Wang Zhaokui, an executive responsible for unmanned aircraft operations at the Beijing-based academy, noted that since the first overseas sale in 2003, the Caihong (Rainbow) drones have been widely deployed across Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. These drones have become crucial assets in anti-terror missions, logging nearly 70,000 flight hours over 12,000 sorties and achieving a remarkable 98.2 percent strike success rate with over 2,000 munitions deployed.

"Our foreign clients have described the Caihong series as 'sharp weapons for counterterrorism operations,' generating approximately $2 billion in revenue for China," Wang said.

The CH-4 model has emerged as the most successful in the Caihong lineup, with over 100 units delivered globally, making it China's top-selling armed drone. One customer in the Middle East reportedly chose the CH-4 after evaluating similar models from the US, Europe, Israel, and Russia, citing the CH-4's superior cost-efficiency at roughly 30 percent less than comparable Western alternatives.

The academy's newest offering, the CH-9 heavy-duty strike drone, was showcased at the 15th China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition in Zhuhai, Guangdong, last November. With a maximum takeoff weight of 5 metric tons, the CH-9 boasts eight external weapon pylons, a range of 11,500 kilometers, and an endurance of up to 40 hours. It can autonomously identify targets, adjust flight paths, and carry a broad range of munitions, including air-to-air missiles, bombs, and loitering munitions, making it a formidable asset for long-range missions.

The CAAA, a subsidiary of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp, has also exported drone assembly lines to two countries, making it the first Chinese firm to offer this capability internationally. Beyond military applications, the company has fielded modified CH-3 models for civilian tasks, including mineral prospecting and aerial surveys, further broadening its market reach.

"Our drones have played a critical role in enhancing the defense capabilities of our partners and strengthening China's diplomatic ties," Wang emphasized.

]]> Fri, 23 MAY 2025 02:30:36 AEST Berlin, Germany (SPX) May 21, 2025 - At a fulfilment center, researchers have found that giving delivery jobs to the least confident drones can significantly improve performance. Using an auction-based system, drones evaluate their ability to complete a task based on factors like battery level and place bids accordingly. The least confident bidder then attempts the delivery, gaining valuable feedback to refine its self-assessment.

Led by Professor Roderich Gross of TU Darmstadt's Department of Computer Science, the team tested this learning-based strategy using a custom multi-agent simulator over eight weeks. Compared to conventional threshold models, their method achieved markedly higher delivery success rates and shorter times. Drones also learned to anticipate tasks they could only complete after recharging, enabling better resource planning.

"This work shows how online learning can help robots cope with real-world challenges, such as operating without full knowledge of their true capabilities," said Dr Mohamed Talamali from The University of Sheffield.

The technique also offers advantages for mixed drone fleets with differing energy profiles due to production variability or usage history. It could lead to more autonomous, energy-efficient delivery systems capable of serving multiple fulfillment centers. "Such autonomous delivery drones could also operate across multiple fulfilment centres, further reducing delivery times and costs," added Gross.

Research Report:Ready, Bid, Go! On-Demand Delivery Using Fleets of Drones with Unknown, Heterogeneous Energy Storage Constraints

]]> Fri, 23 MAY 2025 02:30:36 AEST Cairo (AFP) May 15, 2025 - Paramilitary drone strikes targeting Sudan's wartime capital have sought to shatter the regular army's sense of security and open a dangerous new chapter in the war, experts say.

Since April 2023, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) group has been at war with the army, which has recently recaptured some territory and dislodged the paramilitaries from the capital Khartoum.

The latter appeared to have the upper hand before Sunday, when drone strikes began blasting key infrastructure in Port Sudan, seat of the army-backed government on the Red Sea coast.

With daily strikes on the city since then, the RSF has sought to demonstrate its strength, discredit the army, disrupt its supply lines and project an air of legitimacy, experts believe.

According to Sudanese analyst Kholood Khair, "this is intended to undermine the army's ability to provide safety and security in areas they control," allowing the RSF to expand the war "without physically being there".

For two years, the paramilitaries relied mainly on lightning ground offensives, overwhelming army defences in brutal campaigns of conquest.

But after losing nearly all of Khartoum in March, the RSF has increasingly turned to long-range air power.

