China demonstrated a new microwave system that can provide electricity to flying drones.

The ability to load drone batteries while the drone is airborne raises its capacity to the next level. This microwave beam. It can be mounted on ships, ground vehicles, aircraft, other drones, and atmospheric satellites. And that means this device can give. An extremely long-term flight time, even for small drones. This kind. Of the microwave beam. It can also protect high-flying atmospheric satellites against incoming missiles. The same system. 

It can also generate electricity. To other portable devices. And it can also make. It is possible to send drone swarms into the other planet’s atmosphere. The probe. This kind of system can deliver energy and communicate with drones that operate in Venus’s atmosphere. The drone swarm can also act as a flying printer. 

This kind of remote system can make things. That we see in the movies like “Blade Runner” in reality. There is a possibility that in the future, cities will have. The radio-wave or microwave-based systems that pump energy into flying cars. The term flying car. It means the low-cost flying machines that can transport people or cargo. The problem is that those “flying cars” or big quadcopters can also carry people to roofs. Or they can also equipped with machine guns. 

Flying car from the movie “Blade Runner.” 

These types of power systems. It can also detect and terminate drones that seem dangerous. The fact is that. Drones are cheap and dangerous tools. In any hands. Governments, as well as terrorists and regular criminals, can use those tools in multiple ways. 

They can attack competitors and authorities. They can use those tools for searching for weaknesses. And things. They want to steal from warehouses and other places. They want to commit burglaries. And they can use drones to carry guns and drugs from ships to coasts. And of course, those things can also be transported to the prisons. This means that drones are a big opportunity. And they are big threats. The drone can search for people on the streets. This ability can break civil rights. But it can also save lives. 

Drone swarms can also search for people in cases. Like missing person incidents. Those systems can also operate in city areas. And use the AI. For detecting people. Missing in city areas. In the city area or in the wet forest, dogs are unable to operate. In city areas. It is also a possibility that some pedophiles or other bad people call those missing children and play the helper. 

https://interestingengineering.com/military/china-microwave-beam-recharges-drones

Transporter gliders are coming back.

A rendering of a freighter plane pulling a cargo glider. (Aerolane) (Ttnews,Aerolane Seeks to Use Freighter Planes to Pull Cargo Gliders)

Large-sized gliders used in WWII to carry jeeps and cannons to airborne troops. Then those gliders disappeared. The new large-sized, wide-body cargo planes made those gliders unnecessary. And they left out the air. But the large-sized cargo gliders are making a comeback. Expensive gasoline makes those cargo planes a reasonable solution for decreasing costs in civil and military aviation. The glider that the cargo plane pulls behind it can decrease fuel use by over 60%. And those flying trucks are new tools for making new types of cargo systems. 

Gliders could also transport troops on the roofs of buildings. And they could carry things like equipment to the disaster areas. As well as. They could carry people and cargo to regular airfields. Those gliders can carry large structures through the air. And they can make a revolution for air cargo. Those gliders can be. The systems that are AI-controlled. So those systems don’t need pilots. 

But the fact is that. The aircraft can also pull jet fighters or cruise missiles behind it. Near the operational area, those fighters would be released. And that makes them operate. With more fuel. Then, if they would fly to that area by using their own engines. This technology has been tested in some parasitic jet fighter programs. The idea was that the escort fighters would travel under the wing, or be pulled by bombers. This would be the answer to the problem that those escort fighters had a far shorter combat radius than strategic bombers. 

“A German defense company has successfully tested an uncrewed cargo glider designed to support frontline military units, a technology that Tokyo is also exploring as it looks to bolster its capabilities in islands to the far southwest of the Japanese archipelago.” (SCMP, Can German stealth cargo gliders boost Japan’s remote island defence and logistics?) 

"Logistic Gliders Inc. tested a dozen prototype cargo gliders, deploying them from carrier aircraft and landing them in the desert. PHOTO: LOGISTIC GLIDERS INC." (IeeeSpectrum, Disposable Delivery Drones Undergo Successful Tests With U.S. Marines)

The Waco CG-4 Cargo glider was a typical cargo glider of World War II. (Wikipedia)

Shahed-131

MQ-9

The stealth cargo gliders can also act as weapons. The same system that carries cargo to a certain point. It, or its miniaturized version, could carry a warhead to a similar point. The aircraft could pull glide bombs behind them. 

