NEWSREP recently reported on a patent filed by Russian arms manufacturer Almaz-Antey in 2018 for what appeared to be a drone built around an AK-47 platform. The patent was first brought to much of the world's attention thanks to a tweet from… [Read more…]
Watch Russia’s insane AK-drone dogfight with a remote control airplane
NEWSREP recently reported on a patent filed by Russian arms manufacturer Almaz-Antey in 2018 for what appeared to be a drone built around an AK-47 platform. The patent was first brought to much of the world's attention thanks to a tweet from defense journalist Steve Trimble. Russian air defense manufacturer Almaz-Antey last year patented a small UAV built around what looks … [Read more…]
US mainland missile defense system successfully intercepts intercontinental ballistic missile in test
The United States' Ground-based Midcourse Defense System has had its ups and downs over the years, but finally just showed it has what it takes to defend the country from an inbound nuclear missile launched from a nation like North Korea or Iran. In a first for the system, a salvo of two ground-based interceptors (GBIs) were launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in … [Read more…]
Declassified supersonic spy drone flew multiple failed missions over China in the 1960s
This week, the National Reconnaissance Office declassified a trove of documents pertaining to the long defunct "Tagboard" drone program, a reconnaissance effort so ahead of its time that it seemed like science fiction until only recently. In the 1960s, the United States found itself in a unique position: Nuclear programs in both China and the Soviet Union posed a clear threat … [Read more…]
China claims to have developed ‘anti-stealth’ radar that doesn’t seem physically possible
Although Russia's defense program marketing efforts may be among the most robust in the world, China is no slouch when it comes to making lofty claims about military capabilities through state-owned media outlets with global reach. China's latest claim pertains to a new radar system that, according to reports, might render stealth technology obsolete. In February, Chinese … [Read more…]
Trump signs new executive order meant to harden nation against electromagnetic pulse attacks
U.S. President Donald Trump signed a new executive order on Tuesday, mandating a government-wide effort to harden critical elements of the nation's infrastructure against the possibility of an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack. Put simply, an electromagnetic pulse is a short burst of a specific kind of radiation that's most commonly released by a nuclear detonation. EMPs … [Read more…]
Op-Ed: It’s Tesla versus China in the new era of electric vehicles
Do you subscribe to the notion that the internal combustion engine/fossil fuel will soon be replaced as the prevailing means of ground transportation? If you do, we are already in agreement. Electrons are the new hydrocarbons. Electricity is the new program to get with, one that, if your country doesn’t get with it soon, will relegate you and your countrymen to technological … [Read more…]
Russia’s nuclear-powered cruise missile has the same crucial weakness as its stealth fighter
For a time, it seemed Russia was steaming toward fielding real fifth-generation stealth fighters, a development with serious security implications, based on the nation's aggressive posture toward NATO and America's reliance on air power in its style of warfare. As time wore on, however, cracks in Russia's advanced fighter program began to show, culminating in India backing out … [Read more…]
China’s new icebreaker project is nuclear double trouble for the United States
With Russia's military rapidly expanding its Arctic footprint and capabilities, it has become clear that the United States has fallen far behind the competition in terms of both security and economic positioning in the quickly opening waterways of the frigid north. America's lone heavy icebreaker, the Polar Star, has grown so old that it can hardly complete a voyage without … [Read more…]
Op-Ed: DeepFake video technology could be good for a prank or for starting a war
When my freshman high school yearbook came out it featured four of what the school deemed to be the top students of the year. I frowned at the fact that I was not one of the exalted four-pack, and I bitterly cut my own face out of a photo and pasted it over one of the quartet on the cover. “Yeah, that’s what I’m talking about.” I nodded smugly. I was satisfied with my … [Read more…]
Op-Ed: Russia’s new ‘fake news’ bills demonstrate censorship, oppression
The idea behind wanting to ban fake news seems simple enough: you find the "news" content that isn't representing the truth objectively and legitimately, then prevent those sites from disseminating their material. However, in practice, laws are written and enforced by a nation's government—making a legal ban on "fake news" into something else: a powerful censorship tool. On … [Read more…]
The Dark Knights: F-117 spotted sporting the name of a squadron that shouldn’t exist
A few weeks ago, images began to surface online of an F-117 Nighthawk flying over Nevada and California. Despite being formally retired for more than a decade, a number of these aircraft are consistently maintained in flyable condition, prompting sporadic sightings over the years that never fail to get the aviation community buzzing. This most recent sighting, however, came … [Read more…]
Pentagon plans to deploy ‘particle beam’ weapon in space by 2023
Missile defense has been a priority in the United States for decades, in no small part because the threat posed by long-range, nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles remains as one of the few direct threats to the American mainland that could arise with little to no warning. In today's world, it would be all but impossible to sneak up to American shores with a sizable military … [Read more…]