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Daily Mail
22-04-2025
- Science
- Daily Mail
Top secret US spy drone gets deadly laser that MELTS missiles mid-air amid fears of World War III
A US weapons company has unveiled a first-of-its-kind laser that can be mounted onto spy drones, allowing them to melt missiles in mid-air. General Atomics unveiled the new defense technology at the Sea Air Space 2025 event in National Harbor, Maryland this month. The company equipped its MQ-9B SkyGuardian — an autonomous intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) drone — with this laser. It currently emits about 25 kilowatts of energy, enough to disable or destroy small targets. This system could help the US military take down large groups of low-cost, disposable drones. But General Atomics claims it could be scaled up to as much as 300 kilowatts, which could take down large aircraft and missiles by melting or burning through their critical infrastructure. What's more, the laser can emit both pulsed and continuous bursts of energy and is capable of operating in all types of environments. At the event, video footage showed the MQ-9B using the laser to shoot down incoming attack drones similar to Iran's Shahed 'kamikaze' drones, which were heading toward a navy ship for the purposes of this demonstration. Using a laser-equipped drone to destroy small attack drones or cruise missiles would save the military thousands of dollars, as expensive, non-reusable missiles are currently used to conduct this type of defense. A laser beam can't be directly destroyed, and it will keep inflicting damage as long as it has power. But the biggest caveat to this technology is that a drone's power supply is limited, which means the laser could falter in the field. The MQ-9B drone is capable of flying for more than 40 hours on a single charge, but the addition of the laser will likely reduce its battery life, though its unclear by how much. Still, the development of this system marks an important step toward operationalizing airborne high-energy lasers (HEL) for defense. The US military has been working toward this goal for years, but faced numerous technological, logistical and financial hurdles that staunched progress. The Air Force's Self-protect High Energy Laser Demonstrator (SHiELD) program, which aimed to develop technologies that could protect aircraft from incoming missiles, was scrapped in 2024 without a prototype or test flights to show for their efforts. But the Air Force Research Lab, which launched the project, said it had made 'significant advances in the readiness of airborne HEL technology.' It's possible that some of these gains informed the design of MQ-9B's new laser, though General Atomics' technology is the result of an entirely separate research and development effort. The MQ-9B drone is capable of flying for more than 40 hours on a single charge, but the addition of the laser will likely reduce its battery life, though its unclear by how much The company's breakthrough comes at a time when the need for this system may be greater than ever, as swarming drones and kamikaze-style attacks like the ones seen in Ukraine and the Middle East are becoming cheaper, faster and more common. In recent months, Russia has doubled down on its use of Iranian-made Shahed kamikaze drones against Ukraine, using them to target civilian infrastructure and residential areas. From August 1, 2024 to March 1, 2025, Ukraine recorded that Russia launched 15,011 Shahed-type strike drones, according to the Institute for Science and International Security. Traditional defense mechanisms like missiles are too expensive and too slow to handle a multitude of small, fast-moving threats. But a laser can tackle this type of assault efficiently, precisely and cost-effectively.
Yahoo
21-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Launch delays hamper near-term impact of GPS experimentation program
The Space Force is looking for ways to experiment with new technologies on its next-generation GPS satellites, but persistent delays to a key demonstration program could limit its options. The service planned to launch the Navigation Technology Satellite-3 demonstration, dubbed NTS-3, in 2022 with an eye toward experimenting with new positioning, navigation and timing signals and payloads that could be installed on future GPS satellites and shape its long-term plans for the constellation. The satellite's development, led by the Air Force Research Lab and L3Harris, has proceeded on schedule, but delays to the rocket assigned to fly the spacecraft — United Launch Alliance's new Vulcan Centaur — have stalled the program for years. The mission is slated to fly on Vulcan's first national security launch this year, but those plans are on hold as the company awaits final certification from the Space Force. Cordell DeLaPena, who oversees the Space Systems Center's positioning, navigation and timing and satellite communications portfolios, said the service is weighing its options for how to proceed with integrating NTS-3 technology into upcoming GPS production lines. 'The longer it takes to actually launch those experiments, get the data and be able to assess it, the window starts to close on the availability of production vehicles,' he told Defense News in an interview. The Space Force had intended to funnel NTS-3-proven capabilities into the production line for its latest variant of GPS satellites, dubbed GPS IIIF. The service plans to buy 20 of these satellites from Lockheed Martin and, to date, has ordered 10. The first five of those spacecraft are slated for deliveries over a five-year period beginning in 2027. ULA's new rocket won't fly its first Space Force missions until 2025 DeLaPena said GPS IIIF is approaching the end of its design period and will soon shift toward production. There's still room on the satellite for additional size, weight and power — or SWAP — which means the program could still make changes to incorporate NTS-3 technology. But the clock is ticking, he said. 'If there are a handful of these experiments that launch and prove themselves out on orbit and if they're mature enough to start considering maturing those concepts for production, that would be the path,' DeLaPena said. If the the Space Force misses its window to install NTS-3 technology on the first five GPS IIIF satellites, the service could aim to include any relevant technology either on its next batch of five spacecraft or as part of other PNT programs, DeLaPena said. That includes a program called Resilient GPS, which is meant to augment the larger constellation with a fleet of small, lightweight, lower-cost satellites. The Space Force's NTS-3 demonstration and its plans for Resilient GPS, or R-GPS, are part of a broader rethinking of its approach to providing navigation and timing capabilities. One piece of that involves the orbit in which satellites reside. The military has traditionally launched its GPS satellites to medium Earth orbit, and that's where R-GPS will operate. However, the service is considering a multi-orbit approach for its future PNT capabilities. Along those lines, NTS-3 is destined for geosynchronous orbit, and the Space Development Agency plans to launch PNT satellites to low Earth orbit as part of its Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture. DeLaPena noted that demonstrating a 'blended,' multi-orbit navigation capability is a primary goal for NTS-3, adding that countries like Japan, South Korea and India are all exploring GEO-based systems. The Space Force is in the midst of an analysis of alternatives that will further define a roadmap for the service's future mix of PNT capabilities. The need for an R-GPS capability was an outgrowth of that study, which should be completed this summer, DeLaPena said.
