The European Commission is pressing the accelerator on investment in weapons and defense technologies. From a total 590 million invested between 2017 and 2020, Brussels has moved to a 7.3 billion ( 7.9 billion) package for the 2021 to 2027 period. This year alone, the European Defense Fund (EDF) has put 1.1 billion on the plate, divided into 34 calls for as many military-related research topics. From developing new drone models to sensors to increase radar capabilities. From systems to counter hypersonic missile attacks to enhancements in the analysis of images collected by satellites. From "smart weapons" to advanced communication technologies.

BETHAL PARK, Penn – The U.S. Secret Service had availability to use drones and chose not to at the fateful Pennsylvania rally that spiraled into an assassination attempt against former President Trump, Rep. Michael Guest said. Guest, R-Miss., told Fox News Digital that elected officials were briefed that no counter-drone use from the Secret Service or the Pennsylvania State Police (PSP) was used in preparation for and during the Butler, Pennsylvania, campaign rally on July 13. The Republican said the PSP revealed it did have the availability of drones but that no requests were made. "The Secret Service was responsible for the operational plan," he said. "And they made the decision to not only not fly drones that day but to not station law enforcement on top of a water tower."

Canada women's football manager Beverly Priestman has been removed as Olympic head coach and suspended by the country's football federation as the fall out continued after a drone was flown over New Zealand's training session on Monday. Canada Soccer said it took the action because "over the past 24 hours, additional information has come to our attention regarding previous drone use against opponents, predating the Paris 2024 Olympic Games". English-born Priestman, 38, had "voluntarily" withdrew from her side's opening 2-0 victory over the Kiwis on Thursday, while Jasmine Mander, Priestman's assistant, was sent home along with "unaccredited analyst" Joseph Lombardi. On Thursday a French court said Lombardi had been handed an eight-month suspended jail sentence after pleading guilty to flying a drone in an urban area without a licence. In a statement Canada Soccer chief executive Kevin Blue confirmed Priestman will be suspended for the remainder of the Games while an "independent external review" takes place.

The Canadian Olympic Committee has removed women's national soccer head coach Bev Priestman for the remainder of the Paris Games after staffers allegedly used a drone to spy on an opponent. Two Canadian team staffers, assistant coach Jasmine Mander and analyst Joseph Lombardi, were "sent home immediately" for allegedly using a drone to spy on a New Zealand practice. Canada beat New Zealand, 2-1, Thursday. Priestman, who has denied involvement, initially volunteered to step away from the club prior to the committee's decision. Canada Soccer CEO and General Secretary Kevin Blue said in a COC release that "additional information has come to our attention regarding previous drone use against opponents, predating the Paris 2024 Olympic Games."

PITTSBURGH – Local law enforcement repeatedly offered to provide drone coverage in the sky above former President Donald Trump's July 13 campaign rally – where he survived a failed assassination attempt – but was rebuffed by the U.S. Secret Service, according to Sen. Josh Hawley, citing a new whistleblower. "According to one whistleblower, the night before the rally, U.S. Secret Service repeatedly denied offers from a local law enforcement partner to utilize drone technology to secure the rally," Hawley, a Missouri Republican and member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, wrote in a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. "This means that the technology was both available to USSS and able to be deployed to secure the site. WHISTLEBLOWER REVEALS WHY TRUMP RALLY OFFICER ASSIGNED TO SHOOTER'S PERCH MOVED Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump is surrounded by U.S. Secret Service agents at a campaign rally, Saturday, July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pa. FBI Director Christopher Wray, whose agency has taken a lead role in the investigation, confirmed during a congressional hearing this week that the would-be assassin, Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, flew a drone of his own overhead before Trump took the stage.

Fox News correspondent CB Cotton reports that different agencies disagree on the events at the Trump rally shooting. Fox News drones provided a new perspective on the sight lines between Thomas Matthew Crooks, former President Trump and the Secret Service counter sniper teams at the fateful rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Thursday. Fox News correspondent CB Cotton also detailed the sight lines that Crooks had when firing on Trump. A drone recreation shows that Crooks was largely concealed from Secret Service counter snipers by a large tree, though he still had an angle on the former president. The Secret Service agent who neutralized Crooks was stationed on a building behind Trump.

Time-critical tasks such as drone racing typically cover large operation areas. However, it is difficult and computationally intensive for current time-optimal motion planners to accommodate long flight distances since a large yet unknown number of knot points is required to represent the trajectory. We present a polynomial-based automatic optimal synthesis (AOS) approach that can address this challenge. Our method not only achieves superior time optimality but also maintains a consistently low computational cost across different ranges while considering the full quadrotor dynamics. First, we analyze the properties of time-optimal quadrotor maneuvers to determine the minimal number of polynomial pieces required to capture the dominant structure of time-optimal trajectories. This enables us to represent substantially long minimum-time trajectories with a minimal set of variables. Then, a robust optimization scheme is developed to handle arbitrary start and end conditions as well as intermediate waypoints. Extensive comparisons show that our approach is faster than the state-of-the-art approach by orders of magnitude with comparable time optimality. Real-world experiments further validate the quality of the resulting trajectories, demonstrating aggressive time-optimal maneuvers with a peak velocity of 8.86 m/s.

The black box sits on the army truck dashboard like a talisman, its tiny screen lighting up with warnings when Russian drones are above us. We are driving fast along a country road in the darkness near the front lines outside Kharkiv. Like many in this war, the soldiers inside have come to revere the little cube they call "sugar"; it warns of the unseen dangers above. On the vehicle's roof are three mushroom-shaped antennas that make up separate drone-jamming equipment. The car emits an invisible aura of protection that will thwart some, but not all, of the Russian attack drones patrolling the skies above this battlefield.

Police departments across Arizona plan to implement the use of drones as part of its first responders to emergency situations. Scottsdale's police department will be the first in the state to use a special fleet of drones that can be sent to potential crime scenes and emergencies by special detection cameras. The drone technology will come from a new drone startup called Aerodome and the public safety tech firm Flock Safety, which makes gunshot sensors, analytic software and cameras that can monitor neighborhoods and read license plates. Scottsdale PD's drones will respond to emergencies in real time to provide first responders with a bird's eye view of emergencies as first responders make their way to the area. The drones can be dispatched by police officers and emergency dispatchers as well as Flock cameras that detect unlawful activity such as stolen vehicles or cars that match descriptions from an AMBER alert.

The Lebanese armed group Hezbollah has broadcast a drone video that it said showed air defence facilities, planes and fuel storage units at Israel's Ramat David airbase, nearly 50km (30 miles) into Israeli territory. The footage included labels pointing out apparent military infrastructure, including the short-range Iron Dome air defence system which is designed to destroy rockets. The video, more than eight minutes long, was mostly filmed on Tuesday, the Iran-aligned group said. The video also included nighttime shots that Hezbollah said were captured "earlier" and other images the group said were taken earlier in July. The caption said it was only "some" of what the drone had captured.