Trend: Autonomy & AI

Valkyrie Unmanned Combat Aircraft Demonstrates Electronic Attack With F-35s – April 2

An XQ-58A Valkyrie autonomous unmanned combat aircraft equipped with an electronic attack payload successfully demonstrated suppression of enemy air defense (SEAD) capabilities with two F-35 fighters in a recent live […]

Construction Begins on New Boeing MQ-28 Production Facility in Queensland – March 26

BRISBANE, March 26, 2024 — Construction will begin on Boeing’s [NYSE: BA] new production facility in Toowoomba, Queensland, to support the manufacture of Australia’s first military combat aircraft designed and […]

Reliable Robotics Gains Fresh Funding for Autonomous Flight Tech – March 26, AIN

The autonomous flight and aviation company Reliable Robotics announced two contracts from the Defense Department and NASA that will help it bring remotely piloted aircraft to market, AIN reported. Reliable […]

Army Is ‘Biggest Participant’ By Quantity In First Round Of Replicator, Bush Says – March 20

The Army will be “the biggest participant” for the first round of the Pentagon’s Replicator initiative to field thousands of attritable autonomous systems by August 2025 “in terms of quantity,” […]

Carmaker model may yield cheaper drone wingmen: Air Force Research Lab – Defense News, March 6

The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) is looking at the platform sharing concept that has been standard practice in carmaking for decades, which could make autonomous drones more affordable, Defense […]

Rotor Marks First Live Flight, Unveils Static Prototype – Feb. 7, Aviation Week

The American-based startup Rotor Technologies said it finished the first live demonstration of an autonomous helicopter, with its R220Y, Aviation Week reported. The company uses an uncrewed Robinson R22 helicopter […]

NASA’s Ingenuity Helicopter Mission Ends After Three Years on Mars – NASA Science Mars Exploration

NASA’s history-making Ingenuity Mars Helicopter has ended its mission on the Red Planet after surpassing expectations and making dozens more flights than planned. While the helicopter remains upright and in […]

Elliott Aviation Delivers King Air B200 Autoland Upgrade – AIN, Jan. 3

Elliot Aviation delivered the first Garmin Autoland upgrade to a King Air B200 aircraft, AIN reports. The Autoland system, launched in 2011, can take control of an aircraft to autonomously […]

Elroy Air Gets $40M in Funding

Aerospace and logistics company Elroy Air has raised $40 million in funding for its autonomous cargo aircraft from new investors like Marlinspike Capital, Lockheed Martin Ventures, and Prosperity7 Ventures and […]

Autonomous, AI-Enabled Tracking of Mobile Targets Demonstrated, as DoD Commits to Ethical AI Principles

The Pentagon recently demonstrated autonomous, artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled tracking of mobile targets–an effort simultaneous with other such AI drone projects and DoD’s development of principles for ethical AI use, a […]