Warfare

In what may not come as much of a shock, the Doomsday Clock has inched closer to midnight and is now just 89 seconds from 12. It's the closest the hands have ever been to the symbolic 'end of times' number on the clock face in its 80 years.

The M3 amphibious bridge and ferry system deploys in just 35 minutes and can support the weight of any of the main battle tanks in Europe. The system has recently been handed over to the Swedish military for the first time.

German defense technology company, Helsing, has just unveiled its first AI-powered, munitions-deploying strike drone, the HX-2, though its core components are already battle-hardened.

Saronic, a defense-technology company based in Austin, Texas, has announced the Corsair, its largest autonomous surface vessel yet. It's a 24-ft-long sleek ship with customizable capabilities that can be deployed in "the thousands" for the US Navy.

One of the rarest, most bizarre and most sought after Vespa scooters of all time is for sale ... at around half the price it usually sells for.

ARX Robotics has just received €9 million from the NATO Innovation Fund to develop a series of robust unmanned ground vehicles. The modular design of the bots makes them capable of filling a variety of roles in the alliance's attack and defense systems.

Mayman Aerospace has unwrapped its new family of jet-powered, High-Speed Vertical Take-Off and Landing (HS VTOL) AI-equipped drones that can deliver everything from medical supplies to Hellfire missiles at 500 mph (800 km/h) in a compact airframe.

DARPA has unveiled more of its mysterious Manta Ray robotic sub, with impressive new images of the prototype Uncrewed Underwater Vehicle (UUV) undergoing its first sea trials off the coast of Southern California. And it's somewhat of a beast.

The British Army has rolled out the prototypes of its Challenger 3 main battle tank, which are undergoing their first live-fire tests in Germany. The upgraded tank not only has a deadlier gun, but can destroy incoming anti-tank rounds in flight.

Demonstrating that semi-autonomous weapons are the mainstay of the future and not an oddity, the US Navy and Lockheed Martin have completed a test of four Long-Range Anti-Ship Missiles (LRASM) simultaneously in flight with minimal human guidance.

A supersonic drone that will be propelled by a revolutionary new engine has taken to the skies for the first time. When Venus Aerospace's aircraft does go supersonic on a later date, it will be powered by a Rotating Detonation Rocket Engine (RDRE).

Despite a 2024 so far marked with serious conflicts that threaten to escalate further, climate uncertainty and the rapid ascension of AI technologies, the famous Doomsday Clock has remained paused at 90 seconds to midnight, the same time as last year.