hawk

For the first time, Sikorsky’s optionally-piloted UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter performed parachute drops, hovered on its own while sling loads were attached, and flew a simulated medical evacuation mission at the direction of an untrained individual onboard. This all took place at an exercise earlier this year, which also marked the first instance in which a member of the U.S. military had full control over the Optionally Piloted Vehicle (OPV) Black Hawk. Sikorsky has been steadily expanding the OPV’s flight envelope and capabilities for years now, work that is now also feeding into its plan for its fully uncrewed U-Hawk drone.

Sikorsky, currently a subsidiary of Lockheed Martin, brought the OPV Black Hawk to Exercise Northern Strike 25-2 back in August, but details about how the helicopter was utilized are only being shared now. The OPV’s participation in the event came through a partnership with the Joint Personnel Recovery Agency (JPRA) and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Each year, the Michigan National Guard’s National All-Domain Warfighting Center (NADWC) hosts multiple iterations of Northern Strike, which features air, as well as ground and maritime components.

Flight testing of the OPV Black Hawk first started in 2019, and it flew for the first time without anyone on board three years later. At the core of the OPV is a fly-by-wire control system coupled with the MATRIX autonomy flight control software package. Development of MATRIX stretches back more than a decade now, and DARPA supported it early on through the Aircrew Labor In-Cockpit Automation System (ALIAS) program.

At present, the semi-autonomous OPV is capable of flying along preset routes, which can be planned in advance of a sortie or on the fly in the field, all via a touch-screen interface on a tablet-like device. The helicopter has a degree of automated obstacle avoidance capability, and routes can also be manually altered by an operator while it is in flight. The pilot-optional Black Hawk does not require constant contact with a human operator to perform a mission, and it can act on instructions from multiple individuals at different points in a sortie. In addition, the control system allows for the performance of certain specific tasks, such as ordering the helicopter to go to a point and hold a hover there at a designated altitude. Just starting up and shutting down the OPV is done at the touch of a button, as well.

“Events like Northern Strike give us the opportunity to take user feedback and roll that into [MATRIX] software improvements as part of a continuous spiral of software loads,” Mike Baran, chief engineer at Sikorsky Innovations, told TWZ in an interview ahead of today’s announcements. “So over the past year, it’s [continued work on the OPV] been largely in the software area, and it enabled a lot of these missions that we performed successfully out at Northern Strike.”

It is important to note the OPV flew all of its sorties at Northern Strike 25-2 with a safety pilot on board. This is something that was dictated by the parameters of the exercise, which occurred within domestic U.S. airspace managed by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). There are strict regulations around where and when fully uncrewed aircraft can fly within the United States. In general, having a human pilot onboard also provides an additional margin of safety.

At Northern Strike 25-2, “a U.S. Army National Guard Sergeant First Class, trained in less than an hour, became the first soldier to independently plan, command, and execute OPV Black Hawk missions using the system’s handheld tablet,” according to a press release from Lockheed Martin today. “He directed the payload to a location 70 nautical miles away and commanded multiple precision airborne drops, marking the first time OPV Black Hawk operated fully under the control of an actual warfighter, instead of a trained test pilot or engineer.”

The Sergeant First Class in question, who has not been named, was also notably not a military aviator, which Lockheed Martin and Sikorsky say underscores the ease of training individuals to operate the OPV.

“The level of autonomy that the team has with the MATRIX technology and how that’s put into the [OPV] aircraft, it really takes an operator, not a pilot,” Ramsey Bentley, Sikorsky Advanced Programs Business Development Director, also told TWZ while speaking alongside chief engineer Baran.

For the precision parachute drops during Northern Strike 25-2, the OPV had first been directed to fly racetrack patterns over Lake Huron. Soldiers on board were responsible for actually releasing the payloads from the helicopter. Lockheed Martin’s press release also notes that this particular sortie was planned and executed while the operator was aboard a U.S. Coast Guard boat on the lake.

In addition, the “OPV Black Hawk completed its first-ever autonomous hookup of an external load while airborne,” according to the release. “Using its hover stability capabilities, the aircraft held position while soldiers quickly and efficiently attached a 2,900-pound water tank [trailer; also known colloquially as a water buffalo] without pilot intervention. The demonstration showed that a MATRIX-equipped aircraft can perform complex aerial resupply missions in the field.”

The OPV also carried Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) Family of Munitions (MFOM) ammunition ‘pods’ slung underneath multiple times during the exercise. Tracked M270 MLRS and the wheeled M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) launch vehicles both fire various munitions via standardized MFOM pods.

Sling load operations, including hooking and unhooking payloads, as well as flying to a destination with a large object swinging below, can be complex and challenging.

“The amount of experience that a pilot has, especially doing sling load operations and hookups – it takes really years to develop that capability, and that additional sense, or that ‘air sense,’ if you would,” Bentley said. “It’s not very easy, hovering over a point that you can’t see underneath to do these hookups and things like that.”

“One of the things that we’ve heard from operators on the ground is that the MATRIX capability and the autonomy [on the OPV] actually provides a much more stable platform than with a human pilot on board,” he added. “When you bring the aircraft in through the tablet interface and you ask it to hold a 10-foot hover, it holds a 10-foot hover.”

