Russian air defence systems have taken down three unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) that tried to attack Moscow, the latest raid on Russia's capital by combat drones that authorities have accused Ukraine of launching. Russia's defence ministry said one drone was jammed electronically and crashed into a building in central Moscow early on Wednesday morning, and two more were shot down by air defence systems outside the capital. Moscow's Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on the Telegram messaging app that one downed drone had hit a building that was under construction in central Moscow, and another was shot down in a district to the west of the city. The second UAV hit a building under construction in the City," Sobyanin said on Telegram. Russia's defence ministry said that the third drone was shot down in the Khimki district of Moscow.

Turkish defence firm Baykar aims to begin production of its new unmanned combat aerial vehicle next year which is already attracting international interest, its chairman Selcuk Bayraktar said. Named "Kizilelma", the drone expands the company's product range from slow, ground attack drones to fast and agile autonomous ones that work alongside fighter jets. "It is designed to be a highly autonomous, under human purview of course, air-to-air combat vehicle," said Bayraktar, who led the design of the 15-metre-long (49 feet) jet-powered weapon. "In a sense, the Kizilelma expresses a whole new future for combat aviation." Baykar has come to prominence internationally in recent years because of the company's light drone TB-2, which has been used in Ukraine, Azerbaijan, and North Africa and has been a huge export success, catapulting the firm to becoming one of the largest Turkish defence exporters.

From Saudi Arabia to Myanmar and Iraq to Ethiopia, more and more militaries across the world are stockpiling Chinese combat drones and deploying them on the battlefield. In Yemen, a Saudi-led coalition has dispatched the Chinese aircraft, also known as uncrewed aerial vehicles or UAVs, as part of a devastating air campaign that has killed more than 8,000 Yemeni civilians in the past eight years. In Iraq, authorities say they used Chinese drones to carry out more than 260 air raids against ISIL (ISIS) targets as of mid-2018, with a success rate of nearly 100 percent. In Myanmar, the military -- armed with Chinese drones -- has conducted hundreds of air attacks on civilians and ethnic armed groups opposed to its power grab two years ago, while in Ethiopia, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's fleet of Chinese, Iranian and Turkish drones was critical in helping his forces thwart a rebel march in 2021 that threatened to overthrow his government. Other buyers of China's combat drones -- aircraft that, in addition to intelligence gathering, can also fire air-to-surface missiles -- include Morocco, Egypt, Algeria, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Pakistan and Serbia.

An MQ-28 Ghost Bat drone flies in tests for the Royal Australian Air Force. WASHINGTON -- The US Air Force is set to begin flight experiments with Boeing's MQ-28 Ghost Bat, a combat drone developed for the Australian air force that may help its American counterpart learn how to operate unmanned aircraft alongside fighter jets. Lt. Gen. Clint Hinote, who leads Air Force Futures, told Breaking Defense in a September 20 interview that the service is "getting ready to take delivery" of a drone prototype through the Pentagon's research and engineering office, also known as OSD (R&E). "It might look a lot like an Australian thing," he joked, referring to the Ghost Bat, which first flew in 2021 at Royal Australian Air Force Base Woomera. Pentagon spokesman Lt. Cdr. Tim Gorman confirmed that the research and engineering office is involved in development and experimentation efforts involving Ghost Bat, saying that "OSD (R&E) continually works with the services to validate technologies that are key to advancing and fielding next generation capabilities."

The Chinese navy, under instruction from President Xi Jinping, has undergone a modernisation and expansion programme that is nothing short of spectacular. Friday's launch of its third and most advanced aircraft carrier, the Fujian, for sea trials underscores just how far it has come, and how fast. The first two carriers, the Liaoning and Shandong, were ex-Soviet designs; the Liaoning initially bought for scrap from Ukraine and refitted. While antiquated, they have been used to train new generations of naval officers and pilots in the complex science and art of aircraft carrier operations. This new design of aircraft carrier is a quantum leap in capabilities from these older models and will greatly enhance China's combat power.

Hundreds of Lithuanians contributed to a fundraiser to buy an advanced military drone for Ukraine in its war against Russia in a show of solidarity with a fellow country formerly under Moscow's rule. The target of 5 million euros ($5.4m) was raised in just three and a half days in Lithuania – a country of 2.8 million people – largely in small amounts to fund the purchase of a Byraktar TB2 unmanned aerial vehicle from Turkey. Laisves TV, a Lithuanian internet broadcaster, launched the fund-raising drive. "Before this war started, none of us thought that we would be buying guns. Something must be done for the world to get better," said Agne Belickaite, 32, who sent 100 euros as soon as the effort began last week.

A new era of drone warfare has already arrived involving many more players. And the use of UAVs has moved from counter-terrorism or counter-insurgency warfare into full scale conventional combat. Indeed, up ahead, a new third age of drone warfare beckons as technology becomes ever more sophisticated and linked to artificial intelligence.

Another lifelike robot is striking horror into the hearts of humans. Named Ameca, the android can convey an impressive range of facial gestures -- and people are freaking out. How it'll start vs How it's going to go pic.twitter.com/MQQcRTy7NB Tickets to TNW 2022 are available now! Whenever a machine shows another human-like capability, from dancing to speaking, it sparks fears of robot uprisings. These anxieties are somewhat misplaced.

Artificial intelligence is one of several hot technologies that have the potential to transform the face of combat in the next years. The Joint Artificial intelligence Center was established by the Department of Defense to win the artificial intelligence war. AI might enable autonomous systems to execute missions, achieve sensor fusion, automate activities, and make better, faster judgments than people, according to some visions. AI is quickly developing, and those objectives may be met shortly. Meanwhile, artificial intelligence will influence the more routine, boring, and monotonous duties that military personnel undertake in uncontested situations.

The US Navy is developing a pilotless solar-powered plane that can fly for 90 days at a time to help keep a watchful eye on naval ships below or act as a communications relay platform. The plane, dubbed'Skydweller' and developed by Skydweller Aero, builds on the manned Solar Impulse 2 aircraft that flew around the world in 2015 and 2016, but had to stop every five days. The upgraded version will eliminate the cockpit, allowing space for hardware that allows for autonomous abilities. Skydweller Aero CEO Robert Miller told New Scientist: 'When we remove the cockpit, we are enabling true persistence and providing the opportunity to install up to about 400 kilograms of payload capacity.' The pilotless craft will feature 236-foot long wings that are blanked in solar cells, but its makers may add hydrogen fuel cells for an additional boost.