Using weapons the army says were supplied by the United Arab Emirates, it has hit strategic sites hundreds of kilometres (miles) away from their holdout positions on the capital's outskirts.

Michael Jones, research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) in London, says the RSF's pivot is a matter of both "strategic adaptation" and "if not desperation, then necessity".

- Strategic setback -

"The loss of Khartoum was both a strategic and symbolic setback," he told AFP.

In response, the RSF needed to broadcast a "message that the war isn't over", according to Sudanese analyst Hamid Khalafallah.

The conflict between Sudan's de facto leader, army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his former deputy, RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, has split Africa's third-largest country in two.

The army holds the centre, north and east, while the RSF controls nearly all of the vast western region of Darfur and, with its allies, parts of the south.

"It's unlikely that the RSF can retake Khartoum or reach Port Sudan by land, but drones enable them to create a sense of fear and destabilise cities" formerly considered safe, Khalafallah told AFP.

With drones and loitering munitions, it can "reach areas it hasn't previously infiltrated successfully", Jones said.

According to a retired Sudanese general, the RSF has been known to use two types of drone -- makeshift lightweight models with 120mm mortar rounds that explode on impact, and long-range drones capable of delivering guided missiles, including the Chinese-manufactured CH95.

On Thursday, rights group Amnesty International published a report that said "Chinese GB50A guided bombs and 155mm AH-4 howitzers" used by the RSF in Khartoum and Darfur were provided by the UAE.

- Sparing fighters -

The Sudanese government severed diplomatic ties with the Gulf state on Tuesday, accusing it of supplying the advanced weapons systems the RSF has used to attack Port Sudan.

Abu Dhabi has repeatedly denied arming the RSF, despite reports from UN experts, US politicians and international organisations.

According to Mohaned Elnour, nonresident fellow at the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy, the RSF's "main objective is to divert the army's attention" and position itself as a potential government, which it has said it will form.

"It's much easier for them to attack quickly and withdraw, rather than defend territory," Elnour said.

Crossing Sudan's vast landmass -- some 1,500 kilometres (930 miles) from RSF bases in Darfur to Port Sudan -- requires long-range drones such as the Chinese-made Wing Loong II, deployed by the UAE, or the Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2 used by the army, according to Amnesty.

Both sides in Sudan are in a race to "destroy each other's drone capacity", Khair said.

Two years into the devastating war, the RSF has another incentive to rely on drones, she said.

"It allows them to spare their troops" after reports that RSF recruitment has dipped since the war began.

"Initial recruitment was high based on the opportunity to loot, and there's very little left to loot now," she said.

Both sides have been accused of war crimes including targeting civilians, but the RSF is specifically accused of rampant looting, ethnic cleansing and systematic sexual violence.

]]> Fri, 23 MAY 2025 02:30:36 AEST Los Angeles CA (SPX) May 12, 2025 - Lyten, a leader in advanced supermaterial applications and lithium-sulfur battery technology, has launched a new initiative aimed at enhancing U.S. national security through the development of high-performance, American-made lithium-sulfur (Li-S) battery systems for drone propulsion. This effort is designed to meet the growing demand for longer-range, high-endurance drones in defense applications, leveraging Lyten's cutting-edge energy storage technology.

The company is dedicating manufacturing capacity at its California facilities to produce these next-generation batteries, specifically engineered for U.S. defense, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), and satellite sectors. This move supports the Department of Defense's goals of reducing reliance on foreign supply chains and enabling more capable, domestically powered UAV platforms.

"Defense initiatives increasingly rely on unmanned, autonomous systems, yet nearly all these systems are powered by raw materials and batteries sourced from geopolitical rivals," said Dan Cook, Lyten Co-Founder and CEO. "We built Lyten's lithium-sulfur battery platform to solve exactly this problem - to provide lightweight, high-performance battery power that is locally sourced and locally manufactured in the United States."

In a recent demonstration, Lyten showcased a U.S.-built, 3D-printed UAV powered by its lithium-sulfur battery technology. The drone, created by Titan Dynamics and equipped with a custom battery pack from Upgrade Energy, achieved over 3 hours of continuous flight while performing a range of complex maneuvers at speeds up to 86 mph in Palos Verdes, California. The next version of this battery is targeting up to 8 hours of flight time on the Titan Dynamics platform.

