Innovations
Technological and operational innovations in the UAS and counter-UAS space — what emerged first, where, and what it changes. Each entry is sourced, dated, and linked to the drones involved.
Russian low-orbit broadband satcom project “Rassvet” for military use
Ukraine’s HUR details Russia’s planned Starlink-analogue LEO broadband system “Rassvet,” including satellites, ground segment, and user terminals intended for fixed and mobile military platforms. The post claims planned integration into Rus…
USS Ronald Reagan remotely controls MQ-25A tanker drone beyond line-of-sight
The post describes USS Ronald Reagan using its new Unmanned Air Warfare Center and an MD-5C control station to connect to and control an MQ-25A Stingray tanker drone more than 2,100 miles away. This is a notable step in operationalizing car…
Satellite imagery suggests KJ-3000 AEW&C moving toward serial production
Satellite imagery shows four KJ-3000 (KJ-20) AEW&C aircraft at Xi’an Aircraft Company/CFTE, suggesting China may be entering low-rate or serial production of a new Y-20B-based airborne radar and battle-management platform. If fielded at sca…
US Army NGC2 next-gen command-and-control network scaling to I Corps
The post describes the US Army’s NGC2 effort to field a next-generation command-and-control platform that lets weapons, sensors, devices and applications share a common data baseline on one network. The novelty is the push to operationally …
Ukraine rethinks Starlink reliance after speed throttling affects drones
A Ukrainian weapons maker says it is reconsidering reliance on Starlink/Starshield after reported speed-based throttling (around 130–161 km/h) disrupts control links for fast-moving systems. The issue matters because it impacts UAV/USV stri…
Drones: Shahed-136 · Sting FPV interceptor
First C-130J delivered for US Navy E-130J Phoenix II TACAMO conversion
The US Navy received the first C-130J-30 airframe that will be converted into the E-130J Phoenix II for the TACAMO mission, providing survivable VLF communications to submerged ballistic-missile submarines. The shift from E-6B jets to a C-1…
Starshield military satellite comms distinct from Starlink highlighted
The post describes Starshield, SpaceX’s government-controlled, more secure military variant of Starlink using dedicated terminals, separate gateways, and enhanced encryption while leveraging the Starlink constellation. It also notes potenti…
Avalon voice-command HMI to control drone teams from Boxer 8x8
Breaker Industries and Rheinmetall Defence Australia are developing the Avalon human-machine interface that lets Boxer crews control multiple unmanned air/ground systems via natural-language voice commands through the vehicle’s standard hea…
Honeywell SAMURAI/UNITAS fuses multi-sensor counter-UAS into one interface
Honeywell Aerospace’s SAMURAI uses UNITAS battle-management software to fuse radar, EO/IR, RF, Remote ID and other counter-UAS sensors/effectors from multiple vendors into a single operator interface (“single pane of glass”). The novelty is…
US Army fields NGC2 shared command-and-control software platform
The US Army is moving NGC2 from prototype to fielding, contracting nine firms to build apps on a common data baseline intended to integrate sensors, weapons, and units into a shared C2 network. The novelty is the platformized, interoperable…