US UAV and UCAV Technology

Elysium said:
What a 2026 DARPA project we thought in 1985 would look like: antimatter-powered aircraft. What a 2026 DARPA project is: we took the thing that was outside the box and put it inside the box.
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That was quick:

BlitzBox Packs 100 Weaponized Drones Into An Unassuming Container​

https://www.twz.com/news-features/blitzbox-packs-100-weaponized-drones-into-an-unassuming-container

https://twitter.com/x/status/2056789816537170300
View: https://x.com/shieldaitech/status/2056789816537170300?s=20


Using pre-set coordinates for targeting alone would preclude attacking anything on the move. Whether some degree of automated targeting capability is already available for Blitz, or on the horizon, is unclear. DZYNE says that Blitz can also be employed in an operator-in-the-loop mode, which would require an active control link to the drone during flight. Advances continue to be made in automated target recognition and engagement capabilities, driven by parallel developments in artificial intelligence and machine learning, as you can read more about in this past TWZ feature. This, in turn, could reduce the importance of having a mode of operation involving direct, if any, operator control. For its part, the U.S. military says it sees humans continuing to be involved, at least to some degree, in the operation of drones for the foreseeable future.
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Whether the operator remains in the loop or not after launch, mission planning and control of Blitz drones can be done via handheld tablet-like devices. A software “plugin” to support the drones has already been integrated into the Android Tactical Assault Kit (ATAK) suite in service across the U.S. military, as well as with foreign armed forces.
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https://twitter.com/x/status/2056871228879626627
View: https://x.com/AirPowerNEW1/status/2056871228879626627?s=20
 
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Interesting bit:

https://www.defensenews.com/pentago...cks-leverage-his-own-officials-say-otherwise/
“Ukraine’s Delta common operating system, their modular open system architecture command and control system, is absolutely incredible,” Driscoll testified.

“It fully integrates every single drone, every sensor and every shooting platform into just one single network. Ours does not.”
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https://twitter.com/x/status/2057427323637379192
View: https://x.com/DylanMalyasov/status/2057427323637379192?s=20
 
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It looks like LUCAS is getting an AI upgrade, from Sandboxx:


The US military’s copy of Iran’s Shahed 136 attack drone is finally getting scarier than the original, thanks to a hot injection of “Hivemind” artificial intelligence supplied by Shield AI.
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Weird, I thought Starshield was an NRO constellation for remote sensing, not a Starlink analog.
 
https://twitter.com/x/status/2059526264285741421
View: https://x.com/a_techsyn/status/2059526264285741421?s=20


UAVs | Unmanned Aerial Vehicles​

https://a-techsyn.com/

CNG-V UAV​

https://a-techsyn.com/products/target-drones/cng-v

TomcatViP said:
35000$ drone could see a significant price hike of 20000$ when reconfigured to use the proper Starshield networks (instead of hacking Starlink) :

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy...s-used-starlink-in-violation-of-spacex-rules/
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Why is it such a big deal for Musk anyway?
 
Other programs would face cuts, including a nearly $137 million decrease in R&D spending for the Air Force’s Collaborative Combat Aircraft drone wingman program. And when it comes to CCA drones, House authorizers on the seapower and projection forces subcommittee note that as the Air Force gets underway with a second increment of unmanned wingmen, the service may require “aircraft with sufficient range, speed, and electrical power to potentially self-deploy from the continental United States and conduct varied missions for geographic combatant commanders.”
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https://breakingdefense.com/2026/05...bill-takes-aim-at-industrial-base-challenges/
 
I think the view is that Starlink doesn't allow using the service to guide weapons.
 
TomcatViP said:
I think the view is that Starlink doesn't allow using the service to guide weapons.
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Pretty sure both Ukraine and Russia used it that way, though Russia is now largely excluded. The only other time it came up publicly is back in 2022 when service to Ukrainian USVs around Crimea was cut off.
 
The quarrel is about legitimacy, not technology available. A commercial service has also no built in resiliency to face the cost of war.
Lucas drone was built cheap to be attractive for the DoD. Doing so, the contractor cut one too many corner: legality.
 
https://twitter.com/x/status/2065468074745111008
View: https://x.com/CUAS_NEWS/status/2065468074745111008?s=20

U.S. Army Landing Craft Launches Drone-Dropping High-Altitude Balloons​

https://www.navalnews.com/naval-new...unches-drone-dropping-high-altitude-balloons/
A U.S. Army landing craft launched several low-observable micro high-altitude balloons during an exercise off the coast of Morocco last month, trialing a new launched effect and satellite communications capability developed by Mach Industries to enable long-range communications and precision strikes with one-way attack drones.
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windcalm said:
https://www.tectonicdefense.com/mach-industries-wins-diu-contract-for-long-range-strike-drone/

Mach Industries has been selected by the U.S. Defense Innovation Unit to develop the Atlas, a runway-independent long-range strike drone capable of carrying 1,000-lb class weapons over 1,400 nautical miles for distributed maritime operations.
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Little teaser video. Are they really all small engines??o_O

https://twitter.com/x/status/2066960367541256285
View: https://x.com/Mach_Industries/status/2066960367541256285?s=20
 
Forest Green said:
Little teaser video. Are they really all small engines??o_O

https://twitter.com/x/status/2066960367541256285
View: https://x.com/Mach_Industries/status/2066960367541256285?s=2
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According to Whisper Aero's concept, each propulsor is driven by its own electric motor. Their distributed architecture is intended to reduce total motor weight and enable the Jetfoil blown-wing concept, which reportedly achieves a CLmax above 6.25. For runway-independent operations, batteries and electric motors could provide the high peak power needed during takeoff and landing, while a small turbogenerator supplies most of the energy during long-range cruise.
 
So directed thrust with electric fans. Seems like it could work, if you can handle all the CoG issues of the thrust being along one axis. It looks like they handle that by having the deflection vanes of each engine able to independently vector modestly forward or aft of vertical under computer control to steady the aircraft.
 
Josh_TN said:
So directed thrust with electric fans. Seems like it could work, if you can handle all the CoG issues of the thrust being along one axis. It looks like they handle that by having the deflection vanes of each engine able to independently vector modestly forward or aft of vertical under computer control to steady the aircraft.
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I think it's closer to a powered-lift blown-wing concept than a directed-thrust aircraft. From the Jetfoil papers, CM control appears to come mainly from lift distribution and exhaust-flow management rather than large thrust-vector deflections.
 
Unspecified Capabilities: Ramjet-powered missile carried by a UAV

Just imagine for a moment, guys.
 

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Forest Green said:
So what development was this? LREW?
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I believe LREW was a program that just explored technologies and was not to produce a specific weapon, but the ramjet and narrow shape does seem to imply some kind of long range BVR. Is that weapons cart something standardized that we can use as a rough measurement? My impression is that it is AIM-120 sized, but it could be much larger with similar scale.

ETA: a quick google around turns up scale models of a similar cart with AIM-120s of the same dimensions, though I have not located a real photo yet. But I’m inclined to think this is AIM-120 form factor more or less. Is this just an aerodynamic test shape though? I do not see any of banding or marking that would normally be on any kind of actual missile.
 
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