Lyten's batteries are free from nickel, manganese, cobalt, and graphite - minerals predominantly controlled by foreign supply chains - ensuring compliance with the National Defense Appropriations Act (NDAA) for secure defense energy solutions. The high energy density of lithium-sulfur batteries also supports longer missions, heavier payloads, and extended operational range.

"Lightweight propulsion is of critical importance to so many industries," added Celina Mikolajczak, Lyten's Chief Battery Technology Officer. "Satellites, drones, EVs, and micromobility can all dramatically improve in performance with lighter weight batteries. We have designed the lithium-sulfur battery platform to provide this lightweight performance, while avoiding materials subject to growing geopolitical and supply chain constraints."

Lyten is now accepting orders for its latest lithium-sulfur drone batteries and has also secured a contract with the Defense Innovation Unit to demonstrate its batteries on the International Space Station, with a mission slated for launch later this year. These batteries have achieved over 3000 cycles in satellite applications, showcasing their durability for long-term use in space.

]]> Fri, 23 MAY 2025 02:30:36 AEST New Delhi (AFP) May 8, 2025 - India and Pakistan accused each other Thursday of carrying out waves of drone attacks, as deadly confrontations between the nuclear-armed foes drew global calls for calm.

The fighting comes two weeks after New Delhi blamed Islamabad for backing an attack on the Indian-run side of disputed Kashmir, which Pakistan denied.

On Thursday, Pakistan's army said it shot down 28 Indian drones, while New Delhi accused Islamabad of launching raids with "drones and missiles", and claimed it destroyed an air defence system in Lahore.

At least 48 people have been killed on both sides of the border since India launched air strikes on Wednesday that it said targeted "terrorist camps", sparking the worst violence in decades between the South Asian neighbours.

The majority of the casualties have been in Pakistan, where authorities said at least 32 were killed, including 12 children.

The countries have fought two of their three full-scale wars over Kashmir, a disputed territory that both claim in full but administer separate portions of since gaining independence from British rule in 1947.

- Explosions in Jammu -

"Pakistan attempted to engage a number of military targets... using drones and missiles," India's defence ministry said in a statement Thursday, adding that "these were neutralised".

The defence ministry said earlier its military had "targeted air defence radars and systems at a number of locations in Pakistan", adding it had destroyed an air defence system in Lahore, Pakistan's second city.

On Thursday evening, explosions were reported at the airport of Jammu, a key city in the Indian-administered part of Kashmir, a security source who was not authorised to speak to the media told AFP, without giving further details.

Pakistan denied that it had launched any strikes on India on Thursday, with the top military spokesman terming India's drone strikes a "phantom defence".

- Blasts in Lahore -

Pakistan called Delhi's drone attacks "another act of aggression", and said it had neutralised 28 out of 29 Israeli-made Harop drones that crossed into the country on Thursday.

Pakistan's Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said the drones "made attempts to attack military installations" and "targeted civilians", killing one and injuring four, with four army personnel also wounded.

Among the cities targeted was Rawalpindi, where the military is headquartered. The city's cricket stadium was one of the venues of the Pakistan Super League, which later announced its remaining eight matches would be moved to the United Arab Emirates.

Residents in Lahore reported hearing the sound of blasts, and aviation authorities briefly shut down operations at the main airport there and in the capital Islamabad.

- 'Shrapnel pierced her chest' -

India's Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday said New Delhi had a "right to respond" following the attack on tourists in Pahalgam in Kashmir last month, when gunmen killed 26 people, mainly Hindu men.

New Delhi blamed the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba -- a UN-designated terrorist organisation for the Pahalgam shooting, and the nations traded days of threats and diplomatic measures.

Pakistan has denied any involvement and called for an independent investigation into the April 22 attack.

Pakistan's military said on Wednesday that five Indian jets had been downed across the border, but New Delhi has not responded to the claims.

An Indian senior security source, who asked not to be named, said three of its fighter jets had crashed on home territory.

There was trauma on both sides of the disputed border after the exchange of heavy artillery in darkness on Wednesday.

"A missile struck the mosque nearby, and a piece of shrapnel from the blast pierced my daughter's chest," 50-year-old Safeer Ahmad Awan told AFP in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir that was hit by Wednesday's Indian strikes.

"It was only when her clothes were soaked in blood that we discovered the injury," he added of the 15-year-old girl, who still had the metal lodged in her body.

