New Racing-Inspired Quadcopter Scouts, Maps, and Kills | Aero-News Network
Aero-News Network
RSS icon RSS feed
podcast icon MP3 podcast
Subscribe Aero-News e-mail Newsletter Subscribe

Airborne Unlimited -- Most Recent Daily Episodes

Episode Date

Airborne-Monday

Airborne-Tuesday

Airborne-Wednesday Airborne-Thursday

Airborne-Friday

Airborne On YouTube

Airborne-Unlimited-06.23.25

Airborne-NextGen-06.24.25

AirborneUnlimited-06.25.25

Airborne-AffordableFlyers-06.26.25

AirborneUnlimited-06.27.25

Tue, Nov 29, 2022

New Racing-Inspired Quadcopter Scouts, Maps, and Kills

Elbit Takes Small Step Towards Totally Not-Terrifying UAV Hunter-Killer Swarms

Elbit Systems unveiled the Lanius, a small racing-derived quadcopter designed to locate, identify, and destroy dismounted personnel. 

The small, lightweight system builds on civilian racing drones as a base for a highly maneuverable, lightweight, and screaming fast little UAV. Of course, sane people everywhere are understandably leery of the idea of a fully autonomous drone floating around, looking to identify "hostile" personnel and engaging whatever it pleases, given the overall middling state of AI performance today. Elbit assures would-be customers that there's nothing to worry about, since the drone will only engage human targets with operator approval... so at least there's a button press involved. (Hopefully the sensors are high resolution, wouldn't want an "oopsie" due to misidentification) 

Portents of a future autonomous killbot nightmare aside, the Lanius is merely the most recent release in an industry expanding the bounds of drone tech, more popular than ever as thousands of hours of footage arise from conflicts in Eastern Europe and Asia showing the impressive combat capability of improvised commercial quadcopters. Taking a page from "necessity", inventors are looking to design the perfect blend of lightweight, functional, and lethal autonomous aircraft. 

The overall package of the Lanius will be somewhat popular with those carrying them, with a sub-4 lb MGTOW, and a payload of only 150 grams. Like its racing forebears, the little sprinter can run along at 45 mph. While that top speed isn't quite competitive with modern screamers from DJI and company, it's fast enough to make a hard target to connect with. Like any small aircraft, that performance comes at a cost, offering only 7 minutes of endurance. 

While in action, the Lanius can autonomously take off, navigate, and map 3D structures. While scouting the surroundings, it can take note of passageways into target buildings, then, should an attack be approved, discharge its munitions of unspecified strength. Elbit hints that the Lanius may be equipped with less-lethal munitions, too, or used as part of its upcoming Legion-X swarm system. 

FMI: www.elbitsystems.com

Advertisement

More News

Airborne 06.30.25: US v ADS-B Misuse, Nat’l STOL Fire, Volocopter Resumes

Also: Netherlands Donates 18 F16s, 2 737s Collide On Ramp, E-7 Wedgetail Cut, AgEagle's 100th In S Korea The Pilot and Aircraft Privacy Act was introduced in the House by Represent>[...]

NTSB Prelim: Piper PA-23

Pilot Also Reported That Due To A Fuel Leak, The Auxiliary Fuel Tanks Were Not Used On June 4, 2025, at 13:41 eastern daylight time, a Piper PA-23, N2109P, was substantially damage>[...]

ANN FAQ: Submit a News Story!

Have A Story That NEEDS To Be Featured On Aero-News? Here’s How To Submit A Story To Our Team Some of the greatest new stories ANN has ever covered have been submitted by our>[...]

Classic Aero-TV: One Man’s Vietnam

From 2023 (YouTube Edition): Reflections on War’s Collective Lessons and Cyclical Nature The exigencies of war ought be colorblind. Inane social-constructs the likes of racis>[...]

Klyde Morris (06.30.25)

What Goes Around, May Yet Come Back Around, Klyde FMI: www.klydemorris.com>[...]

blog comments powered by Disqus



Advertisement

Advertisement

Podcasts

Advertisement

© 2007 - 2025 Web Development & Design by Pauli Systems, LC