Unmanned
Drone diplomacy wins Ukraine valuable allies, but now it must deliver
The Iran war has confirmed how central drones are to modern warfare and handed Zelenskiy a diplomatic trump card, analysts say.
By Daniel Flynn, Reuters
The US military wants a fleet of missile-killing laser drones
The U.S. military is once again pursuing flying directed energy weapons to counter threats to American airspace.
By Jared Keller
Australia awards contracts for counter-drone tech based on lasers, interceptors
Both products will eventually integrate into a command-and-control system developed under the Army’s umbrella Land 156 counter-unmanned aerial system push.
Opinion
Inside China, artificial intelligence is a snake eating its own tail
AI researchers refer to this as “model collapse,” a phenomenon in which models trained on their own synthetic outputs degrade over successive generations.
By Joe Buccino
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Autonomous Data Fusion on the Modern Battlefield
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Whitepaper: How Modular Systems Help Ensure Defense Readiness
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Space
Starlink outage hit drone tests, exposing Pentagon’s growing reliance on SpaceX
Last August, a global outage across Elon Musk’s satellite network left U.S. Navy unmanned surface vessels bobbing off California, halting operations.
Artificial Intelligence
Opinion
Inside China, artificial intelligence is a snake eating its own tail
AI researchers refer to this as “model collapse,” a phenomenon in which models trained on their own synthetic outputs degrade over successive generations.
Unmanned
Dutch startup Intelic sets up drone marketplace for European militaries
BASE will allow defense ministries to explore systems that are ready to be used in a coalition framework, with interoperability guaranteed, says the firm.
Drone diplomacy wins Ukraine valuable allies, but now it must deliver
The Iran war has confirmed how central drones are to modern warfare and handed Zelenskiy a diplomatic trump card, analysts say.
Australia awards contracts for counter-drone tech based on lasers, interceptors
Both products will eventually integrate into a command-and-control system developed under the Army’s umbrella Land 156 counter-unmanned aerial system push.
Unmanned
Air Force unit executes test of Anduril’s semiautonomous combat drone
Airmen operated Auduril's YFQ-44A jet-powered combat drone, which could someday fly alongside piloted fighters.
EU pumps over $1 billion into defense R&D, centered around Ukraine war lessons
The choice of funded projects marks a shift to 21st-century warfare, with loitering munitions and affordable mass drone production high on the agenda.
Estonia raids combat-vehicle funds to buy more drones, air defenses
The defense minister said the decision was based on lessons learned from Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Cyber
French Navy dials up stress level in crew drills after Red Sea experience
The idea is to make people "feel like their final hour has come," said the officer in charge of training naval surface personnel.
Electronic Warfare
Pentagon’s realistic electronic warfare system to move to Navy lab
DARPA says it has built the world’s largest, most realistic electronic warfare test capability.
VIDEOS
Navy looks to expand tech, autonomy for future fleet | Defense News Weekly Full Episode 5.5.26
The commander of the Naval Research Laboratory outlines goals for the fleet at Sea-Air-Space 2026. Plus, global defense spending updates for the year.
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Poland nears acquisition of SkyGuardian drones, General Atomics says
Warsaw wants to upgrade from its leased fleet of Reaper drones, made by the same vendor.
Opinion
An unprepared West contemplates threat of Russia’s nonstrategic nukes
A deeper and broader study of Russia’s approach to nonstrategic nuclear weapons is essential to maintaining the peace in Europe.
By William Alberque
Abu Dhabi drone fair offers rare look at Belarusian weapons
The regime in Minsk is under Western sanctions for supporting Russia's aggression against Ukraine.
Opinion
Rebuild US brain trust to curb reliance on foreign critical minerals
China’s Commerce Ministry recently imposed export controls on gallium and germanium, minerals essential for computer chips and solar panels.
By Kray Luxbacher
New helmet-mounted power, data combo devices premiere at SHOT Show
Two companies showcase ways to power and transfer data to helmet-mounted devices, a key space-saving option for soldiers carrying more tech than ever.
By Todd South
Opinion
Think the Sentinel nuclear program is pricey? Try living without it.
Budgets are tight, which means every defense dollar counts, but the program should not be thought of as “unaffordable,” given the stakes.
By Douglas A. Birkey
BAE tests counter-drone capability on Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle
BAE Systems and Moog adapted an Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle for counter-drone operations and successfully tested a prototype in the Arizona desert.
By Jen Judson