“You’re not relying on a crew chief that’s frankly hanging out of a window or hanging out the back of the aircraft, kind of upside down,” to help keep the helicopter in the proper position, he further noted. With the OPV, “the operator himself kind of has that third-person viewpoint.”

Lastly, at Northern Strike 25-2, “a soldier then used OPV Black Hawk to conduct a simulated personnel recovery, including a tail-to-tail patient transfer to a piloted Black Hawk at an unimproved landing site,” according to Lockheed Martin’s release. “This was the first time an untrained soldier commanded an autonomous MEDEVAC [medical evacuation] recovery from inside the OPV Black Hawk aircraft.”

All of this underscores the potential benefits and flexibility that optionally piloted Black Hawks might offer, especially due to the reduced crewing requirements. Being able to perform missions, or just pre-position helicopters, without the need for a pilot would be a boon in many scenarios, while also helping to reduce physical and mental strain on aviators, particularly during high-tempo operations. DARPA’s aforementioned ALIAS program was focused heavily just on increasing safety margins by scaling back the workload for human pilots, as you can read more about here. Not needing to have any humans on board for certain missions would help reduce risk, which could open up new operational opportunities in or around more contested environments, as well.

In speaking with TWZ, Sikorsky’s Bentley offered a more complete vignette for how OPVs might be utilized in future operations.

“Think about contested logistics, where, at the load point, you’ve got soldiers on the ground … The aircraft runs through all the preflight checks and everything, just like a human pilot would,” he explained. So, with “the ability of the aircraft to be sitting there at a field site, a non-pilot operator walks up, cranks the aircraft, loads in his mission, the aircraft picks up, it hovers over, or it does its internal load operations, and then it takes off and departs along on the mission [route], avoiding obstacles, etc.”

“Then, once the aircraft gets to the destination, another operator can take command of the aircraft, and execute the load out or the drop of the load,” he continued. “Or the aircraft will land and the operator can shut it down, or whatever they need to do.”

“You know the key thing there is that that’s really a customer decision,” Bentley also said when asked specifically about whether there might be plans to demonstrate the ability of OPV to conduct air drops with personnel in the main cabin, but no one in the cockpit. “Obviously, we are very comfortable with the autonomy capability of the aircraft, … but when it comes to employment of the capability and technology, that’s really a customer decision on how they want to employ the asset.”

He added that the OPV’s capabilities, and that of the underlying MATRIX software, are expanding and evolving with a constant eye toward being scalable to meet individual customer demands, which will be based in part on “their permissions, their authorizations,” and what they learn as they “develop their individual techniques, tactics, and procedures.”

Work on the OPV is also now feeding into a larger vision of crewed, pilot-option, and/or fully uncrewed variations of the Black Hawk operating collaboratively together. Bentley noted that Sikorsky has previously envisioned OPVs flying out ahead of crewed Black Hawks with soldiers onboard to perform various tasks as part of a larger mission.

“Now you’ve got [fully uncrewed] U-Hawks out there in front, and that U-Hawk is delivering launched effects UASs [uncrewed aerial systems] ahead of the ground force, and then that U-Hawk lands in the landing zone and dispatches UGVs, uncrewed ground vehicles, ahead of the soldiers,” he said. “And now we’re doing that autonomy, uncrewed, both air and ground teaming, in the soldiers’ hands, setting the conditions before the soldiers ever arrive at the landing zone.”

Sikorsky and Lockheed Martin are also heavily pitching U-Hawk as a way to squeeze new capability out of older UH-60L model Black Hawks, which the U.S. Army is notably in the process of retiring. Converting L variants in U-Hawks has been presented as a relatively economical option that is able to leverage well-established global sustainment chains, as well.

“We think about the Black Hawk as an enduring platform. The Army’s said that it’s going to be around for another 50-plus years,” Bentley said when asked about any potential plans now for offering an OPV-type conversion option. “So our ability to take MATRIX technology and put that on enduring platforms is critical to developing new capability, and, frankly, doing it at a different price point.”

The exact difference in the price point between the U-Hawk and OPV configurations is unclear, but Sikorsky has noted in the past that the OPV has additional systems requirements because it is still rated for crewed flight. There are then distinct costs associated with meeting those demands.

Non-military customers for OPV Black Hawks, as well as U-Hawks, could also be in the wings. The current operator base for crewed Black Hawks already extends beyond armed forces. Sikorsky has already demonstrated the OPV’s ability to conduct a wildfire-fighting mission, which also involved working with a third party to develop unique additions to the MATRIX software for that role.

“So we were out in California in April of this year, working with a company called Rain. And Rain went in and developed a kind of a wildfire suppression algorithm and autonomy capability, where it uses the sensors on board OPV Hawk to spot the wildfire,” Bentley said. “And we were able to demonstrate autonomous wildfire suppression to include OPV going [and] finding the pool or the fill site for the Bambi Bucket.”

“And then once it filled up the Bambi Bucket with water, then the system [on] the aircraft would take off, and it would go toward a general area that the team designated as an area of interest,” he continued. “The sensors on board the aircraft … then would identify the fire through a FLIR [forward-looking infrared] camera. And then the Rain autonomy [package] would figure out the hot spot, figure out the approach path, and the dispersion of the water, and then it would command the OPV aircraft to fly the flight route. And then it commanded the water release also.”

