DARPA Wants Drones To Hunt In Packs

Making fewer amounts of humans responsible for greater amounts of drones

From PopSci

Concept Art Of Drones Hunting In Packs

DARPA

Drones work best operating in packs. Last year, a study by the RAND corporation showed that when two or more drones are tracking the same target, they are much more successful at staying on its trail. Right now, however, flying drones is very labor intensive, with each drone requiring a team of pilots and observers. DARPA wants to solve both of these problems by putting more drones in the sky -- with fewer humans controlling them.
The defense research house is calling a meeting together under the name “Collaborative Operations in Denied Environment,” or CODE. The full name means “working together in places where people are actively trying to make it hard to fly," and the acronym shows the way that DARPA hopes to solve this problem: with superior programming. Successfully flying modern military aircraft in actively dangerous skies, with all the communications and data involved, is a problem the Air Force is trying to solve. Here, DARPA wants to specifically address it for drones.

China Launches Three Warships In One Day, Setting A New Record

For comparison, the U.S. Navy commissioned only four warships in all of 2014.

From PopSci

 

Hudong-Zhonghua Shipyard

Hudong-Zhonghua Shipyard, a subsidiary of the China State Shipping Corporation, builds both advanced warships, as well as high tech commerce vessels like Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) carriers.

Not since World War II has a single shipyard launched multiple large warships in a single day. But Hudong-Zhonghua Shipyard in Shanghai, one of China's best naval and civilian shipyards, just did that. On January 22, 2015, it showed off its prowess in military mass production by simultaneously launching a Type 071 Landing Platform Dock (LPD) amphibious warship, a Type 054A frigate, and a Type 815G Electronic Intelligence (ELINT) ship. For comparison, the U.S. Navy commissioned only four warships (including a submarine) in all of 2014.

China Shows Off Cannon-Fired Drones

They can pick out enemy tanks for quick destruction by laser guided artillery 

From Popsci

Strange Payloads

This AVIC Drone, from its Chengdu R&D department, can be fitted inside an artillery casing, such as a rocket or cannon shell. The cannon shell will burst open in mid-flight to release the drone, which deploys its retracted wings for flight.

Chengdu Aviation Corporation is famous for designing some of China's largest UAVs, but now they're offering something far smaller, but just as deadly. This little drone can be fired from large artillery, such as a 155mm cannon or a rocket launcher, to quickly scout for and light up enemy armored vehicles with its laser designator. Once enemy vehicles have been targeted, the parent artillery battery can fire off laser guided shells and artillery to accurately destroy the enemy.

Russian Robot Warrior Drives In A Circle In Front Of Putin

Cylons these are not

From  Popsci 

Cyborg Biker

Killer robots are a reliable staple of science fiction, a culmination of humanity’s technological prowess turned against civilization as a cruel, cosmic joke. While this is a good premise for a movie, developments in military robotics are often seen as heralding a once-fictional robocalypse. However, a video released today, from Russian state-owned news channel RT, is a reassuring sign that deadly robots are still at best a thing of the future.
Titled “Military cyborg biker presented to Putin,” the video shows a robotic skeleton wearing what appears to be a knock-off Daft Punk helmet driving a four-wheeler slowly around a small track as Russian president Vladimir Putin looks on. Putin eventually nods with approval, but his disappointment is visible in every other part of his expression. Whatever horrors military robots may bring to future wars, they won’t come from this cyborg biker. It isn't even riding a hover cycle.