Important Innovations

Combat Surveillance Source:  Russia Add caption Bird of Pre y Russia has designed a new combat surveillance drone that has the appearance of a snowy owl.  The drone was just unveiled at the Defense Ministry's annual military expo in Moscow. UAV that's Laser Equipped The drone is an unmanned aerial vehicle.  It's equipped with a laser in its tail that can guide artillery,  laser-guided bombs and aircraft to swoop in for an attack.  Russia's Defense Ministry says it will be able to spot targets without being detected. Portable This new device weighs only 5 kilograms and can be handled, carried and launched by one person.  It can fly up to 40 minutes and has a range of 12 miles.  It's one of Russia's new military assets now on display at the expo.

Highly Advanced Spy Drone that has Russia Very Concerned Source:  USAF MQ-9 Reaper US Air Force's MQ-9 Reaper Drones Russia is very concerned about a US plan to deploy spy drones in Poland.  It's the MQ-9 Reaper drone which is an unmanned aerial vehicle that's capable of remote controlled or autonomous flight operations.  It was developed by General Atomics for the US Air Force.  It has a maximum speed of 300 mph and a range of 1,150 miles.  According to experts, this drone technology is very advanced and has greatly increased the US ability to monitor vast areas of Eastern Europe. MQ-9 Reaper Already There According to several reports, a squadron of MQ-9 drones are fully operational from an air base in Poland.  President Trump also plans to send 1000 US troops to Poland to deter any Russian aggression.  Today, a Russian Deputy Foreign Minister expressed Russia's deep concern about the drones, saying they demonstrate US "aggressive intentions

Weapons at Hypersonic Speeds Source:  Russia Hypersonic Missile Test From Supersonic to Hypersonic Arms Race Russia is on a mission to bring the development of supersonic cruise missiles to the hypersonic level. Hypersonic flight starts at five times the speed of sound or one mile per second.  The news comes  from CEO Alexander Leonovo of Russian weapons manufacturer Tactical Missiles Corporation.  He's developing the Onyx supersonic anti-ship missile that can be fired from subs and frigates. The Onyx travels at 2&1/2 times the speed of sound with a 400 mile range.  Leonovo says his focus for Russian defense is to bring missile speeds to hypersonic and increase their operational range. Incredible Speeds Recently, Russian President Vladimir Putin visited a flight test center to inspect a MIG 31 jet fighter armed with the hypersonic Kinzhai dagger missile. The missile is capable of carrying nuclear weapons.  The missile can travel at Mach 10 for 1200 miles.  It can ev

DARPA's Push for Hypersonic Weapons Defense Source:  DARPA Hypersonic Mach 5 Plus Defensive Countermeasure The US Defense Department's Advanced Research Projects Agency - DARPA - wants an interceptor that can stop hypersonic weapons travelling at Mach 5 to Mach 20 plus.  DARPA is accepting proposals for the program which it calls Glide Breaker, an interceptor that can counter and take out enemy hypersonic weapons. Russia's Avangard The program is specifically targeting what are called boost-glide weapons, that are catapulted high into the atmosphere on ballistic missiles and then glide at hypersonic speeds to earth.  An example is Russia's Avangard which President Putin has termed unstoppable.  It glides down to its target on Earth at Mach 20.  The US and China are also developing these hypersonic weapons. 2020 Testing DARPA wants the Glide Breaker technology in a hurry.  It wants it tested in 2020.  The challenges to create the hypersonic countermeasure a

Russian Tech Giant Innovating & Growing Yandex Headquarters in Russia Global Search Engine Heavyweight Google is the world's biggest search engine, followed by Bing, China's Baidu and Yahoo.  You can add another heavyweight to the list - Yandex of Russia. Russia's Google That's Now Rolling Out Self-Driving Cars Like Google, Yandex is focused on developing innovation across industries.  It's one of the world's biggest IT companies.  It's also working in fields like self-driving cars.  It just rolled out an autonomous taxi service in Russia that some experts believe will eventually be deployed throughout Europe.  And, it's very active in AI, online marketplaces, personal assistants, online translating and smart speakers. Russia's Uber, Spotify and Google People like to call Yandex the Google of Russia.  But founder and CEO Arkadiy Volozh says it's much more than that.  He says it's also the Uber of Russia, the Spotify of

2 New Hypersonic Weapons Plans  Artist Concept of USAF Hypersonic Vehicle Star Wars As the photo shows, the USAF hypersonic system looks like Star Wars revisited. The US Airforce is jumpstarting 2, new hypersonic weapons programs.  A compelling reason: intense competitive pressure from Russia and China which have aggressive hypersonic programs of their own. Space Wars The USAF has awarded Lockheed Martin 2 contracts for hypersonic weapons in the past few months worth $1.4 billion.  The most recent, last week, is a $480 million contract to design the Air Launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW).  Some call it the most dangerous space weapon ever. Hyper-Speeds Hypersonic weapon systems travel far faster than the speed of sound.  They do Mach 5 plus or 3,806 mph.  And a key differentiator is that they're highly maneuverable.  Right now, the US has no defense system capable of taking them down because of their hyper speeds and maneuverability.  That's why this research is

Russia's Cosmic Guns Orbiting Debris in Space Target: Space Junk Russian scientists are developing cosmic guns to obliterate orbiting space junk of which there are a half million pieces.  The Russians aren't alone.  Japan and China have similar plans to train laser guns on space debris and decimate it. ROSCOSMOS Russia's Federal Space Agency ROSCOSMOS is behind the plan.  It wants to convert 10 foot optical telescopes into laser cannons.   The new technological device will be an optical debris detection system with an onboard solid state laser to vaporize debris. Laser Vision and Precision The search and destroy missions will happen in low earth orbit and fire up the space junk until they're destroyed.  The space junk is composed of pieces of broken spacecrafts and other objects launched into space.  They range in size from a marble to much larger, including 20,000 that are the size of a softball.  This is a very significant problem because the space junk tr

China's Starry Sky Hypersonic Wave Rider  Starry Sky China just successfully tested its hypersonic aircraft, the XingKong-2, Starry Sky.  It reportedly can travel 6-times the speed of sound at Mach 6.  Within a few days, the US Air Force ordered more hypersonic weapons from Lockheed Martin -  the 2nd order this year.  The global hypersonic arms race is intensely heating up. Hypersonic Competitors Russia, China and the US are trying to dominate in hypersonic delivery systems and weapons that travel 5 and 6 times the speed of sound.  Some military experts believe the Starry Sky can evade existing missile defense systems and potentially carry both conventional and nuclear payloads.  They don't expect it to be weaponized for 3 to 5 years. USAF Secretary Heather Walker wants to get hypersonic capability to our military as soon as possible. Starry Sky Hypersonic Tech Starry Sky is an experimental hypersonic wave rider that accelerates to Mach 6.  It rides the shock waves