At Eurosatory 2026, German defense giant Rheinmetall showcased its Containerized Missile Launcher (CML), a dedicated multi-launcher for the platform. 

It is a fully autonomous, modular weapon system that turns ordinary civilian and military logistics networks into rapid-launch missile bases.

The CML acts as a force multiplier for the company’s new FV-014 Loitering Munition System (LMS). 

Operating as part of Rheinmetall’s integrated reconnaissance and strike network, this combined system blends long-range scouting with precise strike capabilities. 

Moreover, the newly introduced CML is a critical network element that enables forces to rapidly deploy and launch multiple FV-014 “kamikaze” drones to engage battlefield targets efficiently.

360-degree gimbal

The 20 kg FV-014 functions as a portable loitering munition, providing frontline troops with an immediate link between reconnaissance and organic artillery support.

It features an aerodynamic wing design powered by a quiet electric propulsion system, allowing for stealthy operations. To enable long-term target observation, the drone is equipped with a 360-degree swiveling nose gimbal that provides frontline forces with comprehensive situational awareness.

The system delivers a flight endurance of up to 70 minutes, with a maximum operational range of 100 kilometers and a 60-kilometer data link capacity.

To ensure precise target engagement, the FV-014 drone is armed with an in-house-developed High-Explosive Dual Purpose (HEDP) payload manufactured by Rheinmetall. 

This specialized warhead provides a combat capability, combining anti-personnel fragmentation effects with deep anti-armor penetration. 

Despite the drone’s lightweight design, this highly effective payload can punch through more than 600 mm of armor plating, making it lethal against heavily armored combat vehicles and fortified enemy positions.

Modern warfare demands speed, and this system is built to minimize reaction times.

According to the company, the FV-014 runs on an advanced software architecture that allows a single operator to command multiple drones in a coordinated swarm formation. 

Interestingly, the system strictly enforces a “human-in-the-loop” protocol, ensuring a human operator retains final authority over any lethal strike. 

Furthermore, this intelligent flight system is designed for high-interference battlefields, allowing the drone to navigate and operate reliably even when facing intense electronic warfare or signal jamming.

Mass-producible drone network

As per the company, the FV-014 is a central pillar of the Rheinmetall Reconnaissance Network (AWV), controlled via a user-friendly ground station.

In pooling data with other assets, such as the LUNA NG reconnaissance drone, the system creates a comprehensive battlefield picture that enables rapid target engagement.

Developed and produced entirely within the European Union, the FV-014 has been engineered from the ground up for high-volume industrial mass production. It would ensure rapid scalability for modern defense needs. 

The system’s strategic importance was validated in February 2026 during a successful live-fire demonstration for a NATO customer. This milestone culminated rapidly in a massive, multi-billion-euro framework agreement signed with the German Armed Forces (Bundeswehr) in April 2026. It solidifies the drone’s position as a cornerstone of future European defense procurement.

With production lines ramping up, the future of distributed, autonomous artillery has arrived, and it comes packed inside a shipping container.

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Irish firm Net Zero Energy (NZE) aims to construct Rathrush Green Energy Park, a 600MW Long Duration Energy Storage (LDES) facility located outside Rathoe in Co. Carlow.

It is a massive, €2 billion infrastructure project designed to tackle the biggest issue facing clean energy today: what to do when the wind stops blowing and the sun refuses to shine. 

The answer is the new facility built on a 50-acre site. It will act as a giant, green infrastructure for the entire country when needed the most. 

“By making available 600MW of renewable energy at the flick of a switch, this project can satisfy as much as 10% of Ireland’s peak energy requirement. Rathrush Green Energy Park provides significant, secure, sustainable long-duration energy storage for the Irish grid,” said Tim Cowhig, NZE chairman. 

Hydrogen production

The strategy addresses a major flaw in current clean energy infrastructure: waste during peak production.

On exceptionally windy or sunny days, Ireland’s renewable sources often generate far more electricity than consumers need or the national grid can handle. Without a way to store this surplus, wind turbines and solar panels are routinely shut off, completely wasting vast amounts of clean power.

Rathrush would capture that discarded energy. It will use the excess electricity to split water and create green hydrogen. Then comes the subterranean twist.

The plan is to compress the green hydrogen gas and pump it deep underground for storage within custom-engineered, lined rock caverns. When peak demand strains the national grid, the stored hydrogen will be released, feeding above-ground turbines to instantly generate clean electricity.