Altogether, as the details about what happened at Northern Strike 25-2 have now further underscored, Sikorsky and Lockheed Martin continue to steadily build out the OPV Black Hawk’s capabilities, which could also now have implications for U-Hawk.

Contact the author: [email protected]

Sikorsky has unveiled a new, fully uncrewed version of the Black Hawk helicopter with a completely transformed front end that swaps out the cockpit for clamshell doors. Depending on how it is configured, what has been dubbed the U-Hawk can move thousands of pounds of outsized cargo internally and slung underneath, deploy uncrewed ground vehicles, and fire dozens of “launched effects” like surveillance and reconnaissance drones and loitering munitions.

A U-Hawk demonstrator, converted from an ex-U.S. Army UH-60L, is on display at the Association of the U.S. Army’s (AUSA) main annual conference in Washington, D.C., which opened today and at which TWZ is in attendance. Sikorsky, now a Lockheed Martin subsidiary, also refers to the design as the S-70 Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS), with S-70 being the company’s internal model number for H-60 variants.

The U-Hawk leverages the company’s past work on a Pilot Optional Vehicle (OPV) version of the Black Hawk, which has been flying for years, as well as its MATRIX autonomy flight control software. Development of MATRIX first began more than a decade ago and was buoyed early on by support from the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) through the Aircrew Labor In-Cockpit Automation System (ALIAS) program.

“A lot of our customers said, hey, I need to be able to move things into theater, and I need to be able to move them in mass. And a lot of the drones out there may be able to carry 100 pounds, may be able to carry 500 pounds,” Rich Benton, Sikorsky Vice President and General Manager, told TWZ and other outlets during a press call earlier this month. “We look introspectively, what do we have? Well, we actually have an autonomous Black Hawk today, our OPV, optionally piloted. But why couldn’t we just take the cockpit out of that and make that a UAS?”

“We conceived this idea [the U-Hawk], believe it not, at the last AUSA, talking to some of the folks from the Army and other services,” Igor Cherepinsky, Sikorsky Innovations Director, also told TWZ and other outlets during a separate call ahead of the opening of today’s conference. “We procured the [underlying UH-60L] aircraft towards the beginning of this year.”

It took Sikorsky roughly 10 months to go from “concept to reality,” according to a company press release. The goal is for it to take flight for the first time next year. The U-Hawk has, so far, been an internally funded effort.

The U-Hawk adaptation of the Black Hawk does do much more than simply remove the pilots and offers significantly greater capability than crewed versions for certain missions. The design also features a different hardware backend for the MATRIX autonomy package and a revised fly-by-wire control system compared to the previous OPV Black Hawk, which we will come back to later on.

Still, the most eye-catching features of the new uncrewed version are its new front section and revised internal arrangement.

“We have completely removed the cockpit, the pilot, and also the crew chief stations of the aircraft,” Ramsey Bentley, Sikorsky Advanced Programs Business Development Director, explained while speaking alongside Cherepinsky. “This gives us the entire cabin and cockpit area for either a logistics operation or mission support operations.”

Sikorsky says the U-Hawk will also be able to “self-deploy” out to a range of 1,600 nautical miles and have a total unrefueled endurance of 14 hours. The press release today also says the uncrewed Black Hawk can “carry internal fuel tanks for increased range or extended time on station,” but it is unclear if this is required to meet the stated range and endurance figures, although that seems likely. Increased range while carrying a useful payload still opens up significant new opportunities, especially for operations across the broad expanses of the Pacific, but also elsewhere.

Payload-wise, Sikorsky expects the uncrewed Black Hawk to be able to carry up to 7,000 pounds internally or 9,000 pounds slung underneath, or a mix of both up to a maximum rating of 10,000 pounds. The company says this is roughly in line with the payload capacity, by weight, of a standard crewed UH-60L. For helicopters, in general, the maximum allowable payload on any particular sortie is also heavily dependent on environmental factors like altitude and temperature.

The U-Hawk’s revised configuration gives it approximately 25 percent more physical space inside for cargo and/or other payloads compared to existing UH-60 variants. This is important as payloads often have dimensional restrictions, as well as weight-based ones. Some cargoes that would have been previously slung underneath could be carried internally, which would drastically increase the range at which they could be delivered.

“The payload, I think, is what really distinguishes this from competitors. … So one can start to imagine the missions that that U-Hawk can begin to solve,” Beth Parcella, Sikorsky Vice President of Strategy and Business Development, noted while speaking together with Vice President and General Manager Benton. “Everything from delivering swarms of drones, from launched effects ‘quivers,’ carrying cargo in a contested logistics environment, driving on and off uncrewed ground vehicles, operating in a counter-UAS function, [and] roll-on and roll-off of supplies.”

“So there’s a tremendous amount of flexibility with this aircraft,” she added.

When it comes to “launched effects,” or LEs, this is a catch-all term that the U.S. military currently uses to refer to uncrewed aerial systems that can be fired from other aerial platforms, as well as ones on the ground or at sea. Sikorsky and its parent company, Lockheed Martin, are currently using the Army’s requirements for three tiers of short, medium, and long-range launched effects as a baseline for the development of the launch ‘quivers’ and what gets loaded in them. LEs in all three categories could be configured to perform surveillance and reconnaissance and electronic warfare missions, as well as be employed as loitering munitions or act as decoys.

