In a recent briefing, the Department of Defense laid out its new plans: Smaller and far more precise UAVs with badass names like "Suburb Warrior" and "Sniper" that will hunt in groups, rather than just blowing suspected hideouts to pieces with Hellfire missiles. The Suburb Warrior, for example, is designed to fire volleys of mini-missiles in tight formation, which makes a nice change from previous missiles that often demolished entire city blocks.

Unfortunately, these new UAVs should see production in about five years, by which time who knows what kind of battles we'll need to fight—or who'll be leading the Pentagon. But it's a step in the right direction, that's for sure. [Esquire]

On its own, the Gasser EB is a mean, noisy machine. At 54 inches long, it's equipped with a 34.5-inch (800-millimeter) blade, and a gasoline engine powerful enough to resist the drag of a hefty handgun. Which is precisely what the owner of this beast, Jim Simmons, added to it: A Springfield 1911-A .45 caliber weapon.

Simmons also added a remote-controlled firing system. And if you think that's pretty stupid because the pilot on the ground won't be able to aim, think again: He also added a gun-sight digital camera. In other words: This is a fully-armed mini-UAV, which you can actually use to fly anywhere, aim, and fire at whatever target you want.

Yeah, this is exactly how documentaries about loads of dead people start. Or maybe not people, but polar bears and elks.

Dear Santa,

I didn't get the VP job, but can you please bring me this RC Helicopter with .45 caliber handgun?

Thank you and merry Xmas,

xxxooo
Sarah

[LiveLeak]

Though the ability to hover at extremely low altitudes has some obvious military applications, the fact that drones may now be able to dodge unanticipated barriers could help UAVs fly in civilian airspace, something which regulatory authorities in this country don't traditionally allow unless they have a reasonable guarantee against the surprise pulping of unsuspecting bystanders. [NewScientist]

In an interview with CNN, Captain Matt Dean noted that "Seeing bad guys on the screen and watching them possibly get dispatched, and then going down to the Taco Bell for lunch, it's kind of surreal." In fact, their entire workday is fairly normal with shifts that rotate around the clock to prevent fatigue. Seems pretty cushy...if blowing terrorists up doesn't make you lose your appetite for the cheesy gordita crunch, that is. [CNN]

To recharge, the DevilRay uses a combination of GPS and a magnometer to home in on power lines, and after it latches on it pulls electricity with electromagnetic induction. I guess if you've already got surveillance UAVs buzzing around the sky in a foreign country, you're probably not overly worried about stealing some power. It remains to be seen if this function will even work in practice, but if it does it would effectively provide infinite range. Testing of the power line piggybacking is scheduled for later this month. [Ares]

The technology will rely on a cutting-edge propulsion system, which will be powered by plasma thrusters, eliminating any moving parts. Check out the above diagram for a basic schematic of what elements will be included in the micro-scaled aircraft.

The energy created will be enough to power micro and nano unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), measuring anywhere between 6-12-inches in length. It is hoped soldiers will be able to carry a pack of six such vehicles, which could then be thrown up in the air to carry out intelligence collection operations. We cannot build a coherent sentence to emphasize how amazingly cool this sounds, but a list of words comes to mind: voyeurism, unbelievable, crazy, lube, exceptional and sexy are words that feature in our immediate, mangled thoughts. [Cnet]

Following-up on Monday's Gizmodo Ink, The National Forest Service in Utah is testing a fleet of robotic fire-fighting planes. "Some of the aircrafts can be carried in a backpack, unfolded, then dispatched day or night to spy on a fire." They are also equipped with cameras and infrared night vision (the benefit of flying by night is that these bots would not interfere with the manned planes that drop fire retardant). The planes communicate with one another and beam back real-time monitoring of the fire's spread.

These planes have a wingspan of 5 feet, weigh only 15 pounds, and can fly for up to six hours. An experiment with larger drones will begin next spring in California.
Fold-Up Robot Planes Could Help Fight Fires [KSL.com]
Fighting Wildfires with Robotic Planes [Roland Piquepaille's Technology Trends]
MLB BAT UAV [MLB Company]

A team of scientists from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, Switzerland have successfully tested a microscopic robot that could be injected into the human body with a syringe. Unlike other micro-surgical robotic creations, this one is not battery or electric cable powered. Instead, the bot is guided by an external magnetic field. The minimally invasive robot, which is about four hair-widths long, was successfully demonstrated using a watery maze but would eventually be targeted to blood vessels in the heart, eyes and ears.

"The application we're actively considering is eye surgery in which these devices are guided inside the eye toward the retina by a surgeon to inject drugs in retinal veins that are about the size of a human hair," said team leader Brad Nelson, professor of robotics and intelligent systems.

The folks who brought you the Weird-72 are back with a sequel: The Weird-7. This walking, googley-eyed, 14-inch high dipping bird DIY robot kit sells for $350 US. Functionality? No idea.
The Weird-7 DIY Robot Kit [Probotics]

The European Space Agency has scrapped the mission plan from the team behind Beagle 2 and is now pinning its Mars aspirations on a single rover robot. The craft is scheduled to blast off in June 2011, and reach Mars in June 2013.
Europe Ponders On Mars Robot [Sofia News Agency]