Yahoo
17-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
A Once-in-a-Lifetime Buying Opportunity: This Quantum Computing Stock Looks Primed to Skyrocket
Quantum computing is an emerging investing trend that attracts many people. The processing power that quantum computers unlock is unheard of in today's classical computing society, even though we're training advanced AI models in a relatively short amount of time. One of the top quantum computing stocks investors have on their radar is IonQ (NYSE: IONQ). Many people are convinced that this is a once-in-a-geneation investment trend that could set people up for a lifetime if they pick the right stocks. So, is IonQ one of those top stocks? Let's take a look. The primary difference between classical computing and quantum computing is how these two store information. Classical computing uses bits, which are either a zero or a 1. Quantum computing uses qubits, which are better described as the probability of information being a zero or a 1. Because qubits can be any number between a zero and a 1, it infinitely expands the amount of information it can store. However, it also multiplies errors, as a random number between zero and 1 is far less accurate than just a zero or a 1. This is a problem that quantum computing companies must solve or the product will never be commercially relevant. Imagine running a calculation on a quantum computing Excel spreadsheet, only for the answer to be right only part of the time. This is unacceptable, but quantum computing companies are starting to make these devices more accurate. IonQ expects to achieve 99.9% Native Qubit Gate Fidelity in 2024 and 99.95% fidelity in 2026. These are significant advancements that show how well IonQ's products are performing. This is also why IonQ continues to receive huge contracts. In September 2024, it inked a $54.5 million deal with the Air Force Research Lab to develop and build its quantum computer. That agreement was expanded by another $21.1 million in January. Contracts are huge for IonQ, as it needs this funding to continue developing quantum computers, which aren't commercially viable right now. However, its CEO, Peter Chapman, believes that time is coming soon. He stated that their #AQ 36 system is already being used by customers today to create value and that its #AQ 64 (releasing in 2025) and #AQ 256 (releasing in 2026) systems will allow the company to produce "near-term business value." Perhaps one of his biggest predictions is that quantum AI will vastly outperform the classical AI we know today. As a last projection, he believes that IonQ will be profitable and generate sales of around $1 billion by 2030. That's a bold projection, but if quantum computers become the way of the future, this isn't such a far-fetched idea. So, is IonQ the stock to buy? IonQ isn't the only one in this space. Other quantum computing pure-plays, like D-Wave and Rigetti Computing, as well as legacy computing companies Alphabet, Nvidia, IBM, and Microsoft, all compete in this space. With us being so far away from widespread quantum computing usage, it's difficult to see who the true leader is. With IonQ winning multiple large contracts for its work, I think it's a clue for investors as to which company is currently leading. However, there could be a significant breakthrough from one of the competitors (just look at Google's Willow Chip) that could cause IonQ to fall behind in this race. Furthermore, these companies have massive resources, so they don't need external contracts to fund their development. Over the past 12 months, IonQ's revenue (basically how much money it gets from contracts) was $37.5 million. Alphabet produced $72 billion in free cash flow over the past 12 months, so it could easily outspend IonQ in this quantum computing arms race if it wanted to. As a result, going all-in on an upstart company like IonQ could be a huge mistake, as it could be a massive loser as easily as it wins the quantum computing race. So, what should investors do? A basket approach is the best way to tackle this industry, as it allows you to spread the risk among multiple companies. So, the best strategy here is to own stocks like IonQ or D-Wave in a smaller amount alongside investments like Alphabet and Nvidia. Quantum computing will be a generational investment opportunity, but there is too much competition and uncertainty to declare IonQ the winner of this massive investing trend. Before you buy stock in IonQ, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and IonQ wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $850,946!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 959% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 178% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list. Learn more » *Stock Advisor returns as of February 7, 2025 Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Keithen Drury has positions in Alphabet and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, International Business Machines, Microsoft, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool recommends the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. A Once-in-a-Lifetime Buying Opportunity: This Quantum Computing Stock Looks Primed to Skyrocket was originally published by The Motley Fool Sign in to access your portfolio
