Kratos Develops Two Secretive Loyal Wingman Drones Aimed at European Market

Two new drone designs, Apollo and Athena, are in development at Kratos with a particular focus on collaborative operations with other crewed and uncrewed aircraft, and an eye toward sales in Europe. The modular Apollo and Athena designs are smaller than the company’s XQ-58 Valkyrie, and could be configured to carry weapons, electronic warfare systems, or additional sensors. Continue reading →

American Startup Aims to Deliver Helicopter Performance at Drone Economics

A new drone company has exploded out of stealth mode in the USA with incredible claims about its first product, saying it’ll fly 4X longer, 10X further, 10X quieter and carry 5X more payload than leading competitors – while competing with China on cost. Silicon Valley-based SiFly has announced two industrially targeted models with some absolutely ludicrous stats attached. Continue reading →

China’s Weather Drones Experiment – One Cup of Cloud Seed Makes 30 Swimming Pools of Rain

Chinese government scientists have released the results of a weather modification experiment in the dry western region of Xinjiang. A fleet of cloud seeding drones increased rainfall by over 4 per cent across more than 8,000 sq km (3,089 sq miles) in a day, according to the project team led by Li Bin, senior engineer with the China Meteorological Administration (CMA). Continue reading →