On the other side of the border in Poonch, a town in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir that was bombarded by Pakistan on Wednesday, Madasar Choudhary said his sister saw two children killed.

"She saw two children running out of her neighbour's house and screamed for them to get back inside," said Choudhary, 29.

"But shrapnel hit the children -- and they eventually died."

- Global pressure -

Diplomats and world leaders have pressured both countries to step back from the brink.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with leaders in both countries Thursday and urged "immediate de-escalation", his spokeswoman said.

US Vice President JD Vance later reiterated that call in a televised interview, but added that Washington was "not going to get involved in the middle of a war that's fundamentally none of our business."

Several countries have offered to mediate, and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met his Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar in New Delhi on Thursday, days after visiting Pakistan.

Pakistani authorities insist they have the right to retaliate to India's initial strikes.

In a late Wednesday TV address to the nation, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif warned they would "avenge" those killed by Indian air strikes.

"We make this pledge, that we will avenge each drop of the blood of these martyrs," he said.

burs-ecl-aha/des

]]> Fri, 23 MAY 2025 02:30:36 AEST Cairo (AFP) May 8, 2025 - Paramilitary drone strikes targeting Sudan's wartime capital have sought to shatter the regular army's sense of security and open a dangerous new chapter in the war, experts say.

Since April 2023, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) group has been at war with the army, which has lately recaptured some territory and dislodged the paramilitaries from the capital Khartoum.

The latter appeared to have the upper hand before Sunday, when drone strikes began blasting key infrastructure in Port Sudan, seat of the army-backed government on the Red Sea coast.

With daily strikes on the city since then, the RSF has sought to demonstrate its strength, discredit the army, disrupt its supply lines and project an air of legitimacy, experts believe.

According to Sudanese analyst Kholood Khair, "this is intended to undermine the army's ability to provide safety and security in areas they control", allowing the RSF to expand the war "without physically being there".

For two years, the paramilitaries relied mainly on lightning ground offensives, overwhelming army defences in brutal campaigns of conquest.

But after losing nearly all of Khartoum in March, the RSF has increasingly turned to long-range air power.

Using weapons the army says were supplied by the United Arab Emirates, it has hit strategic sites hundreds of kilometres (miles) away from their holdout positions on the capital's outskirts.

Michael Jones, research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute in London, says the RSF's pivot is a matter of both "strategic adaptation" and "if not desperation, then necessity".

- Strategic setback -

"The loss of Khartoum was both a strategic and symbolic setback," he told AFP.

In response, the RSF needed to broadcast a "message that the war isn't over", according to Sudanese analyst Hamid Khalafallah.

The conflict between Sudan's de facto leader, army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his former deputy, RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, has split Africa's third-largest country in two.

The army holds the centre, north and east, while the RSF controls nearly all of the vast western region of Darfur and, with its allies, parts of the south.

"It's unlikely that the RSF can retake Khartoum or reach Port Sudan by land, but drones enable them to create a sense of fear and destabilise cities" formerly considered safe, Khalafallah told AFP.

With drones and light munitions, it can "reach areas it hasn't previously infiltrated successfully", Jones said.

According to a retired Sudanese general, the RSF has been known to use two types of drone -- makeshift lightweight models with 120mm mortar rounds that explode on impact, and long-range drones capable of delivering guided missiles, including the Chinese-manufactured CH95.

On Thursday, rights group Amnesty International published a report that said "Chinese GB50A guided bombs and 155mm AH-4 howitzers" used by the RSF in Khartoum and Darfur were provided by the UAE.

- Sparing fighters -

The Sudanese government severed diplomatic ties with the Gulf state on Tuesday, accusing it of supplying the advanced weapons systems the RSF has used to attack Port Sudan.

Abu Dhabi has repeatedly denied arming the RSF, despite reports from UN experts, US politicians and international organisations.

According to Mohaned Elnour, nonresident fellow at the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy, the RSF's "main objective is to divert the army's attention" and position itself as a potential government, which it has said it will form.

"It's much easier for them to attack quickly and withdraw, rather than defend territory," Elnour said.

Crossing Sudan's vast landmass -- some 1,500 kilometres (930 miles) from RSF bases in Darfur to Port Sudan -- requires long-range drones such as the Chinese-made Wing Loong II, deployed by the UAE, or the Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2 used by the army, according to Amnesty.