“What this quiver does is, depending upon the size of the launched effect, it’s able to hold 24 to 50 different launched effects in the back of the aircraft,” Bentley said. “The quiver is actually designed for what would be the Army short-range and medium-range-sized LEs. The long-range [ones] probably ends up going out on the [stub] wing, like you’ve probably seen [in] some other demonstrations.”

Bentley also noted that the quivers will be able to carry mixed loads of different types of LEs at once, including types developed by other companies.

Parcella did not elaborate on the potential “counter-UAS function” for the U-Hawk, but indicated that it could be tied to its launched effects capabilities. The U-Hawk might be able to carry other types of weaponry, as well as electronic warfare systems, that could be employed against hostile drones, as well as other targets.

As noted, general cargo-carrying is also envisioned as a key role for the uncrewed Black Hawk. Sikorsky says the U-Hawk will be able to carry up to four U.S. military-standard Joint Modular Intermodal Containers (JMIC), spread between the main cabin and slung underneath, compared to the two that existing Black Hawk variants can lug around today. It will also be able to carry a single one of the standard ammunition ‘pods’ used in the M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) and M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS), as well as a pair of Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) in their launch canisters, according to today’s press release. The Army operates both the M270 and M142. The Marine Corps has HIMARSs, as well, and is also fielding NSM in a ground-launched configuration.

The U-Hawk’s clamshell doors allow for the loading and unloading of cargo even while the rotors are still turning. There is also a folding ramp to help ease the process, as well as allow for the deployment of UGVs.

All of “this is designed to do direct support of the maneuver commander. So, as the Army is conducting an air assault, you would envision the U-Hawk flying ahead of the soldiers,” Bentley explained. “As the U-Hawk comes into the landing zone area, first it dispenses launched effects out of the sides of the aircraft, out of our launched effects quiver. And then it lands, it disembarks the UGV, and then the aircraft departs. And this is done ahead of any soldiers putting boots on the ground.”

“You’ve probably heard about Gen. [James] Rainey, the AFC [Army Futures Command] commander, talking about metal-on-metal first contact,” Bentley said. “This is Sikorsky focused on that commander’s need, the soldiers’ need, to put these launched effects, UGVs, and UAS in the battle space, ahead of us, putting soldiers in harm’s way.”

The U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps are also both especially interested in using vertical takeoff and landing-capable uncrewed aircraft for logistics missions, including the resupply of forces in higher-threat areas. The Marines are already pursuing a multi-tier family of Aerial Logistics Connector (ALC) platforms, and have started to field drones to meet the lowest-end Tactical Resupply Unmanned Aircraft System (TRUAS) requirement. 

Bentley also said the company envisions U-Hawks performing non-military missions, including supporting wildfire fighting and disaster relief operations. A number of civilian operators already fly crewed H-60 variants in these roles.

Regardless of the missions it is configured for, Sikorsky is designing the U-Hawk to provide all of its capabilities with minimal training and sustainment requirements. Sikorsky says individuals without aviation-specific skill sets can be readily trained to operate the uncrewed Black Hawk via touchscreen tablet-like devices. The MATRIX system has a demonstrated ability to get platforms like the OPV Black Hawk between set waypoints in a highly autonomous manner.

“Upshot of this is that you can operate this aircraft with a minimally trained operator, and a tablet, if that’s what you want. We [are] obviously also providing a way to be integrated into [a] bigger airspace picture, be it civil or military airspace, where one can exercise more control over the aircraft,” Cherepinsky explained. “If you tell it to go from airport A to airport B, for example, and it knows it’s in civil airspace, it will take the right routes, follow the right civil procedures. If it knows it’s a military airspace, it will do what it thinks is right for the military airspace.”

“In some cases, [it] may not be what exactly — what you want. So, we’re providing this level of adjustable autonomy where you can have a local operator on the ground, for example, operating the aircraft as a crane, right, moving around the field, moving things around the field, loading the aircraft,” he added. “You can hand it off to a more central UAS command, where they have a lot more fine detail over … speeds, altitudes, and whatnot. It’s really, really up to our customer how they want to operate these vehicles.”

Sikorsky is also presenting U-Hawk as a very cost-effective option, even compared to what it previously demonstrated with the OPV Black Hawk.

“Our S-70 OPV aircraft has been flying for a number of years,” Cherepinsky said. “It’s optionally piloted. It’s [a] human-rated fly-by-wire system. It’s our autonomy system. It comes at a certain price point.”

He pointed out that many of the systems of the OPV demonstrator utilized available components sourced from existing suppliers rather than ones designed with that aircraft specifically in mind. This included the hardware used to run the MATRIX system, which he described as being more than what Sikorsky necessarily wanted or needed for that application. As he mentioned, the systems also had to meet standards for an aircraft designed to carry humans, which is not something U-Hawk has to take into account at present.

“On the U-Hawk, we actually did a lot more vertical integration,” according to Cherepinsky. “We designed our own vehicle management computers, our actuation, and the price point of the entire system, not just the aircraft, is much, much lower. As an example, our vehicle management computers are 10s of 1000s of dollars, not hundreds, as they are on a human-rated aircraft.”