Another thing that glider technology can give is the technology. There, one cruise missile pulls the other behind it. That could almost double the range of those weapons. 

The nuclear-powered drone. That uses. A Radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG). That system gives those drones an unlimited range. As a power source for the electric engine. This drone can pull another drone with a conventional engine behind it. Or the drone can pull things like cruise missiles behind it. This gives the missile. An extended operational radius. Things like Shahed-131-type. Drones can be equipped with RTG-driven electric engines. 

And they can pull another drone behind them. In some idea, RTG-powered MQ-9 Reaper-type drones are tools that can pull cruise missiles or Shader-131 drones behind them. Those systems can have a capacity for long-range operations. Those drones can have. The AI-based target recognition system. And the same seeker that is used in Hellfire missiles. 

https://www.aerolane.com/products

https://spectrum.ieee.org/disposable-delivery-drones-undergo-successful-tests-with-us-marines

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3343528/can-german-stealth-cargo-gliders-boost-japans-remote-island-defence-and-logistics

https://www.ttnews.com/articles/aerolane-gliders-airfreight

https://www.twz.com/news-features/how-americas-shahed-136-clone-became-an-indispensible-weapon-of-war

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Atomics_MQ-9_Reaper

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shahed_131

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radioisotope_thermoelectric_generator

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waco_CG-4

A Chinese firm said that it tracked the U.S. B-2 bombers over Iran.

There is a possibility of using systems, such as optical telescope networks and ultra-sensitive microphones. Along with lidar and very thin, coherent radio signals to track stealth aircraft. The AI can collect and connect information from those sensors into one hub. The system bases the machine vision on the combination of the sensor networks. And those kinds of systems are very hard to jam. The system can also use satellites, or high-flying airships (”atmospheric satellites”) to detect stealth aircraft by using optical sensors and machine vision. 

The radar-based systems. They can see stealth bombers as a shadow against the ground. Or the system can use miniature satellites or atmospheric satellites in two layers. The network of those systems hovers above the land-based systems. The system sends coherent signals between those two layers. And if a stealth aircraft travels between them, it cuts the signals. 

The quantum radar and nano-technology-based “radio lasers” are tools. That can endanger stealth protection. The coherent thin radio signal could be hard to detect from its sides. This means that the fast-moving antenna can scan the sky. And those systems can be hard to detect. Passive, infrared, image recognition systems are also tools that can cause grey hair to stealth designers. The lidar systems can also use frequencies that military systems do not often scan. In some cases, the detector benefits the microparticles. When a stealth aircraft travels through. The microparticle cloud. It affects those particles. And the sensor sees that thing indirectly. Indirect observation uses a medium. Like air flows to detect a stealth aircraft. 

The system that shoots down the stealth aircraft can be a missile or a cannon, which is connected to a network of different sensors. Those systems can be used. The combination of lidar and optical machine vision-based sensors. Those missiles are not using a regular IR-signature to detect and destroy targets. They recognize the shape of the target. And this makes them hard to jam. Things like drone swarms that can block the route of the stealth bombers are also dangerous. If a low-flying stealth bomber hits those drones. That can cause fatal damage to the aircraft. 

https://interestingengineering.com/military/china-us-bombers-tracked-epic-fury

AI-driven drones are coming.

R&D cycle in the drone ecosystem is faster than anyone believed. New and powerful microchips give flexibility. And the ability to run complex software. The complex software. It allows drones. To do complex things autonomously. The cloud-based system architecture is the thing. That allows drones. To share their calculation capacity and information over the entire drone swarm. This means that all drones can get the same information. The new drones can take commands. These are given. By using the spoken natural language. 

And that makes it easier to give commands to drones. Those drones can recognize their targets from images. And the flexible architecture makes it possible. Those operators. They can show targets on the screen. Drones can navigate to the target using camera images. Intelligent inertial. Or signals from other drones. Those drones can have a brain-mimicking way. To solve problems. In the future, those drones could also use cloned neurons in their microchips. 

Autonomous drone swarms can operate in a war zone. Or in the other planet’s atmosphere. They can search for people. And they can guide rescue teams. High-precision drones can build houses. But the same systems can also be used as ultra-advanced weapon systems. Drones can send information to the base. And when their battery runs empty. Those drones can attack enemies. The drone swarms can operate in the. Air or underwater. In some scenarios, places like the Kremlin can have drone defense. If there is a riot against people like Putin. They send those drones to eliminate that riot. And these types of visions make drones scary. 