Both sides in Sudan are in a race to "destroy each other's drone capacity", Khair said.

Two years into the devastating war, the RSF has another incentive to rely on drones, she said.

"It allows them to spare their troops" after reports that RSF recruitment has dipped since the war began.

"Initial recruitment was high based on the opportunity to loot, and there's very little left to loot now," she said.

Both sides have been accused of war crimes including targeting civilians, but the RSF is specifically accused of rampant looting, ethnic cleansing and systematic sexual violence.

]]> Fri, 23 MAY 2025 02:30:36 AEST Rawalpindi, Pakistan (AFP) May 8, 2025 - Pakistan's army said Thursday it shot down 25 Indian drones, a day after the worst violence between the nuclear-armed rivals in two decades.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif vowed to retaliate after India launched deadly missile strikes on Wednesday morning, escalating days of gunfire along their border.

At least 45 deaths were reported from both sides following Wednesday's violence, including children.

Pakistan's military said in a statement Thursday that it had "so far shot down 25 Israeli-made Harop drones" at multiple location across the country.

"Last night, India showed another act of aggression by sending drones to multiple locations," Pakistan's military spokesman Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said from the army's headquarters in Rawalpindi, where a drone was downed.

"One managed to engage in a military target near Lahore," he said, adding that four troops in the city were injured.

He earlier said the operation was ongoing.

One civilian was killed and another injured in Sindh as a result of the drone incidents.

Crowds gathered at crash sites, some close to army installations, to gaze at the debris.

Blasts could be heard across Lahore.

The Civil Aviation Authority said Karachi airport was closed until 6 pm (1300 GMT), while Islamabad and Lahore were briefly shut "for operational reasons".

Pakistan and Indian have fought several wars over the Muslim-majority disputed region of Kashmir -- divided between the two but claimed in full by both.

"We will avenge each drop of the blood of these martyrs," Sharif said, in an address to the nation.

- 'Right to respond' -

Speaking after the Wednesday missile strike, India's Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said New Delhi had a "right to respond" following an attack on tourists in Pahalgam in Kashmir last month, when gunmen killed 26 people, mainly Hindu men.

New Delhi blamed the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba -- a UN-designated terrorist organisation for the Pahalgam shooting, and the nations traded days of threats and diplomatic measures.

Pakistan has denied any involvement and called for an independent investigation into the April 22 attack.

India said on Wednesday it had destroyed nine "terrorist camps" in Pakistan in "focused, measured and non-escalatory" strikes.

Islamabad said Wednesday that 31 civilians were killed by Indian strikes and firing along the border.

New Delhi said 13 civilians and a soldier had been killed by Pakistani fire.

Pakistan's military also said five Indian jets had been downed across the border, but New Delhi has not responded to the claims.

An Indian senior security source, who asked not to be named, said three of its fighter jets had crashed on home territory.

- 'Screamed' -

The largest Indian strike was on an Islamic seminary near the Punjabi city of Bahawalpur, killing 13 people according to the Pakistan military.

Muhammad Riaz said he and his family had been made homeless after Indian strikes hit Muzaffarabad, the main city of Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

"There is no place to live," he said. "There is no space at the house of our relatives. We are very upset, we have nowhere to go."

On the Indian side of the frontier on Wednesday, Madasar Choudhary, 29, described how his sister saw two children killed in Poonch, where Pakistan military carried out shelling.

"She saw two children running out of her neighbour's house and screamed for them to get back inside," Choudhary said, narrating her account because she was too shocked to speak.

"But shrapnel hit the children -- and they eventually died."

- 'No pushover' -

India on Thursday braced for Pakistan's threatened retaliation.

In an editorial on Thursday, the Indian Express wrote "there is no reason to believe that the Pakistan Army has been chastened by the Indian airstrikes", adding that Indian military experts were "aware that Pakistan's armed forces are no pushover".

"Border districts on high alert," The Hindu newspaper headline read, adding that "India must be prepared for escalatory action" by Pakistan.

Diplomats and world leaders have pressured both countries to step back from the brink.

"I want to see them stop," US President Donald Trump said Wednesday.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is slated to meet his Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar on Thursday in New Delhi, days after visiting Pakistan, as Tehran seeks to mediate.

