UK Royal Air Force (RAF) personnel concluded their counter-unmanned aerial vehicle (C-UAV) mission at Gatwick Airport in West Sussex on 2 January. The operation began in response to reports of unidentified UAVs flying near the airport during a three-day period in December 2018.
The Saudi-led coalition has revealed the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that it said was involved in an attempted attack on a Yemeni government delegation heading for a ceasefire meeting on 11 January.
An image of what is purported to be a prototype of Russia’s Okhotnik (Hunter) ‘heavy unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)’ began to circulate in Russian social media on 23 January, followed by three more images the next day.
Iran displayed what appeared to be a refined version of its stealthy armed unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) during the Eqtedar 40 defence exhibition that opened in Tehran on 30 January.
The Worldwide Threat Assessment released by US Director of National Intelligence Daniel Coats on 29 January stated that Yemeni rebels have Iranian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that threaten the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The UK is to field ‘swarming drones’ to confuse and overwhelm enemy air defences by the end of this year, the Secretary of State for Defence said on 11 February.
Russia’s first submarine equipped to launch the new Poseidon nuclear-armed underwater vehicle/torpedo will enter fleet service next year, according to state news agency TASS.
The European Commission announced on 19 March how it will spend the remaining balance of EUR525 million (almost USD600 million) from its three-year pilot European Defence Fund (EDF) for co-financing defence capability and research projects with the member states.
France has begun arming its General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc (GA-ASI) MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) with a weapon integration contract awarded on 22 March.
In the 2001 National Defense Authorization Act, Congress set an objective of increasing the number of remote-controlled and unmanned systems in service with the US Army. The goal was that by 2015 a third of operational ground combat vehicles would be unmanned. However, this goal was not met. Scott Alexander reports
The state-owned China Shipbuilding Industry Company (CSIC) announced on its Weibo social media account on 8 April that its Wuchang Shipbuilding subsidiary in Wuhan has successfully completed factory acceptance tests of the Marine Lizard amphibious combat unmanned surface vessel (USV) prototype.
Russia has launched its first submarine designed to launch the new Poseidon nuclear armed unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) at the Sevmash shipyard in Severodvinsk.
The media department for the militias defending Libya’s capital city released photographs on 30 April that showed a Russian-made unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that had been recovered.
The US Marine Corps is planning to use a cash prize effort in development and procurement of its MUX unmanned aircraft
Cash prizes are an unorthodox way of procuring a major weapon system
The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is moving ahead with its Air Combat Evolution (ACE) programme to develop manned/unmanned air-to-air combat capabilities, with an industry day announced on 6 May
The Libyan National Army (LNA) has claimed that Turkish-made unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are being used to carry out attacks against the forces it has deployed to capture Tripoli from forces aligned with the internationally recognised Government of National Accord (GNA).
The Yemeni rebel group Ansar Allah (Houthis) released a video on 23 May that seemingly confirmed that it attacked Abu Dhabi International Airport (AUH) on 26 July 2018 as previously claimed.
The US has confirmed Iran’s claim it shot down a Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) at a range of about 70 km
Iran credited a 3 Khordad, one of several new indigenous surface-to-air missile (SAM) systems, with the shootdown
The Zala Aero Group, part of the Kalashnikov Concern, showed its Lantset (Lance) ‘kamikaze’ unmanned aircraft system (UAS) for the first time at the Army 2019 defence exhibition being held in Kubinka, close to Moscow, on 25–30 June.
The Yemeni rebel group Ansar Allah (popularly known as the Houthis) unveiled on 7 July weapons that it has been using to attack Saudi Arabia in recent months, including a ground-launched cruise missile that may have been used to attack Abha International Airport on 12 June.
Announced at the Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT) at Royal Air Force (RAF) Fairford in Gloucestershire, the RAF’s Rapid Capabilities Office (RCO) awarded three contracts to develop a technology demonstrator, named Project ‘Mosquito’, to explore the addition of unmanned ‘loyal wingman’ capabilities onto fast jets.
The Libyan National Army (LNA) faction has said it attacked an airport from which Turkish unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) were being flown in support of the Government of National Accord (GNA) it is trying to oust from Tripoli.
The US Army Futures Command is issuing a solicitation request to industry to collect information on emerging robotics and sensor technologies for small tactical units under the incipient Smart Targeting Environment for Lower Level Assets (STELLA) programme.
Russian company Uralvagonzavod (UVZ) is developing two unmanned variants of the T-72B3 main battle tank (MBT), the Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced on its website on 12 August.
The presence of Turkish unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in Libya has seemingly been confirmed by footage showing what appeared to be a Bayraktar TB2 at an airport that could be identified as Mitiga in Tripoli.
The state-owned China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (CSIC) revealed in a 21 August announcement on its official WeChat social media account that its 716 Research Institute – also known as the Jiangsu Automation Research Institute (JARI) – has launched a new catamaran-hulled multirole unmanned surface vessel (USV).
The Iran Aviation Industries Organization (IAIO) unveiled a scale model of a previously unseen unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) at the 2019 MAKS air show being held near Moscow from 27 August to 1 September.
Rheinmetall presented the new Mission Master-Protection unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) armed with the Warmate loitering munition system at the International Defence Industry Exhibition MSPO being held in Kielce, Poland, on 3–6 September 2019, the German company announced in a press release on 3 September.
A new study recommends the Pentagon embrace a new systems warfare strategy centred around seamless information sharing and a networked kill web
The new strategy would help the Department of Defense prepare for warfare in highly contested environments
Iranian-made cruise missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) were used in the 14 September attacks on the Abqaiq and Khurais oil facilities but were not launched from Yemen as claimed, Saudi military spokesman Colonel Turki al-Maliki said in a press briefing four days later.
Boeing will partner with an Australian defence research centre to develop artificial intelligence (AI) technologies in support of military unmanned systems.
The US Marine Corps (USMC) is looking toward a future where the battlefield is littered with combatant, human-shaped robots and is seeking industry’s help to acquire robotic targets for training.