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No One Suspected It: Pokémon Go Data Helped Train a Navigation System for Military Drones

13 June 2026 at 13:36

Do you remember Pokémon Go? At its peak, the game prompted millions of people around the world to walk city streets in search of Pokémon using their smartphones. Its popularity was significant enough that, in 2025, Saudi Arabia’s Savvy Games Group acquired the gaming division of Niantic for $3.5 billion. Although the game no longer […]

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Cheap Iranian drone downed $25 million US Army helicopter—maybe by chance

10 June 2026 at 18:04

A US Army helicopter gunship was apparently struck by an Iranian Shahed drone before going down near the Strait of Hormuz—but it's unclear whether the one-way attack drone was deliberately aimed or achieved more of a lucky accidental strike.

Axios correspondent Barak Ravid first reported an unnamed US government official’s comments that an Iranian drone had hit the US Army AH-64 Apache helicopter before the latter went down on June 8. The New York Times later confirmed that reporting through more anonymous US officials, including one official who said US military investigators were still evaluating whether the Iranian drone strike on the helicopter was intentional or accidental.

Iran has fired thousands of such Shahed drones against a wide range of military and civilian targets in the Gulf region since February 28, 2026, when the United States and Israel began the war by jointly attacking Iran with a barrage of bombs and missiles. But Shahed drones have mainly struck stationary targets such as Amazon data centers and energy facilities, sometimes hitting slow-moving commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz.

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© US Central Command

Drone boat picked up downed US Army helicopter pilots—a first for sea rescues

9 June 2026 at 16:44

A drone boat picked up two US Army pilots from waters near the Strait of Hormuz after their helicopter gunship went down, US military officials said. The incident apparently represents the first time the US military has used a drone for such a rescue mission at sea.

The two crew members from the US Army AH-64 Apache were “rescued by American forces” at 7:33 pm US Eastern Time after their helicopter went down off the coast of Oman on June 8, according to a US Central Command press release. That press release mentioned support from US Navy units including the US 5th Fleet’s Task Force 59, which is charged with integrating uncrewed aerial, surface, and underwater vehicles, alongside AI, into 5th Fleet maritime operations.

Anonymous US military officials initially told CBS News that the Apache air crew was rescued by an uncrewed surface drone operated by Task Force 59 from the US Fifth Fleet in Bahrain. The officials also described the incident as the first time the military had used a drone to rescue people from the water.

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Hunting Shahed: Ukrainian drones receive a unique autonomous interception system

8 June 2026 at 16:47

A new technology developed by a member of the Brave1 cluster enables Ukrainian unmanned aerial systems to autonomously intercept enemy Shahed-type loitering munitions, marking a systematic increase in the country’s air defence capabilities. The innovative solution automates nearly the entire engagement cycle – approximately 95% of the process – starting from the interceptor’s launch and continuing through to the neutralisation […]

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Threat to the ‘Shaheeds’: Ukraine has developed the unique Katran X1.2 maritime drone for drone swarms

8 June 2026 at 16:29

Katran X1.2 is an unmanned surface vessel developed by the Ukrainian company MAC HUB. Its primary function is to transport and deploy groups of strike drones and interceptor UAVs directly from the water surface, creating an additional floating layer for air and naval defence, as intended by its developers. The autonomous surface platform is designed […]

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Airbus converts the Airbus Helicopters H145 into an unmanned platform for operations in high-intensity environments

8 June 2026 at 15:34

Airbus Helicopters has officially unveiled the U145 unmanned helicopter, developed on the basis of the widely used civilian and military Airbus Helicopters H145. A full-scale mock-up of the new platform was presented ahead of the ILA 2026 international aerospace exhibition in Berlin, scheduled to begin on June 10, 2026. The use of the proven airframe […]

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Night raid in the Sea of Azov: Unmanned Systems Forces drones turn five “ghost” vessels of the occupying forces into targets

5 June 2026 at 15:48

On the night of June 5, personnel of the Unmanned Systems Forces carried out a successful strike against five civilian cargo vessels operating in the Sea of Azov. These vessels were reportedly used for the illegal transportation of Ukrainian goods from temporarily occupied territories. Details of the operation were provided by the head of the Unmanned […]

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Trump wants $1B to protect White House ballroom from drones and other threats

20 May 2026 at 19:59

President Donald Trump’s latest pitch for using taxpayer dollars to secure his White House ballroom featured a militarized building—including a rooftop hardened against drone strikes and a “drone port” that could potentially house military drones.

The remarks came on May 19 as Trump gave reporters a personal tour of the ballroom project that has already involved the demolition of the White House mansion’s East Wing. The president spoke of installing a rooftop drone base “for unlimited numbers of drones” operated by the US military as a “drone port that would protect all of Washington,” according to Reuters. He also highlighted a ballroom roof made from “impenetrable steel” that would supposedly be “drone-proof” against potential drone strikes.

To pay for such measures, Trump has been urging Republican lawmakers in the US Congress to approve $1 billion in taxpayer funding to provide a wide variety of “security adjustments and upgrades” for his ballroom project. The taxpayer-backed security enhancements would be separate from the $400 million construction cost for the ballroom project that has been funded by private donors, including companies such as Amazon, Apple, Coinbase, Comcast, Google, HP Inc., Lockheed Martin, Meta, Micron Technology, Microsoft, Palantir, Ripple, and T-Mobile.

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