The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) concluded its Lift Challenge last week, and although none of the participants achieved the desired goal of building a drone capable of lifting four times its weight, they came close.
The agency announced that the company AVIDrone pushed the limits with its electric helicopter design that lifted an unprecedented payload-to-weight ratio of 3.84…
How US military funding propelled China’s robot dogs
August 19, 2026
China’s Unitree Robotics — among the world’s biggest producers of humanoid and quadruped robots — based designs for its most successful robot dogs on innovations funded by the U.S. military, according to a former U.S. defense technology official and three top…
A U.S. Space Force Space Domain Awareness payload launched successfully Aug. 10 aboard Japan’s Quasi-Zenith Satellite 7, or QZS-7, completing a bilateral effort that places American sensors on Japanese navigation satellites.
The U.S. payload rode a Japanese H3 rocket from…
KYIV, Ukraine — U.S. intelligence sharing with Ukraine has rebounded to full strength as Kyiv’s mid- and deep-range strikes continue to hammer Russia’s oil industry.
The CIA has worked closely with Ukraine’s intelligence services since Russia’s 2014 invasion, growing a partnership built on assistance and training into a two-way exchange of intelligence, according to Forbes. However, the…
As she marked the 14th anniversary of the abduction of her son, Austin Tice, during a 2012 reporting trip to Syria, Debra Tice remained in recovery following her own multi-month health scare.
Last October, CNN interviewed a former advisor to ousted Syrian president Bashar…
The Pentagon signed two framework agreements Friday with Boeing and RTX to expand production of critical components for the Standard Missile-3, the Navy’s primary ship-launched interceptor against ballistic missiles.
The deals cover avionics and ejector assemblies Boeing…
Patriot makers hedge on Ukraine production deal as officials question cause of hold-up
August 17, 2026
KYIV, Ukraine — Though U.S. President Donald Trump promised Kyiv a license to build Patriot missile interceptors last month, Lockheed Martin and Raytheon have begun putting the brakes on a joint-production deal as executives weigh what is “feasible” and the licensing runs into Washington’s red tape.
American officials are backpedaling too. Trump on July 20 told the Financial Times that the…
US Marines roam far and wide from temporary Darwin base
August 14, 2026
This year marked the 15th deployment of U.S. Marines to Australia under the Marine Rotation Force-Darwin (MRF-D) initiative, but this year’s rotation looked different from the rest because of its certification as a Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force…
VIENNA — Russian state-aligned military forces operating in the Central Sahel relied on at least 75 flights by military and military-linked aircraft between January 2025 and July 2026, according to a new analysis by the Center for Advanced Defense Studies, a…
Boeing revealed an ultra-low-cost radar seeker Tuesday as this year’s Space and Missile Defense Symposium kicked off in Huntsville, Alabama, pitching it as a way to get missile guidance on more weapons for less money.
Installed in the nose of a missile or bomb, the seeker locates the target and guides the weapon toward it. Seekers are among the most expensive parts of a guided weapon, and…