The camera system can use a system called DSMAC. Digital Scene-matching area correlation. The navigation system uses aerial photos. Taken about its route. Then the AI compares the images the camera sends. That is stored in the memory of those drones. When those images are similar, the drone is on the right route. The system can use the same camera for navigation and target recognition. 

Advanced AI is the tool that makes drones. Avoid the defense. Or. Otherwise, the system allows drones to attack other drones. This makes those systems very flexible. 

The DNA-based mass memories are excellent tools for drone control. Those memories are high-capacity, low-voltage tools that can be used as drone control. The DNA-controlled nanomachines can act as artificial neurons. Those systems can control all types of drones. From pocket-sized quadcopters. To full-size robot combat aircraft. 

https://interestingengineering.com/military/drones-no-gps-ai-navigation

https://www.neuromorphiccore.ai/drones-that-listen-think-and-conserve-with-brain-like-precision/

https://scitechdaily.com/dna-meets-electronics-scientists-create-ultra-low-power-memory-breakthrough/

https://www.unikie.com/service/autonomous-drone-swarms/

Orbital data centers and AI-driven probes.

“StarCloud Launches the First Orbital AI Data Centers

In early November 2025, StarCloud, a Washington-based startup focused on space technology, successfully launched a satellite into low Earth orbit carrying a high-performance Nvidia H100 GPU. This GPU is one hundred times more powerful than any chip previously used in space.” (Welp Magazine, StarCloud Orbital Data Centers: The Biggest AI Breakthrough in Space)

Orbital data centers (ODC) are an interesting yet expensive concept. Those data centers are things that can answer. The data center’s huge energy problem. Those orbital data centers can use satellite swarms that communicate with each other using cloud-based architecture. Each of those satellites uses solar panels for energy supply. The same technology is used in drone swarms. And swarms of small probes that can someday research our solar system. The cloud-based architecture and swarm technology. 

Guarantees that the entity can operate even if one brick or satellite loses its control. There are huge problems. That this kind of plan faces. The orbital data centers require new satellites. All the time. When new microchips are coming. To marketing. But. On the other hand, the calculation power of those satellite swarms is easy. To enhance. By launching more data satellites into the swarm. That means those systems are easy.  But expensive to complete. 

The data satellite can be like all other satellites. Those satellites form the bricks of the entity. Called a cloud-based data center. When a satellite turns old. It just sends information that is stored in it to the satellite that replaces it. And then that satellite can be returned to Earth by using parachutes to the yard of the factory. This is the way. On how technology, like microcircuits, can be recycled. 

The ODCs, orbital data centers, are not impossible. They are made of existing technology. The main problem is financing. There is also a possibility. That some third-party nation tries to damage those data centers. 

“Artist's concept illustration of the Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter, a cancelled unmanned NASA exploration craft.” (Wikipedia, Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter)

But those orbital data centers. This can be the pilot experiment, which opens the path. To the entire solar system. If we think that we send probes. And make bases on Mars and beyond, we need technology that solves communication problems. The AI-driven robots. Can make repairs to the nuclear-powered probes. And. They can make the bases for crews. But those systems require. 

A data-center-sized computing capacity. The AI-controlled probe must have models for all kinds of situations. Here we must notice that all the probes. In some models, the main probe can travel through the solar system and drop the sub-probes to the planets. This model is the lightweight version of the study project called Daedalus. 

The attempt to make a model of an interstellar probe that should research Alpha Centauri and some other solar systems. The Daedalus itself could travel past the targeted solar system. And launch the sub-probes that enter the solar system. The Daedalus requires stable bases all around the solar system. 

That I listed. In this text, remain at the conceptual level. The JIMO (Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter) was a study project that planned to send a probe to Jupiter in 2015. But that probe was never completed. The JIMO remains. As the name of the AI-controlled Jupiter-orbiters study project. The real name for those futuristic probes. Is. Some kind of ancient god. The probes that will travel to the outer solar system must be larger and more versatile than modern probes. They must have a very powerful computer system that can operate independently in the outer solar system. 

“Daedalus spacecraft concept” (Wikipedia, Project Daedalus)

This means those systems must be very independent. In visions, the system that controls JIMO, SIMO, NIMO (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune icy moon orbiters).  And the Kuiper belt probes are driven by AI that is similar to ChatGPT. A radio signal takes hours to travel to those probes. So they must operate very independently. Those probes would be larger than the probes that NASA sends to Mars. They can operate nuclear-powered vehicles. Those operate on the surface of those icy moons. 

