Tokyo is seeking another record-busting defense budget -- including spending to build a drone "shield" to defend Japan's southwestern periphery -- amid rising concerns over the Chinese military's moves near and inside the country's waters and airspace. The Defense Ministry said Friday that it is seeking a budget exceeding 8.8 trillion ( 60 billion) for fiscal 2026, up 4.4% from last year's record 8.5 trillion initial request. The budget is the fourth in a five-year spending plan of around 43 trillion, as Japan zeroes in on its target of spending 2% of gross domestic product on defense by 2027. Most prominent in this year's request is a 128.7 billion plan to build a multilayered coastal defense system covering the air, sea, and waters that incorporates unmanned assets as well as strengthened standoff defense capabilities to attack from outside an enemy's range.

A new program called Project Icarus is teaching kids how to build drones, while at the same time helping them grow in STEM fields, which focus in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Project Icarus, launched by the Texas-based Flynoceros Racing Drones, is a workshop that not only allows kids to build drones, but also teaches them how to fix and fly them. This is different from drone kits bought at stores that don't show users how repair them. Seven-year-old Ava builds her drone at a Project Icarus workshop. Although parents can buy a drone kit at a retail store, those products are sometimes cheap and can break easily after crashing.

A glimpse into how courier services could soon become automated by drones has been revealed by IBM. A new patent application suggests the firm is working on a fleet of drones that pass packages mid-air. And the proposals could overcome a number of key obstacles for the use of drones in home delivery. A patent granted to tech giant IBM would see a fleet of drones pass packages mid-air. A customer's own personal drone would be sent out to meet the delivery drones (pictured) for the last leg of the journey, ensuring the parcel's safe delivery A patent granted to IBM would allow drones to play aerial games of pass the parcel, extending the range of drone delivery.

Drone shows can be fun to watch, much like fireworks displays. Intel has been flying an army of hundreds of drones that move in a coordinated fashion, creating an effect that looks like a mid-air ballet. The company has created one-off drone shows but is now taking that showcase to the next level. Intel is putting 300 drones in the sky for months, and they will be part of the Starbright Holidays aerial light show that will run during the holiday season at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida. The drones will have LEDs that can create more than 4 billion color combinations, and the show will create animations in the night sky.