🎯 Air Force wants target drones flying past Mach 1.6

USAV Craney Island, the Army's new Maneuver Support Vessel Light, carries 82 tons at 21 knots and fits a main battle tank on its 1,697-square-foot deck.

Vigor Marine Fabrication built the all-aluminum hull with waterjet propulsion and drive-through bow and stern ramps, giving it 360 nautical miles of range and a crew of eight.

Delivery is set for this fall, extending Army watercraft reach into shallow littorals where larger amphibious ships cannot operate.

Anduril delivered its first Soldier Borne Mission Command headsets to the Army and tested them with the 75th Ranger Regiment at its Seattle site two weeks ago.

Phase two replaces the stowed sensor bar with digital night vision built on 4K in-eye displays, expanding field of view roughly 70% over current night vision.

Several hundred redesigned systems enter testing in late January, with a downselect and production award possible in fiscal 2028.

The Defense Department directed 30 American universities and technology institutes to audit their academic, financial and research ties to foreign entities it considers high risk.

Schools must assess exposure of sensitive or export-controlled research, terminate problematic partnerships, and report findings by August 31 to stay eligible for federal research funding.

The review targets links to 130 listed institutions in China, Russia and Iran, plus organizations associated with rebranded Confucius Institutes.

An Air Force request for information seeks a family of target drones spanning hobby quadcopters to stealth fighters and heavy bombers, with responses due September 28.

Fighter-class targets would need supersonic speed above Mach 1.6 at 40,000 feet, tailored radar cross-section profiles, multi-spectral infrared signatures and onboard electronic attack.

The service wants them cheap enough to expend, since the 20-foot BQM-167A and converted QF-16 cannot replicate fifth-generation or large-aircraft signatures.

Ukraine's Ministry of Defence codified the Dovbush T40, a five-meter deep-strike drone with more than 2,000 kilometers of range and a full day of endurance.

The airframe pairs a reduced radar signature with an electronic fuel injection engine, and is reportedly resistant to jamming in one-way attack or munition-release configurations.

Codification clears the platform for military use, extending Ukrainian strike options deep into Russia from the developer behind the combat-proven Dovbush T20.

Air Force tests portable ground control units for CCA — Read More

Satellite imagery shows Russia's expanding drone launch network — Read More

India flies jet-powered Divyastra Mk3 loitering munition — Read More

Kratos and GE engine picked as JASSM second source — Read More

Army seeks 133,000 GMLRS rockets by 2034 — Read More

New Patriot battalion stands up on Guam in October — Read More

Nigeria tests homegrown all-in-one counter-drone jammer — Read More

Saildrone sets up production in three European countries — Read More

Analysts see cost and workforce limits on fifth shipyard — Read More

Japan orbits second US space surveillance payload — Read More

Astranis unveils Perceptor satellite for inspecting GEO spacecraft — Read More

Helsing enlists Rakuten to broker Japan drone sale — Read More