The drone swarms could sink through the ice. They can use lasers or microwaves to travel through the icy shell. Or the probe can use high-power microwaves or lasers to remove ice and send probes to the icy oceans of Jupiter’s Europa and Saturn’s Enceladus moons. Those drone swarms can also operate. In the atmosphere of the gas giants. Or in the atmosphere of Saturn’s Titan moon. Those large probes use nuclear-powered systems. That guarantees the very long-term operational time. Their mission will be to map the far side of the solar system. But also test the AI that can operate independently in surprising situations. 

https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/03/orbital-data-centers-part-1-theres-no-way-this-is-economically-viable-right/

https://globalcarbonfund.com/carbon-news/orbital-data-center-guide-everything-you-need-to-know-about-this-next-gen-space-computing-technology/

https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/4ig-weighs-100m-investment-into-axiom-space-as-part-of-orbital-data-center-plan/

https://www.odchq.com/

https://satnews.com/2026/03/17/the-rise-of-the-orbital-data-center-solving-the-space-data-bottleneck/

https://www.starcloud.com/

https://welpmagazine.com/starcloud-orbital-data-centers-ai-in-space/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jupiter_Icy_Moons_Orbiter

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Daedalus

The problems with hypersonic flight can be solved. But it takes time.

Researchers face huge problems. With hypersonic weapon development. And. Hypersonic aircraft development is more difficult than hypersonic cruise missile development. Reusable hypersonic systems can turn many things faster and more dangerous than they are now. 

In normal cases, a hypersonic system can reach hypersonic speed only in high-flying conditions. The air must be thin enough that the temperature will not rise too high. The hypersonic aircraft travels in very thin air. The aircraft must have a system that prevents the body from overheating. One of the things. What can solve that problem is the wires or antennas, which can transport heat out from the hypersonic body. 

The antenna. That is behind the aircraft. It can help to stabilize the temperature. This thing. It is. To use the high-temperature ceramic shell, which chemically bonds to the titanium-wolfram-chromium metal composite. These kinds of materials. They are very resistant to high temperatures and pressure. Another thing is the stealth technology that the aircraft should use. That it survives the missions. A big problem. With hypersonic warheads like the Russian Avangard, is that. In high-speed flight, plasma. Covers those warheads. That plasma always acts in the same way. It causes the radio blackout. When a spacecraft travels through the ionosphere. And hypersonic aircraft travel in the ionosphere. 

The plasma makes it hard to detect those warheads or hypersonic aircraft. Making them invisible to radars. But. The same system denies those aircraft . And missiles to use radars. And other radio wave-based communication. Radio waves cannot travel through that plasma. But. The system can. Use a magnetic field to push that plasma away from the aircraft. The system can push air away from the aircraft body. Making the air thinner decreases friction. There is also a possibility that the aircraft uses lasers to create the plasma shield. The stealth system must use nano-lasers to create. The plasma. By ionizing air using those lasers. 

The plasma stealth or plasma shield requires. The system uses lidars. And optical-AI-based systems to search and intercept targets. The hypersonic system can use lasers. To create the bubble, the air is thinner. And that allows researchers to reach hypersonic speeds in lower altitudes. The fact is that hypersonic missiles can be used. The kinetic energy impacts the target. This system requires highly accurate target recognition and an attack system. 

This system cannot use radars to search for targets. And that means those hypersonic systems are hard to use nuclear detonators. Those systems use inertial navigation for starting navigation. Then the missile starts. To corner the target. At this point. It requires. Some kind of radar image. It can be used for high-accuracy operation. The problem is that the radar signal doesn’t pass the plasma layer. And that denies the use of radio transmitters that drones can attach to the roofs. The hypersonic system must slow its speed so that it can use the radar to search for targets. 

https://www.imeche.org/news/news-article/engineers-face-extreme-hurdles-as-hypersonic-weapon-development-accelerates

 https://interestingengineering.com/space/varda-space-flies-hypersonic-system

https://news.usni.org/2021/06/14/mda-u-s-aircraft-carriers-now-at-risk-from-hypersonic-missiles

New engines accelerate aircraft and missiles to hypersonic speed.

