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UK’s autonomous full-size helicopter Proteus completes first flight. Credit: Crown. The UK has conducted the first flight of its full-size autonomous helicopter, Proteus, at Predannack airfield in Cornwall.   Leonardo built and designed the aircraft as a demonstrator for the Royal Navy.   Discover B2B Marketing That Performs Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms. Find out more The project aims to integrate uncrewed aerial systems alongside traditional crewed aircraft as part of the country’s future “hybrid air wing” and the Atlantic Bastion strategy.  The maiden flight comes a few weeks after a period of ground-based trials at Leonardo’s Yeovil facility, where teams assessed the vehicle’s systems, sensors and engines.  …

The HERO-90 loitering munition will participate in the US Army’s LASSO program. Credit: Niyazz/Shutterstock.com. India’s decision to procure six multirole aerial refuelling aircraft (MRTT) is anticipated to significantly improve the Indian Air Force’s (IAF) long-range operational capabilities, according to data and analytics firm GlobalData.  The $1.1bn acquisition, to be handled by Israel Aerospace Industries in partnership with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), will replace the ageing Il-78MKI fleet.  Discover B2B Marketing That Performs Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms. Find out more Current figures from GlobalData reveal that the Il-78MKI tankers, inducted in 2003, now average…

Audio of this article is brought to you by the Air & Space Forces Association, honoring and supporting our Airmen, Guardians, and their families. Find out more at afa.org The Pentagon’s Joint Interagency Task Force 401 took a step toward making an Amazon-like online marketplace for counter-drone tech a reality this week with its first acquisition under the Replicator 2 effort. The task force, stood up last fall, purchased two DroneHunter F700 low-collateral counter drone systems that are scheduled to be shipped to two undisclosed U.S. installations for additional testing and use in April, according to a recent Pentagon announcement.…

Two MH-139A Grey Wolf helicopters completed their first operational mission Jan. 8, escorting a Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile convoy, the U.S. Air Force announced Wednesday.Piloted by Capt. Michael White and Capt. Maxwell Turner, the aircraft from the 40th Helicopter Squadron at Malmstrom Air Force Base, Montana, shepherded a convoy of missile maintenance and armored security vehicles from the 341st Missile Security Operations Squadron to a remote launch facility more than 100 miles east of the base, according to a service release. The six-hour mission was completed without refueling.The MH-139A, a militarized variant of Boeing’s Leonardo AW139, offers significant upgrades…

A MIM-104 Patriot a surface-to-air missile military weapon. Credit: Dragos Asaftei/Shutterstock.com. The US State Department has approved a potential Foreign Military Sale (FMS) to Kuwait for sustainment and follow-on technical support of the Patriot programme, with an estimated value of $800m.  Kuwait is seeking to procure equipment and services to maintain and support its Patriot missile system.   Discover B2B Marketing That Performs Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms. Find out more The package includes spare and repair parts, storage, surveillance firing, stockpile reliability measures, and specific support for the Patriot PAC-3 Missile Support Centre (P3MSC).   Other elements comprise operator and maintenance assistance, test programme set…

India has reportedly acquired dozens of Belarus-made Berkut-BM one-way attack drones, according to defense industry sources. The Berkut-BM is a jet-powered kamikaze drone developed by the Indela company in Belarus and designed to strike time-sensitive battlefield targets before they can relocate. The system is powered by compact Chinese-made micro turbojet engines produced by Swiwin, giving the […]

SURFACE NAVY 2026 — After rounds of prototyping, the Navy is ready to deploy two of its medium-sized drone boats this year and even integrate one with a carrier strike group, according to a service official. Capt. Garrett Miller told the Surface Navy Association conference in Washington on Wednesday that the two drones — the Sea Hunter and Seahawk, dubbed medium displacement uncrewed surface vessels or MDUSVs — “will no longer be experimental vessels. They will actually be under fleet control, assigned to surface forces to be able to actually go out and do great things.”  Miller, the commodore of…

ROME — Cyber attacks on the U.K. noticeably dropped off during the recent protests in Iran, a senior British defense executive has reported.Clive Higgins, the CEO of Leonardo UK, said that online bot activity promoting the independence of Scotland from the UK reduced as Iranian authorities violently suppressed civil protest this month.The implication is that Iran has been pushing the cause of Scottish independence through malign cyber activity in a bid to weaken the UK, but slowed its activity as violent protests raged in Iran.“What has been very interesting over the recent period, given the social unrest in Iran, is…

The brain’s waste-clearing system significantly declines in function with repeated head impacts, according to a new study of cognitively impaired professional boxers and mixed martial arts fighters. The …

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) – ‘Tis the season for holiday travel, and keeping fitness resolutions while traveling can be challenging.Nancy Michaels from Planet Fitness joined Dakota News Now to demonstrate some exercises you can do while traveling.“At Planet Fitness, we want everyone to be prepared for that travel time, and maybe the stress that goes with it. So, we want to help relieve some of that with some exercises this morning,” said Michaels.Nancy walks Baley through exercises that help with back discomfort and blood flow in the body to keep you moving while traveling.View the full interview in…