The current cost proposition for the U-Hawks also includes savings from reusing existing UH-60L airframes. The U.S. Army has been steadily retiring these versions and selling them off as it acquires newer, more capable M variants. The Army had been working to bring some 760 L models up to an improved standard called the UH-60V, but axed plans for further conversions last year as part of a larger shakeup in the service’s aviation priorities. As such, hundreds more UH-60Ls are expected to become available in the coming years. Other older H-60s that could be turned into uncrewed versions might become available as other operators around the world begin upgrading their fleets, as well.

“We certainly can [build all-new U-Hawks]. It all depends on the economics and price point,” Cherepinsky said.

It is worth noting that the U.S. Army is currently envisioning future air assaults, especially in the context of a potential future high-end fight with China in the Pacific, stretching over distances beyond what the U-Hawk could cover. The ongoing war in Ukraine also continues to offer particularly good examples of how growing threat ecosystems are increasingly imposing significant operational limitations on the use of crewed helicopters. The pursuit of launched effects within the Army and elsewhere across the U.S. military directly reflects increasingly more capable and long-range adversary anti-air capabilities. The Army also notably canceled plans to acquire a Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA), which was set to be a crewed helicopter of some kind, last year, citing threat concerns and plans to focus more on uncrewed platforms.

“So, I’ll tell you up front, I can’t be specific on the things we’re doing to address survivability. And survivability has been an issue for aviation, for vertical aviation, for a long time,” Benton said during the previous press call in response to a direct question from this author about what might be in the works to help uncrewed and crewed Black Hawks address growing threats going forward. “We are leveraging the entire power of Lockheed Martin … what is [sic] the technologies that Lockheed Martin has and can bring to bear to provide survivability on those aircraft. Those are the things we’re continuing to look at.”

At the same time, crewed helicopters are not going away, and tradeoffs will have to be made. For many missions, the U-Hawk removes the biggest risk factor in terms of combat losses, a human crew, while also offering a significant boost in some capabilities. The uncrewed Black Hawk also proposes a way to do all of that at a lower cost that also leverages extremely well-established logistics and sustainment chains. This is particularly significant for the U.S. Army, which expects to continue flying H-60s on some level through at least 2070.

U-Hawks could also take over certain missions in lower-threat environments from crewed platforms, presenting the potential for additional operational flexibility and cost benefits. Being able to autonomously move even a few hundred pounds of critical cargo, such as spare parts, between far flung and remote locations separated by many hundreds of miles, without the need for a fully qualified aircrew, could be a boon even in lower threat areas. The fact that it can move much larger loads internally, without the range penalties of sling loading, is an even bigger sell. All this could be done without adding a new type to the Army’s shrinking helicopter fleet and leveraging the H-60/S-70’s global supply chain is also a very attractive factor, as well. Those same attributes underscore the sales potential of the uncrewed Black Hawk to non-military operators, too.

“We’re really excited. And honestly, some of us are thinking, gosh, why didn’t we think about this five years ago?” Parcella said on the press call earlier this month.

Update:

We got a walk-around tour of the U-Hawk on the floor of the Army Association’s symposium, check it out here.

Contact the author: [email protected]

One of two trained hawks stolen from outside SoFi Stadium during a Rams game was recovered Sunday in Hacienda Heights, nearly 25 miles from where the vehicle taken during the heist was found a week ago.

A two-seat motorized cart with a key left in the ignition was stolen Sept. 28 from the stadium. The hawks — named Bubba and Alice — were housed in green containers in the back seat and vanished along with the vehicle.

Bubba was recovered near Seventh Street in Hacienda Heights after a homeowner spotted the hawk in her backyard and contacted the Inglewood Police Department. Falconer Charles Cogger, who trained and owned the hawks, raced to the location.

“I made arrangements, got over there as quick as I could and got Bubba back,” Cogger told NBC Los Angeles. “Alice is still out there, but this gives me hope she will show up.”

The hawks were employed by SoFi Stadium to deter other birds from flying over SoFi Stadium during the game, keeping fans safe from unpleasant aerial droppings and also keeping birds from eating discarded food.

The Harris’s hawks, also known as bay-winged hawks, are large, lanky raptors that breed in the southwestern U.S. and throughout South America. They have vision eight times better than that of humans and are known for hunting together as a team.

The Kawasaki Mule UTV that housed the hawks was found abandoned Sept. 29 in a South L.A. neighborhood about five miles from SoFi Stadium and 25 miles from Hacienda Heights.

Inglewood police released a photo of the suspect taken by stadium security cameras, describing him as a male adult “wearing a black jacket with a white stripe going down the shoulder, black pants and black shoes.”

Cogger is holding out hope that Alice will turn up. Each of Cogger’s hawks wears a metal band around its leg that identifies it as captive-bred.

“They can only go so long without eating or getting water,” he said.

Anyone with information about Alice can contact the Inglewood Police Department watch commander at (310) 412-5206. Crime Stoppers is offering a reward for the hawk’s safe return.

Any Rams fans whose attention was diverted Sunday at SoFi Stadium by an aerial assault of bird droppings should know whom to blame.

Not the birds. They were just doing what they do (do).

Blame the thief who stole two trained hawks tasked with keeping the skies above the stadium free of other birds, so that the only airborne objects would be tight spirals off the right hand of Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford.