Analysts said they were fully expecting Pakistani military action to "save face" in a response to India.

"India's limited objectives are met," said Happymon Jacob, director of the New Delhi-based think tank Council for Strategic and Defence Research.

"Pakistan has a limited objective of ensuring that it carries out a retaliatory strike to save face domestically and internationally. So, that is likely to happen."

Based on past conflicts, he believed it would "likely end in a few iterations of exchange of long-range gunfire or missiles into each other's territory".

burs-pjm/ecl/lb

]]> Fri, 23 MAY 2025 02:30:36 AEST Port Sudan, Sudan (AFP) May 7, 2025 - A drone strike targeted Sudan's biggest naval base Wednesday, an army source told AFP, marking the fourth straight day the seat of the army-backed government has come under attack.

"They (the drones) were met with anti-aircraft missiles," the source said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to the media.

An AFP correspondent reported a series of explosions and then a cloud of smoke coming from the direction of the Flamingo Base, just north of the city.

War has raged since April 2023 between Sudan's regular armed forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, which the army-backed government has called a "proxy" of the United Arab Emirates.

Port Sudan on the Red Sea coast had been a safe haven, hosting hundreds of thousands of displaced people and United Nations offices, until Sunday when drone strikes blamed on the RSF began.

Drones struck across Port Sudan on Tuesday, hitting the main port, the city's power station and the country's last functioning international airport.

Nearly 600 kilometres (375 miles) further south, "three drones attempted to strike airport facilities" in the army-held eastern city of Kassala, near the border with Eritrea, a security source said.

Witnesses told AFP they heard explosions from anti-aircraft missiles west of the city, which has also come under repeated attack this week.

Nationwide, the war has killed tens of thousands of people and uprooted 13 million.

It has also effectively split Sudan in two, with the army controlling the centre, north and east while the RSF holds nearly all of Darfur in the west and parts of the south.

- Aid 'lifeline' -

The RSF has not directly commented on this week's attacks on Port Sudan, about 650 kilometres (400 miles) from its nearest known positions on the outskirts of the capital Khartoum.

The strikes have raised fears of disruption to humanitarian aid across Sudan, where famine has already been declared in some areas and nearly 25 million people are suffering dire food insecurity.

UN relief chief Tom Fletcher said he was "very concerned by ongoing drone strikes on Port Sudan, a hub for our humanitarian operations and key entry point for aid".

Nearly all aid into Sudan flows through the port city, which the United Nations has called "a lifeline for humanitarian operations".

It has warned of more "human suffering in what is already the world's largest humanitarian crisis".

The United States on Tuesday condemned the drone strikes "on critical infrastructure and other civilian targets in Port Sudan and throughout the country".

"These attacks represent a dangerous escalation in the Sudan conflict," the State Department said.

Spain too condemned the attacks, calling them a "violation of international law and a threat to peace efforts".

- 'Advanced weaponry' -

The long-distance drone campaign comes after the RSF lost control of nearly all of greater Khartoum in March, after holding it virtually since the start of the war.

The foreign ministry of the army-backed government described the attack on Port Sudan as "a full-fledged crime of aggression", which it said was carried out with "strategic drones and advanced weaponry".

Sudan has accused the UAE of supplying the RSF with the weapons it has used to strike Port Sudan.

The UAE has repeatedly denied arming the RSF, despite reports from UN experts, US politicians and international organisations.

Sudan's northern neighbour Egypt has historically been the army's strongest backer and, according to experts, still wields significant influence with army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.

During the war, Burhan has drawn closer to Turkey and Iran.

Russia, which previously supported the RSF through its mercenary group Wagner, has pivoted towards the army's camp, with its sights on a Red Sea naval base near Port Sudan.

]]> Fri, 23 MAY 2025 02:30:36 AEST Los Angeles CA (SPX) May 02, 2025 - Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin company, and firetech firm Rain recently completed autonomous wildfire suppression tests using an optionally piloted Black Hawk helicopter in Southern California. The trials marked the first time both companies demonstrated live-fire suppression using integrated autonomous flight and fire management systems.

The test flights incorporated Sikorsky's MATRIX autonomy suite with Rain's wildfire mission software, enabling precise detection, planning, and water drops on active fire targets. Conducted at 3,300 feet in wildfire-prone terrain with wind gusts up to 30 knots, the demonstrations involved both propane and live brush fires.