It is a massive scale-up for Irish infrastructure. Upon completion, the park will generate 30 times as much green energy as the famous Turlough Hill pumped-storage facility in Wicklow. According to the company, it is expected to have seven times the generating capacity of the Ardnacrusha hydropower plant. 

Cutting emissions

The company also mapped out the future facility’s environmental payoff. Interestingly, it is projected to displace 180,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions every single year. 

Mathematically, that is the equivalent of taking 40,000 combustion-engine cars off Irish roads permanently. It also offers a shield against the punishing climate-target fines that loom over the state budget if carbon goals are missed. 

In addition to cutting emissions, the facility could protect local consumers from volatile global energy prices. 

Ireland’s energy security is uniquely vulnerable, as underscored by an annual spend a €10 billion on imported fossil fuels. 

“By harnessing an energy source which was heretofore being wasted, we can insulate consumers from future fossil fuel crises and price shocks such as we saw in the aftermath of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and more recently, in the Middle East,” said Peter Harte, NZE Chief Executive. 

The construction phase is estimated to employ up to 1,500 workers at its peak. Once the facility goes live, it will anchor 70 permanent, highly skilled operational jobs in the Carlow region. 

NZE is currently steering the project through its community consultation phase to address local questions regarding the scale of the infrastructure. If all goes according to schedule, the developers intend to formally lodge their planning application by the end of the year. 

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Scientists at Sandia National Laboratories in the US have figured out how to use ordinary microwave technology to mine dead batteries. It sounds crazy, but it works. 

The team developed a microwave-based method to upcycle old lithium-ion battery cathodes. 

Interestingly, the microwave method slashes the time required to turn old lithium cobalt oxide powder into nanosheets from 7 days to just 2 hours.

Recycling cathodes

The development comes at an important time. Millions of early-generation electric vehicle batteries are reaching the end of their lifespans. Usually, the old vehicle parts head straight for the landfill. That is a massive waste of precious metals. 

Batteries use cathodes, which are packed with expensive, hard-to-find minerals like lithium and cobalt. Cobalt is especially problematic. The Democratic Republic of the Congo mines roughly 70 percent of the world’s supply, leaving global tech supply chains incredibly vulnerable to political disruption.

“Cobalt is a critical material for almost all consumer electronics,” said Clare Davis-Wheeler Chin, a Sandia nanomaterials chemist and an inventor of the method. 

“Since there’s only one main source of cobalt, it would be very easy for the cobalt supply chain to just disappear. We’re about to have an abundance of old EV batteries that are either going to go to the landfill or that we can mine to develop a domestic supply,” added Chin. 

Using an adjustable microwave reactor and a large positively charged chemical ion, researchers can break down old battery cathode powder.

Microwaves are known for uneven heating, a quirk that usually frustrates anyone trying to reheat leftovers. For battery chemists, however, that uneven hot-and-cold friction is a feature, not a bug. The localized heat spikes violently rip the stubborn lithium cobalt oxide cathode powder apart, unraveling it into microscopic layers called nanosheets.

The speed of the process is interesting. Standard methods of breaking down this material take a full week of high-temperature baking. The microwave method does it in just two hours.

It is also incredibly efficient. Previous laboratory attempts to create these nanosheets maxed out at a 60 percent yield, but Sandia’s microwave technique successfully converts 95 percent of the starting material.

“When you have nanosheets, ion exchange can access the entire sheet, and you can maximize the amount of critical materials that can be exchanged,” said Aliya Lapp, a Sandia electrochemist with expertise in galvanic ion exchange.

Economically beneficial

The flexibility of these ultra-thin nanosheets allows easy replacement of aged metal ions to keep pace with changing market trends. For example, substituting expensive cobalt with cheaper, higher-performing nickel to meet modern automotive standards. 

Interestingly, this method automatically heals microscopic defects and removes impurities accumulated over a decade of use. It eliminates the complex processing steps required by standard recycling. 

Furthermore, any extracted cobalt can be captured using a specialized molecular framework and reused, thereby allowing researchers to design two upgraded, industry-ready cathodes from the remains of a single dead battery.

Standard recycling centers operate like massive, energy-hogging blast furnaces. Sandia’s process keeps things cool, cheap, and fast. Preliminary economic modeling indicates the technique could boost battery recycling profits by a massive 30 percent compared to standard commercial methods. 

The tech is moving quickly out of the lab. The research team has already filed two patents and interviewed 80 industrial leaders to prep the technology for the commercial market.