to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), enabling service members to conduct patrolling on foot or using military tactical vehicles to report suspected illegal activity to CBP.  Under the direction of U.S. Northern Command, JTF-SB aligns efforts to seal the southern border and repel illegal activity and is responsible for full-scale, agile, and multi-domain operations. (U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Malik Waddy-Fiffee)
Unmanned

OK To Shoot Down Cartel Drones Flying Over Border Sought By NORTHCOM Boss

By Howard Altman

Posted on Apr 2, 2025

Roadrunner and coyote deployed on US Destroyer
Loitering Munitions

Coyote, Roadrunner Loitering Drone Interceptors To Arm U.S. Navy Destroyers

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Mar 28, 2025

X-36 was an early progenitor that lead to the F-47.
Unmanned

Reflections Of The F-47: Looking Back At The X-36

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Mar 27, 2025

The U.S. Army has formally given the designation ME-11B to its forthcoming High Accuracy Detection and Exploitation System (HADES) intelligence-gathering aircraft.
Unmanned

ME-11B Official Designation Of Army’s New Intelligence Gathering Business Jets

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Mar 27, 2025

Airbus has unveiled LOAD, a new anti-drone drone concept — an adapted target drone that will be armed with air-to-air guided missiles, expressly designed to shoot down other uncrewed aerial vehicles. In recent years we’ve seen a proliferation of single-use drones with explosive warheads that are designed to bring down other uncrewed aerial vehicles. However, a reusable anti-drone drone, armed with its own missiles, appears to be something of a novelty.
Unmanned

Micro Missile-Slinging Drone-Killing Drone Concept Revealed By Airbus

By Thomas Newdick

Updated on Mar 26, 2025

The U.S. Air Force's selection of Boeing's F-47 as the winner of its Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) combat jet competition raises new questions about plans for new stealthy aerial refueling tankers.
Unmanned

F-47 Fighter Reveal Draws New Attention To USAF Stealth Tanker Plans

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Mar 24, 2025

Kratos has revealed that it is working on a new drone capable of flying at hypersonic speeds, typically defined as anything above Mach 5.
Unmanned

Kratos Has A Hypersonic Drone In The Works

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Mar 20, 2025

Ukraine's Defense Intelligence Directorate (GUR) used drone boats to launch FPV drones against Russian radar systems in Crimea.
Unmanned

Ukraine Launches FPV Drone Attack On Russia’s Air Defenses In Crimea

By Howard Altman

Posted on Mar 19, 2025

The U.S. Army is contributing ground-based radars to help spot and track drones as part of the continued build-up of U.S. military support along with the U.S.-Mexican border.
Unmanned

Radars Deployed To Mexico Border To Detect Cartel Drones (Updated)

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Mar 17, 2025

U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin has confirmed that U-2 Dragon Lady spy planes have been flying missions around the border with Mexico.
Unmanned

U-2 Spy Planes Are Flying Border Security Missions Air Force Confirms

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Mar 14, 2025

Two Ukrainian firms, both partnered with American companies, are among those now set to demonstrate long-range one-way drones to the U.S. military as part of a project called Artemis.
Loitering Munitions

Ukrainian Long-Range Attack Drones To Be Tested By U.S. Military

By Joseph Trevithick

Updated on Mar 14, 2025

Pictures have appeared on social media showing work in Ukraine to turn a tethered aerostat – what is more colloquially called a balloon – into an elevated platform for launching kamikaze drones at incoming long-range one-way attack drones.
Unmanned

Balloon-Launched Drone To Intercept Long Range Kamikaze Drones Emerges In Ukraine

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Mar 12, 2025

SOCOM wants Green Berets to have FPV drones to operate in caves.
Unmanned

Green Berets Looking For FPV Drones To Help Them Clear Hostile Cave Complexes

By Howard Altman

Posted on Mar 12, 2025

A view of destroyed buildings and area after a massive drone attack at the Leninsky urban district (Vidnoye) and Domodedovo (Yam village) at 4 am in Moscow, Russia on March 11, 2025. At least 2 people were killed and 20 others injured in a "massive" drone attack on Russia.
Unmanned

Drones Rained Down On Moscow Ahead Of Ukraine Peace Talks

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Mar 11, 2025