"Sikorsky and Rain have integrated two autonomy systems... With this layered autonomy system, incident commanders and pilots can choose a level of autonomy suitable for their mission," said Sikorsky Vice President and General Manager Rich Benton.

Firefighters from the San Bernardino County Fire Protection District prepared controlled burns for the tests. Rain's mission autonomy allowed ground operators to direct the Black Hawk to water sources, coordinate hover bucket fills, and calculate drop timing based on thermal sensor data and environmental factors such as wind speed and direction.

The autonomous Black Hawk, equipped with MATRIX flight controls, satellite communications, and onboard thermal and vision sensors, operated without pilot input during fire suppression drops. A 324-gallon Bambi Bucket attached to a 40-foot line was used, filled from a 189,000-gallon water tank supplied by Wildfire Water Solutions.

The aircraft completed 24 hours of flight over two weeks. Observers from CAL FIRE, Orange County Fire Authority, and the U.S. Forest Service attended. In one test, the Black Hawk coordinated with a crewed Sikorsky S-76 helicopter to confirm interoperability within a shared Fire Traffic Area.

"Of all the tools we have to keep wildfires small, none are more effective than rapid suppression on initial attack," said Chief Dan Munsey of the San Bernardino County Fire District. "Autonomous aircraft-both crewed and uncrewed-can increase flexibility and capacity for on-the-ground incident commanders."

The Black Hawk used in testing shares design elements with the S-70 Firehawk helicopters already in use by CAL FIRE and other agencies, which operate 24 such aircraft equipped with 1,000-gallon belly tanks. CAL FIRE is scheduled to receive three additional Firehawks this year.

"These initial attack flight tests... were of the highest value to Rain and Sikorsky," said Maxwell Brodie, CEO of Rain. "We thank California's firefighters for their considerable interest to help us showcase the benefits of autonomy as a tool to support the safety, efficacy, and efficiency of wildfire response."

The demonstration received partial support from a PG and E research and development grant.

]]> Fri, 23 MAY 2025 02:30:36 AEST Washington DC (UPI) Apr 30, 2025 - British warplanes have attacked Houthi targets in Yemen, joining ally the United States in its airstrikes targeting the Iran-backed militia.

Britain's Ministry of Defense said in a statement that the joint operation occurred Tuesday, targeting a cluster of buildings in Yemen identified as having been used by the Houthis to manufacture drones like those the rebels have been using to attack ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.

The targets were located about 15 miles south of the Houthi-controlled capital of Sanaa.

Royal Air Force Typhoon FGR4s were used in the strike, along with air refueling support from Voyager tankers. Paveway IV precision-guided bombs were dropped on the buildings, the ministry said, adding that only after "very careful planning had been completed to allow the targets to be prosecuted with minimal risk to civilian or non-military infrastructure."

"As a further precaution, the strike was conducted after dark, when the likelihood of any civilians being in the area was reduced yet further," it said. "All our aircraft subsequently returned safely."

The United States has yet to comment on the operation, but its military has been conducting near-daily attacks against the Houthis since mid-March, when President Donald Trump ordered an expanded campaign against the rebels.

The Trump administration has been seeking -- through military strikes and sanctions -- to dismantle a military blockade the Houthis erected in mid-November 2023, a month after Israel launched a full-scale war against Hamas, another Iran-proxy militia, in Gaza.

The Houthis have attacked hundreds of ships transiting the important trade route, including U.S. military vessels, claiming they are standing in solidarity with the Palestinian people, tens of thousands of whom have been killed in Israel's war.

Britain said its Tuesday attack in Yemen aligned with long-standing government policy put in place in response to the Houthis' blockade.

London and Washington conducted multiple joint attacks in Yemen during the early months of the blockade.

Together with Bahrain, Canada, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Seychelles and Spain, they launched Operation Prosperity Guardian in December 2023 in response to the Houthi maritime shipping attacks.

]]> Fri, 23 MAY 2025 02:30:36 AEST Subscribe to our daily selection of space, military, environment and energy newsletters responseText http://visitor.constantcontact.com/manage/optin/ea?v=0016gbbKsaiGSpQFojVO8ZoHw%3D%3D