China tests a new engine that accelerates jet aircraft and missiles to speeds exceeding Mach 6. The thing that makes this engine remarkable is that it’s air-breathing. Air-breathing hypersonic engines enable the creation of lighter systems with longer flight times. The air-breathing hypersonic aircraft or missile can fly at high altitudes. Those systems fly higher than regular aircraft but lower than satellites. And the thing that makes hypersonic systems have that ability is that they fly so fast. The high-speed flight squeezes air into the air inlet. 

And. That makes it possible. To create a system that flies at very high altitudes. A big problem. With  hypersonic engines, there are their compressors. Will not work at hypersonic speeds. The centripetal force destroys the compressor. So, the system needs an engine. That doesn’t need moving parts. The answer to that problem is the ramjet engine. The ramjet engine doesn’t use moving parts. The engine itself is the tube, where the airflow creates the pressure that starts the combustion.  Normally, ramjet-driven systems are launched by using rockets. Or they are dropped from aircraft. And the rocket accelerates them to a speed that allows the ramjet or scramjet engine to start. 

The scramjet engine is the engine that starts at Mach 6-8. And that hypersonic amjet is made for the speed. Those are beyond the ramjet operational top speed. There is a possibility that scramjet-driven systems. Like Boeing X-51 Waverider. It can be shot to a ballistic trajectory. Then the system dives back. Into the atmosphere, and the scramjet breathes air. This allows. For making Mach 12-capable hypersonic cruise missiles. The hypersonic aircraft can also send satellites. To an Earth orbiter. They can make the ballistic jump out of the atmosphere. And then they can launch satellite carriers. Those systems can also act as space fighters. 

Boeing X-51 Waverider under B-52 Stratofortress. 

“Schematic diagram showing the operation of a centrifugal flow turbojet engine. The compressor is driven by the turbine stage and throws the air outwards, requiring it to be redirected parallel to the axis of thrust.” (Wikipedia, Turbojet)

“Diagram of a valved pulsejet. 1 - Air enters through the valve and is mixed with fuel. 2 - The mixture is ignited, expands, closes the valve, and exits through the tailpipe, creating thrust. 3 - Low pressure in the engine opens the valve and draws in air.” (Wikipedia, Pulsejet)

“Simple ramjet operation, with Mach numbers of flow shown” (Wikipedia, Ramjet)

“Diagram of principle of operation of a scramjet engine.” (Wikipedia, Scramjet)

Ramjets have been used for a long time in air-defense missiles. The problem is that the ramjet cannot be started. Before the aircraft flies at a speed of Mach 1. The answer to the problem . It can be the system that uses the regular turbojets for lift-off and acceleration. When an aircraft reaches Mach 1, the fuel injection to the ramjet starts. And then the aircraft can fly at a speed. That is about Mach 6. Another version could be the pulsejet. The pulsejet or flap engine was developed for Germany’s V-1 “Flying bomb” during WW2. The system closes the flap in the front of the engine. Then the fuel. It will be injected into the combustion chamber. And then the system injects the fuel. When the pulsejet needs air, it opens the front valve. 

And then the fuel injection starts in the combustion chamber. And then that system ignites the fuel-air mixture. The pulse-ramjet is a pulsejet that is formulated. As a ramjet engine. The system can use a compressor. That is the side of the engine. The compressor. It puts air. In the ramjet. The compressor system can transfer air to the ramjet. Before it reaches a speed of Mach 1. Then the system opens the front hatch. And let the air come into the combustion chamber. In rocket pulse-ramjets, the system can accelerate the aircrat to a speed of Mach 6. 

That is the limit for the ramject engine. Then the system closes the front hatch and uses internal oxygen. That turns the pulse ramjet into a rocket engine. That allows the system to fly outside the atmosphere. Or it can accelerate. It into. Speed about Mach 8. That is the limit for the scramjet engine start. The scramjet engine makes it possible. To create aircraft and missiles that can travel over Mach 8. The high-speed flight must be done. In extremely high altitudes. Friction in the air is extreme. So the aircraft must fly almost in space. 

https://www.afmc.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/153475/x-51a-waverider-achieves-history-in-final-flight/

https://www.eurasiantimes.com/invisible-to-radars-is-us-air-force-set/

https://interestingengineering.com/military/china-engine-mach-6-speeds

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_X-51_Waverider

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_Martin_SR-72

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulsejet

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramjet

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scramjet

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turbojet

https://outtospaceandbeyond.blogspot.com/2026/04/new-engines-accelerate-aircraft-and.html