Important Innovations

  Flying Carriers With Swarming Gremlin Drones                                                          Source:  DARPA Flying Aircraft Carrier Rendering                    Source:  DARPA's Flying Carrier and Gremlin Drones DARPA R&D Project Stranger Than Science Fiction The Pentagon's DARPA (the Defense Department's Advanced Research Projects Agency) is working at forever changing the face of warfare.  They are developing for the US military huge, flying aircraft carriers.  The carriers would be loaded with highly advanced drones, called Gremlins, instead of fighter jets.  Military officials believe the carriers would be safer in the the sky than on the ocean where they are becoming increasingly vulnerable to long range missile attacks.  The Pentagon is particularly concerned about new maneuverable, ballistic missile technology from China. The Gremlins The US Navy currently has 11 nuclear powered carriers.  Each carrier contains up to 80 fighter jets and 6,000 personnel

DARPA Field Tests Ground Robots with Swarming Drones Source:  DARPA OFFSET Field Test For Dense Urban Warfare The US Defense Department's Advanced Research Projects Agency, DARPA, is testing the use of swarming drones and ground robots to assist infantry troops as they work dense urban areas on military missions.  DARPA envisions using as many as 250 swarming drones and robots at a time  to defeat the enemy with overwhelming technological advantage.  DARPA is testing out the autonomous team including an ambition test in Georgia this summer.  https://youtu.be/ruWC10AW87E (DARPA test video). Urban Missions The program is called OFFSET or OFFensive Swarm-Enabled Tactics (OFFSET) program.  In Georgia, the swarming drones and robots on the ground worked a two block area.  Their goal was to find, surround and secure a mock city building. Ongoing Tests This is another part of DARPA's ongoing efforts to combine humans with advanced machines for military missions.  DARPA