Greetings from Cupertino, California, where the temperature has cooled down to a far more reasonable 101 degrees. It's a nice change from the 109 degrees we hit here on Tuesday. There was no robotics news to speak of, but that's why we're coming to you a day late with Actuator. I'll try not to make a habit of it. We've got an interesting selection of robotics news this week. It's a testament, really, to how broad this field has become in recent decades.

Britain is to start testing Star Wars-style laser weapons that will be able to shoot down drones and rockets from up to six miles away. Defence company Raytheon UK has announced it will be opening an advanced laser integration centre in Livingston, West Lothian next year. It said the new European hub will focus on'testing, fielding and maintenance of defensive high-energy laser (HEL) weapons'. The weapons will be designed to take down drones, rockets, artillery and mortars with just a highly concentrated beam of light. Raytheon UK was given a demonstrator contract to deliver an HEL weapon system to the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) last September.

Autonomous flying'bug drones' that can spy on enemies more than a mile away and operate in strong winds of up to 50mph are being tested by the British Army. Developed by the British defence firms BAE Systems and UAVTEK, 'The Bug' is a fist-sized robot weighing just 6.7 ounces (191g) -- roughly the same as a smart phone. The drone has a 40 minute battery life and a'stealthy low visual profile' that makes it hard for the enemy to spot. The army is said to have taken delivery of 30 units. In the recent Army Warfighting Experiment, the Bug proved to be the only small drone tested that was capable of withstanding difficult weather conditions.

Fox News Flash top headlines are here. Check out what's clicking on Foxnews.com. U.K.'s chief of the Defense Staff said in a televised interview aired Sunday that economic uncertainty caused by the coronavirus pandemic increases the risk of a third world war, adding that robot soldiers could make up at least a quarter of the British army by the 2030s In an interview with Sky News ahead of Remembrance Day, Gen. Sir Nick Carter, the professional head of the British armed forces, said tributes to those who perished during wartime still hold relevance today even though there is no one alive who served in World War I and the number of veterans from World War II is dwindling. "We have to remember that history might not repeat itself but it has a rhythm and if you look back at the last century, before both world wars, I think it was unarguable that there was escalation, which led to the miscalculation, which ultimately led to war at a scale we would hopefully never see again," he said. Veteran Charlie MacVicar, who served for 23 years with Royal Scots (Edinburgh Unit) pays his respects at the Royal British Legion Remembrance Garden, on Remembrance Sunday, in Grangemouth, Scotland, Sunday, Nov. 8, 2020.

Thirty thousand "robot soldiers" could form an integral part of the British army in the 2030s, working alongside humans in and around the frontline, the head of the armed forces said in a television interview on Sunday. Gen Sir Nick Carter said the armed forces needed "to think about how we measure effects in a different way" – and he called on the government to proceed with the previously promised five--year integrated defence review. Speaking to Sky News on the morning of Remembrance Sunday, the chief of the defence staff suggested that "an armed forces that's designed for the 2030s" could include large numbers of autonomous or remotely controlled machines. "I mean, I suspect we could have an army of 120,000, of which 30,000 might be robots, who knows?" Carter said, although he stressed he was not setting any particular target in terms of future numbers. Investment in robot warfare was to be at the heart of the planned integrated five-year defence review, whose future was thrown into doubt after the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, postponed the cross-government spending review to which it had been linked last month.

A virtual reality simulation system costing £300,000 is being trialled by the Royal Air Force (RAF) in an effort to make combat training more immersive and realistic. The'first-person shooter' -style combat game is being developed under contract with the UK Ministry of Defence by the veteran-run software company SimCentric. The simulation software -- dubbed'SAF-TAC' -- is built on top of Epic Games' Unreal Engine 4, which also powers the popular video games Fortnite and Borderlands 3. SAF-TAC features bespoke training scenarios, high-definition surround sound, high-fidelity graphics, haptic feedback and intuitive gesture-based controls. SAF-TAC will also be put through tests this year with members of the British Army and the Royal Marines, alongside the air force. It is intended that the virtual simulator will become a routine part of the armed forces' wider training programme to support and enhance real-life exercises.

In 1985 the US pulled the plug on a computer-controlled anti-aircraft tank after a series of debacles in which its electronic brain locked guns onto a stand packed with top generals reviewing the device. Mercifully it didn't fire, but did subsequently attack a portable toilet instead of a target drone. The M247 Sergeant York (pictured above) may have been an embarrassing failure, but digital technology and artificial intelligence (AI) have changed the game since then. Today defence contractors around the world are competing to introduce small unmanned tracked vehicles into military service. Just like an army on the move, there are contrasting views about how far and how fast this technology will advance.

A multifunctional special operations team infiltrates into the Ad Dali' Province of western Yemen as part of a coalition effort that supports the UN recognized government of President Mansour Hadi, based in the southern capital of Aden. The team is one of several that have begun to infiltrate the tribal areas within the span of control of the Houthi rebel army that is based in Sana'a. The purpose of these specialized teams is simple: foment rebellion within the Yemeni tribes against their Houthi oppressors and return control of their tribal areas to the legitimate government as directed by the UN. The team leader for the team that has infiltrated into Ad Dali' is Captain Adam MacDonald of the British Army, who is leading part of his team into the ruined home of Sheikh Abdul Jaleel al-Hudaifi, in the war torn village of Najd al-Mukalla, in the al-Harsha district, just outside of the Ad Dali' provincial capital. The previous Saturday, on February 12, 2025, militia fighters operating under the al-Houthi movement blew up the primary home of the tribal leader of the al-Harsha district using dynamite.

Help is at hand for troops on the front lines thanks to palm-sized drones developed by the the Ministry of Defence (MOD). British Army plans will see 200 miniature drones'smaller than a human hand' deployed on the battlefield to provide soldiers with an eye in the sky. These mini-drones, dubbed Black Hornet, could take over the life-threatening surveillance and reconnaissance duties currently undertaken by soldiers. The MOD is investing £66million ($87m) in robotic systems, which will also include automated supply delivery drones. TheBlack Hornet3 is the world's smallest tactical nano UAV (unmanned Aerial vehicle) and is used by the British military on the front line.

Bomb disposal experts won't have to put their lives at stake every time they have to disarm an explosive if they can do their job with the help of a proxy -- like a robot they can control from afar. According to the UK Ministry of Defence, the British Army has received four cutting-edge robots that can do just that. Unlike other bomb disposal machines, these ones come with "advanced haptic feedback" that allows their operators to feel what their mechanical arm holds or touches through a remote-control hand grip. Seeing as bomb disposal requires a high level of dexterity, especially when dealing with potentially booby-trapped improvised explosive devices, haptic feedback could be just what experts need. The four machines delivered to the British Army are but a small fraction of what the UK military ordered from military contractor Harris. In addition to haptic feedback, the unmanned robot called T7 also comes equipped with HD cameras and all-terrain treads.