Science & Technology

By T.K. Randall
July 18, 2026

Image: AI-generated (Bing AI / Dall-E 3)

Drone warfare has proven to be at the heart of the modern battlefield, but what if it were possible to build a drone that cannot be seen?

In Ukraine, soldiers on the front line spend their days keeping an eye to the sky for enemy drones while also utilizing their own to drop explosives on unsuspecting enemy targets.

The case for small, manoeuvrable drones on the battlefield has clearly been made, but now scientists at Northwestern University have taken the idea one step further by developing a drone that is inherently camouflaged and is barely visible at all even at close range.

Known as "Phantom Twist", the new drone, which was partly developed using AI, spins at such a rapid speed that it is very difficult to see.

Resembling a small, indistinct 'whirlwind', the drone spins at 25 times a second, fooling the human eye and rendering itself around 10 times less visible than a conventional drone.

"Most efforts to hide drones focus on making them look like their surroundings," said project leader Michael Rubenstein.

"Instead, we asked whether we could design the drone itself around the way humans perceive motion. This idea of low visibility through persistent motion is something few people have explored."

While the application for such a device in warfare is obvious, there are still challenges ahead, such as making it possible for the drone to remain invisible while also carrying a payload.

You can check out the Phantom Twist in action below.

Source: Mail Online

Tags: Drone