But the hawks — who have names: Alice and Bubba — were stolen at 2:22 p.m. by a suspect the Inglewood Police Department described as a “male Black adult wearing a black jacket with a white stripe going down the shoulder, black pants and black shoes.”

Police said the key was left in the ignition of the Kawasaki Mule UTV that housed the hawks. The thief drove off with the maroon two-seater and hadn’t been caught as of Tuesday morning. The vehicle was last seen in the Village at Century shopping area in Inglewood.

“Affixed to the bed of the UTV were two Harris’s Hawks … housed in green containers,” the police said. “These Hawks are used during the games by a Falconer in order to deter other birds in the area.”

The falconer is Redlands police officer Charles Cogger. The trained birds are Harris’s hawks, also known as the bay-winged hawk, large and lanky raptors that breed from the southwestern United States and throughout South America. They are known for hunting together as a team with vision eight times better than that of humans.

It’s a shame Alice and Bubba weren’t there to see the gorgeous 88-yard touchdown pass from Stafford to Tutu Atwell in the fourth quarter that gave the Rams a 27-20 win over the Indianapolis Colts.

A MILITARY helicopter carrying four soldiers has crashed near an army base, according to a defence spokesperson.

The Black Hawk came down at around 9pm near the Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state.

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Four special operations soldiers are understood to have been on board when it crashed.

Reports claim the chopper came down around 35 miles west of the base.

It is not yet known if there were any casualties.

The Thurston County Sheriff’s Department were called out to reports of an explosion in the area.

A spokesperson said: “Deputies have located what is believed to be the scene.

“We have been advised that the military lost contact with a helicopter in the area, and we are working closely with JBLM to deploy any resources needed to assist.

“Deputies located the crash site but have been unable to continue rescue efforts as the scene is on fire and is starting to overheat their footwear.”

Army Special Operations Command has described the horror crash as a “mishap”.

The troops on board are believed to be in the hardened “Night Stalkers” special operations regiment.

“Four service members assigned to the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne) were on board an MH-60 Black Hawk helicopter involved in an aviation mishap in a rural area near Joint Base Lewis-McChord,” a spokesperson said.

“This remains an active, ongoing situation.”

They added that the terrain where the Black Hawk crashed is “hard to reach”.

A fire sparked by the crash has reportedly smothered up to one acre of land.

Back in March, another helicopter crashed at the same base during a training exercise.

Two army pilots were injured when the chopper came down.

Colonel Bryen Freigo said at the time: “The two crew members were medically evacuated to Madigan Army Medical Center for evaluation and treatment and remain at the hospital in stable condition.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with these families and soldiers during their recovery.”

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Sept. 18 (UPI) — The status is unknown for four special operations soldiers aboard a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter that crashed Wednesday evening in Washington state.

The Thurston County Sheriff’s Office said deputies were dispatched to respond to the crash in the Summit Lake, Wash., area and had located the scene of the crash.

The local sheriff told USA Today that “the scene is on fire,” with about an acre burned following the crash that occurred at about 9 p.m. PDT.

The four soldiers are assigned to the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, according to the U.S. Army Special Operations Command.

The crew was on a “routine training flight” when air traffic controllers lost contact with them, which suggested something had gone wrong, a U.S. Army spokesperson told ABC News.

The accident’s cause is under investigation.

Thurston County Sheriff Derek Saunders said the crash site is about 15 miles from Joint Base Lewis McChord.

“Deputies have located the crash site but have been unable to continue rescue efforts as the scene is on fire and is starting to overheat their footwear,” Saunders said. “Special operation rescue units are responding.”

Joint Base Lewis-McChord is located in the Puget Sound region and is home to I Corps and the 62 Airlift Wing. According to the base’s website, there are 40,000 active-duty troops at the base, plus their families and thousands of contractors.

The Military Times reported that the weather was good at Olympia Regional Airport on Wednesday night, with clear skies and a visibility of 10 miles.

This is a breaking news story. Check back for developments.

SUN-SEEKERS are challenged to test their IQ to the max with this mind boggling beach brainteaser.

With temperatures soaring this bank holiday Monday, many Brits are flocking to the beach to soak up the late summer sun.

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But do you have the skills to spot the two beach essentials hidden within this image in 10 seconds or less?

Whether you’re hoping to improve your problem solving skills or boost your memory, this puzzle is bound to be a challenge for many readers.

Put your observation skills to the test and figure out whether you have what it takes to spot beach essentials in just a few seconds.

Make sure to set your stopwatch before undertaking this challenge, to make it extra hard for yourself.

If you can do it in under 10 seconds, you are said to have the eyes of a hawk.

At first glance, it looks like the image provided by Super Label Store shows multiple of each of the beach essentials.

However, those with the sharpest eyes will immediately be able to tell that this is not the case.

This puzzle tricks your eyes into thinking that all of the beach items are duplicates.

However, there are two essentials that only appear once in the image.

Unless you’re lucky enough to find the odd one out immediately, we recommend analysing the pattern very closely to spot the answer.

The visual deception of this image will have you scratching your head trying to solve it, but the payoff is worth it.

If you need a hint, we recommend focusing on the bottom half of the image.

One of the hidden items can be found in the bottom left hand corner of the image.

If you’re looking for more of a challenge, this clever puzzle asks you to find the playing card suits that are the wrong colour.

