Shield AI, building the world’s best AI pilot, was awarded $198 million by the U.S. Coast Guard to implement the V-BAT unmanned aircraft system (UAS). The V-BAT series aircraft is the only operationally deployed single-engine ducted fan vertical takeoff and land (VTOL) UAS that can launch and recover from a hover and fly on wing …
Shield AI, building the world’s best AI pilot, and Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (Nasdaq: KTOS), making a high-performance, jet-powered unmanned aerial systems (UAS aka drone), completion of the first phase of Shield’s AI-piloted flight-testing on-board Kratos platforms as the two companies move toward productizing Shield AI’s pilot for the XQ-58 Valkyrie. Having successfully …
DARPA and Northrop Grumman have made a new drone with X-plane designation XRQ-73. The Series Hybrid Electric Propulsion AiRcraft Demonstration program is known as SHEPARD. SHEPARD is an X-prime program, leveraging the series hybrid electric architecture and some of the component technologies from the earlier AFRL/IARPA Great Horned Owl (GHO) project. “The idea behind a …
The biggest concern for the US Air Force is if takes over 15 years to build its full order of even just 100 B-21 Raiders then the new stealth bomber could be outdated before the last get made. Technology is increasing at a rapid rate. Artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, quantum computers, autonomous systems, etc. …
In the first seven months of Fiscal Year (FY) 2024, spending on net interest has reached $514 billion, surpassing spending on both national defense ($498 billion) and Medicare ($465 billion). Overall spending has totaled $3.9 trillion thus far. Spending on interest is also more than all the money spent this year on veterans, education, and …
The Milestone June 8, 1974 agreement between the USA and Saudi Arabia was not about exclusively pricing oil in US dollars. It was about enabling Saudi Arabia to use its windfall of oil money into the US economy. The petrodollar system does and did become dominant but it was for mutual economic benefit. The non-renewal …
China is working on a sixth-generation manned fighter, or next-generation manned fighter. It is considered to be an established program of record that is under active development and expected to emerge in some form during this decade. The Diplomat calls it the J-XD. Various demonstrator test beds (potentially subscale) have been flown, and a more …
The B-21’s internal operations are extremely advanced compared to the B-2. The B-21 is smaller and more stealthy than the B-2, with a longer range. The first B-21s are not prototypes but rather test aircraft that the Air Force will convert to operational configuration after the completion of tests. The B-2 bombers are about thirty …
The B-21 Stealth bomber has been having flight tests for a few months. U.S. Air Force’s B-21 Raider stealth bombers are now conducting test flights from Edwards Air Force Base in California. The first B-21 flew for the first time November, 2023. Six pre-production B-21 have been built. The Air Force currently expects the B-21 …
Hermeus is a aviation startup that could be the Lockheed Skunkworks for this generation. They could develop a ultrafast mach 5+ hypersonic jet in record time. Later this year Hermeus is aiming to take their first subsonic flight and will fly at Mach 2.5 next year and then hypersonic before 2030. They built a ramjet …
Northrop Grumman Corporation completed assembly of a full-size uncrewed underwater vehicle (UUV) prototype known as Manta Ray. A new class of UUV, it is an extra-large glider that will operate long-duration, long-range and payload-capable undersea missions without need for on-site human logistics. The Manta Ray can wait on the seabed to intercept nuclear submarines. DARPA’s …