Science & Tech

The Pentagon Is Spending Millions on Hunter Drones With Nets

Shooting drones down over cities isn’t ideal. Nabbing them in midair is an intriguing alternative.

Science & Tech

When Both Sides Have Drones, How Do You Know Which Ones to Kill?

The U.S. Army recently tested a system that helps defenders wipe the skies of just the unfriendly aerial robots.

Science & Tech

Pentagon Wants to Spark an American Small-Drone Industry

Acquisition chief Ellen Lord wants domestic options for small UAVs— and for defensive systems that can bring them down.

Science & Tech

US Is Moving Too Slowly to Harness Drones and AI, Former SOCOM Commander Says

Tony Thomas says he wishes he’d spent less time growing his command and more time pushing it to embrace new technology.

Science & Tech

Dept. of Interior Grounds Its Chinese-Made Drones

Agency leaders green-lit the purchases in July despite warnings from DHS and outside experts that Beijing might collect data from the drones.

Science & Tech

US Marines Try Using Drones to Bring Blood to Battle

The light unmanned aircraft made hundreds of supply drops during recent Australian live-fire wargames.

Science & Tech

US to Deploy Anti-Drone Defenses Along US-Mexico Border

The manufacturer says its Titan system hijacks incoming drones' control signals, then tells them to land or return to base.

Ideas

Time to Harden International Norms on Armed Drones

Progress on widely accepted rules has been as slow as the technological advancement has been fast.

Science & Tech

US Testing Autonomous Border-Patrol Drones

Planck Aerosystems gets funding to try its small rotorcraft in operational environments over the next three to six months.

Science & Tech

How AI Will Help Radar Detect Tiny Drones 3 Kilometers Away

Small drones are becoming a big problem. Here’s how next-generation neural networking techniques could help.

Science & Tech

Interior Dept. Will Buy Chinese Drones Despite Spy Concerns

Agency officials say they have taken various technical precautions to keep DJI from gathering intelligence with their drones.

Science & Tech

Russian Troops Will Be Getting Tactical Bomb Drones

Having learned from ISIS attacks in Syria, Russia is rushing to put armed drones on the front lines.

Science & Tech

How the Pentagon Nickel-and-Dimed Its Way Into Losing a Drone

The lion’s share of the U.S. drone fleet is easy prey for advanced air defenses. It didn’t have to be that way.

Ideas

Some Cautionary Notes on the New ‘Knife Missile’

Will the blade-wielding Hellfire variant actually reduce civilian casualties? Maybe.

Science & Tech

US Military Testing Whether Human Pilots Can Trust Robot Wingmen in a Dogfight

DARPA’s Air Combat Evolution program aims to find out — and so shape America’s future arsenal.

Science & Tech

DIU Is Helping the US Army Field More Backpack-Sized Drones

The Pentagon’s internal startup accelerator wants to get consumer quadcopters in the hands of soldiers in a matter of months, not years.

Science & Tech

US Drones May Soon Run on Open-Source Software

The Defense Innovation Unit is exploring whether a popular commercial platform could help the military keep up with the rapidly advancing drone industry.

Science & Tech

Air Force to Begin Shifting Research Funds to These Kinds of Next-Gen Weapons

The Pentagon’s continues to shift focus toward Moscow and Beijing with a new push for tomorrow’s drone swarms and smart missiles.