And only those with the eyes of a hawk will be able to spot the two odd items out in this summer themed brainteaser.

Festival fans are challenged to spot the drummer hidden in this festival scene.

And finally, jewellery fans are urged to locate the diamond ring hidden at the beach in this summer puzzle.

Coming back to our challenge, were you able to solve it in under 10 seconds?

For those struggling to find the answer, we have marked the solution for you.

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Vivian Ayers Allen, a Pulitzer-nominated poet who foreshadowed the country’s journeys into space and was mother to Debbie Allen and Phylicia Rashad, has died, the family announced on Allen’s social media. She was 102.

“Mommie you have transformed into that cosmic bird Hawk that lives and breathes Freedom,” said the message, posted Wednesday. “We will follow your trail of golden dust and continue to climb higher. We promise ‘to be true … be beautiful … be Free.’”

It was signed with much love — literally five “loves” and dozens of red hearts — by “Norman, Debbie, Lish, Tex, Hugh, Vivi, Thump, Condola, Billy, Oliver, Gel, Tracey, Carmen, Shiloh, Aviah, Eillie, Gia, and all the Turks in our family.” A carousel’s worth of family photos was shared, set to Stevie Wonder’s song “Golden Lady.”

The family celebrated Ayers’ 102nd birthday just over three weeks ago, at the end of July. The festivities, attended by four generations of family, included a jazz concert put together by Andrew “Tex” Allen Jr., a jazz musician and the eldest of Ayers’ four children with dentist Andrew Allen. Ayers and Allen, who died in 1984, got divorced in 1954 after nine years of marriage that also yielded children Debbie, Hugh and Phylicia. All but Hugh would go into the performing arts.

Debbie Allen, 75, spoke about her mother in 2018 at an event honoring the “Grey’s Anatomy” star and her sister, Rashad, 77.

“We grew up with not a lot of money. We grew up with racial segregation. We grew up not being able to go to ballet class or downtown to a restaurant or to a movie,” Allen said. “And so my mother, Vivian Ayers, always made us believe that we were part of a universe that welcomed us and wanted our creativity and was waiting for us to do something good. And so we’ve been doing that forever.”

Ayers told Rashad that acting made her one of the “magic” people.

“I said, ‘What do you mean, Mama?’” the star of “The Cosby Show” told The Times in 2015. “She said, ‘You create so much out of nothing.’”

Born in 1923 in Chester, S.C., Ayers graduated in 1939 from the Brainerd Institute high school, established in 1866 for the children of freed slaves in her hometown. It was the final year the school was in operation. She then went on to study at Barber-Scotia College in Concord, N.C., and Bennett College in Greensboro, N.C., eventually getting an honorary doctorate from the latter of the two HBCUs.

Ayers flourished at a time ripe with talent. “Spice of Dawns,” her 1952 book of poetry, earned her a Pulitzer Prize nomination in 1953, the year Ernest Hemingway won the fiction prize for “The Old Man and the Sea” and William Inge won the drama prize for “Picnic.” Archibald MacLeish won the poetry award that year, one of his three Pulitzers, while two North Carolina weekly newspapers brought home the public service journalism prize for their campaign against the Ku Klux Klan, which resulted in the arrests of more than 100 Klansmen.

“Hawk,” a book-length poem set in a century in the future, was self-published by Ayers in 1957 and linked the freedom of flight with the possibility of space travel. It foreshadowed what was to come: 11 weeks later, the USSR launched Sputnik, the first man-made satellite to orbit Earth. Clemson University officially published “Hawk” in 2023.

NASA in 2024 celebrated Ayers’ work — she had been an editor and typist at the space agency — as it dedicated the Dorothy Vaughan Center in Honor of the Women of Apollo, some of whom were immortalized in the movie “Hidden Figures.” Rashad read “Hawk” at the July 19 ceremony, which honored all the women who worked, unheralded, to make the Apollo mission to the moon possible.

Ayers worked as a librarian at Rice University and in 1965 became the school’s first full-time Black faculty member. While there, she started the Adept Quarterly literary magazine in 1971. She was a playwright, with works including “Bow Boly” and “The Marriage Ceremony.”

She nurtured the artistic talents of her children — and did it for other children through Workshops in Open Fields, a program teaching literacy through the arts that Ayers founded in Houston and later brought to Brainerd Institute. She also founded a museum, the Adept New American Folk Center, focusing on arts of the American Southwest.

“Don’t wait for them to ask for something, just playfully take them into something they have never thought about and charm them into taking the disciplines,” Ayers told the Rock Hill Herald in 2018 about teaching children. “You have to do that. It takes a little urging when they are young to make them stay with the disciplines. They will bless you forever.”

Ayers moved with her children to Mexico for a time, where they learned Spanish and she studied Greek literature and the Mayan culture.

Rashad recalled her childhood in a conversation with The Times in 2012.

“There were a lot of books, and artists frequented our home. And as children we were privy to great intellectual and artistic debates,” she said. “My mother included us in everything that she did, and I mean everything. I remember as a child collating pages for her second book. It was wonderful.”

Ayers was there for dancer-actor Debbie Allen as well.

