Free Republic

Four unnamed sources from the Russian President’s administration and the Ministry of Defence told the news website Verstka that a new wave of mobilized troops could soon be sent to Ukraine. These soldiers will likely comprise reservists and existing conscripts who will be “cajoled” into signing new contracts once their current tour of duty ends. “Something is coming. Reservists are being recruited now, the same as before the last mobilization. Whether the mobilization will happen or not, I don’t know, but last time the procedure was the same,” an officer from one of the military units in the Zabaikal region,...

Small robotic spy-planes have been developed that use shape-shifting wings to switch from being stable gliders to ultra-manoeuvrable fliers. The articulated wings – with a span of 60 centimetres – were inspired by the way seagulls alter their wing-shape during flight, says Rick Lind, an aerospace engineer at the University of Florida, in Gainesville, US. The robot plane, or drone, has a joint halfway along the leading edge of both its wings. Actuators at this “elbow” joint and at the “shoulder” joint of each wing, where it connects to the fuselage, allow the wing structure to shift from an...