Check out the Ripsaw M5: A 10-ton robo-tank looking to join the Army

The U.S. Army has long been on the market for an unmanned combat vehicle that can approach ground fighting in a similar fashion to how airborne drones have revolutionized air superiority. That is to say that the Army isn’t looking for thinking Terminator drones that can make life or death decisions on their own, but […]

This space plane you know about has a mission you don’t

The Air Force’s X-37B is a Boeing-built unmanned spacecraft that bears a striking resemblance to the old Space Shuttle (despite being significantly smaller). Although the program itself is shrouded in secrecy, its long-term orbital missions often make the headlines, thanks in no small part to the decidedly un-secret sonic booms the platform creates over Florida […]

Iran’s newest weapon is a perfect example of how to fight the US in the 21st century

The United States has long possessed the most powerful, technologically advanced, and well-trained military force in the world — but powerful and invulnerable are very different things. America’s broad and diverse fighting force has been at war in multiple theaters for the better part of two decades, not only wearing American troops and equipment thin, […]

China’s new rocket powered drone is a purpose-built carrier killer

Over the past few weeks, images of China’s new supersonic-capable, unarmed reconnaissance drone have begun making their way online, and SOFREP was among the first to notice that the design bears a striking resemblance to a similar platform employed over China by the United States in the 1960s. However, China’s propensity for stealing aircraft designs […]

The Navy’s newest drone might save America’s aircraft carriers

The U.S. Navy’s new carrier-based refueling drone, the Boeing produced MQ-25 Stingray, took its first test flight on Thursday, potentially ushering in a new era of naval combat operations for the United States. Although not intended to serve as an armed aircraft, the carrier-launched autonomous refueler could help the U.S. Navy offset the tactical advantage […]

Watch: Boston Dynamics’ robots are now better at moving around than most humans

Despite a steady diet of movies and television shows depicting robots as extremely capable killing machines bent on taking over the planet in recent decades, real robots have long been a bit… clunky. The incredibly complex mechanics of maintaining one’s balance with a walking stride, for instance, comes easily to human beings that benefit from […]

Russia is looking to get into the stealth bomber game with their own flying-wing

On June 18, 1981, Lockheed’s F-117 Nighthawk took to the skies for the first time, forever changing the way warfare in the skies plays out. After decades of competing to field to the fastest or most powerful aerial platforms, the F-117 represented a transition away from brute force and toward technological supremacy. With a top speed […]

A supersonic bomber with a hypersonic payload: How the B-1B can outrun retirement

America’s B-1B Lancer, sometimes called “The Bone,” is our nation’s only supersonic heavy payload bomber. With a top speed of around Mach 1.25, the bomber can keep pace with many fighters, and thanks to its swing-wing design, the massive aircraft can maneuver a bit like a fighter as well — at least, as much like […]

The US Navy just used a drone ship to clear a minefield

Recently, the U.S. Navy announced plans to commission the world’s largest autonomous naval vessel, clearly building on the successes they’ve had with the Sea Hunter program — a drone warship purpose built to aid in hunting encroaching enemy submarines. This week, the Pentagon announced that they had reached yet another major milestone in aquatic drone […]