The Next Generation of Naval Power

Europe's drone carriers signal a major shift at sea.

View in Browser  DIGITAL ISSUES GEAR REVIEWS SUBSCRIBE The Story We Can't Stop Thinking About  A future of floating drone carriers. Portugal is gearing up to launch Europe's first dedicated drone carrier. Instead of being designed for fighter jets, the carrier is built for fleets of unmanned aircraft, surface drones, and underwater vehicles. While the D. João II looks like a mini aircraft carrier, its flexibility is the special sauce: it takes just days to reconfigure it to deploy swarms of autonomous systems at sea. As more countries experiment with floating drone arsenals, the race is on to see who follows next. —Andrew Daniels, Director of News Europe's Drone Carriers Are Changing Naval Power How unmanned air groups at sea are reshaping defense strategy. Read More China Is Launching Nuclear Submarines Fast — U.S. Is Falling Behind New production numbers and what that means for global naval balance. Read More Why Kobo Is Winning Over Kindle Readers (Especially Right Now) For those looking to divest in the Amazon ecosystem, this e-reader has you covered. Read More Every Aircraft Carrier in the World A global rundown of floating airfields and their strategic roles. Read More What Black Hole Missions Are Teaching Us The science behind humanity's most extreme gravity experiments. Read More They Started With 34 Ways to Die—Including Cannons and Boiling. They Ended With the Electric Chair. New York State once appointed three men to evaluate every possible way to execute a man—which they did in disturbing detail. Read More Need Assistance? Contact Us. Follow Us Unsubscribe | Manage Preferences | Privacy Notice | CA Notice at Collection Popular Mechanics is a publication of Hearst Magazines. ©2026 Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This email was sent by Hearst Magazines, 300 West 57th Street, New York, NY 10019-3779