“My mother took the handrail off the staircase and put it on the wall in what should have been the dining room to create a ballet studio for Debbie to study with a dance instructor privately when she could not be admitted to the best schools that were on the other side of town in Houston,” Rashad explained. “And eventually Debbie was admitted to the Houston Ballet Foundation, but that was because of the private training she received in our home.

“My mother would do things like that. … She was always teaching us.”

The deadly downing of a Colombian National Police (CNP) UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter by a drone on Thursday is the latest sign of the growing vulnerability of rotary-wing aircraft to these attacks. While apparently the first such incident in the Western Hemisphere, the tactic was developed by Ukraine to strike Russian helicopters and has reportedly spread to Asia as well. The downing comes as militaries are rethinking the utility of helicopters due to myriad threats, including drones, which is a danger we have been warning about for years.

The CNP helicopter was hit by a drone while “providing security to officers engaged in manual coca crop eradication efforts,” Antioquia Governor Andres Julian Rendon stated on X. “We have activated the hospital network and are closely monitoring this news, which is so painful for democracy and sad for our Forces. In that area, FARC dissidents and the Gulf Clan are operating.”

Video emerging from the scene shows the helicopters slowly approaching a landing zone. From the angle where the video was taken, the helicopter’s landing and the attack are obscured, but the sound of an explosion is heard and blackish gray smoke is seen wafting up. 

Another video, reportedly taken by the attackers, shows a different view of the aftermath of the strike. None of these videos, however, clearly depicts the method of attack.

At least 12 people aboard the helicopter were killed. Colombian President Gustavo Petro blamed the helicopter attack, along with a car bomb strike on a Colombian military base, on dissident factions of the now-defunct FARC guerrilla group that have rejected a 2016 peace agreement to end a prolonged internal conflict that has left more than 450,000 dead in the country.

This incident highlights several disturbing developments, especially regarding the vulnerability of helicopters to drone attacks. That concern directly led to South Korea cancelling a multi-billion-dollar deal to buy 36 AH-64E Apache Guardian attack helicopters.

Yu Yong-weon, a member of South Korea’s National Assembly belonging to the People Power Party, told The Korea Times that the vulnerability of helicopters to proliferated air defenses and loitering munitions/drones that have been showcased to the world in Ukraine spurred the decision.

“Drones and smart systems are redefining the modern battlefield,” Yu explained. “Rather than clinging to expensive legacy platforms, we must invest in capabilities that reflect the future of warfare.”

We previously predicted that drone attacks on helicopters would become a major problem. The danger is rising due to the widespread proliferation of weaponized drones across the world. This is in addition to all the other growing threats that put helicopters, especially those approaching contested landing zones, in the crosshairs.

As we noted in a previous story: Beyond traditional ground-based air defenses, which are becoming far more capable and deeply integrated/networked at an accelerating rate, helicopters have to now contend with FPV drones and loitering SAMs, as well as loitering interceptor drones, that can be used against rotary wing aircraft, as well. Countermeasures to some of these threats really have not caught up. The threat posed by drones, in general, has also vastly reinvigorated proliferation of short-range air defenses for counter-UAS needs, but many of these systems can also engage helicopters. Then there is the aerial threat, with fighter and support aircraft becoming more capable of spotting low and slow flying helicopters thanks to advanced sensors. The distances involved with future wars alone could relegate even the most advanced traditional helicopters into support roles. All this creates an increasingly complex and unpredictable operational reality for military helicopters, even in low-to-medium threat environments.

You can see a Russian helicopter being attacked by a Ukrainian first-person view (FPV) drone in the following video.

The risk posed to helicopters from small weaponized drones, especially FPV types, is rapidly expanding as this technology migrates to state and non-state actors around the globe. Small teams using a guided weapon against a helicopter used to require having man-portable air defense systems (MANPADS), also known as shoulder-fired heat-seeking missiles, or at least an anti-tank guided missile (ATGM), the latter of which only really works when engaging a helicopter within a narrow window of its performance envelope. Basically, this includes when it is landing, taking off or sitting on the ground. These are both expensive, hard-to-obtain weapons that require proprietary support.

A FPV drone, on the other hand, can be obtained easily and for a fraction of the cost and can fly out to an incoming helicopter and blow it out of the sky with extreme agility and precision. Acting in a point defense role, defending key areas where helicopters may approach, can now be done by a couple of guys and their FPV drones. They can also react fast and don’t have to expose themselves to engage an airborne target, unlike a MANPADS or ATGM fire team. The drones can also be reused if they do not find a target, meaning they can actively patrol for incoming helicopters, if need be.

This is creating a whole new set of problems for helicopter crews. The launch of the drones cannot be detected by onboard missile approach warning systems and the drones are very small, making them hard to identify and evade. Electronic warfare systems are perhaps the best possible defense against these threats, but there has been slow movement when it comes to adapting such systems for helicopters. There is also the reality that fiber optic wire-controlled FPV drones give off no radio frequency emissions and are not jammable. They are also well-suited for providing point defense against helicopters, as their wires have a far lower chance of getting hung up when going after an aircraft in the air.

Obviously, these issues are especially vexing for the special operations rotary-wing community, which goes after targets in contested areas against groups that can easily access this technology.

Once again, the FPV threat is in addition to the growing threats to helicopters from advanced integrated air defense systems, next-generation MANPADS, advanced look-down radars on fighters and AEW&C aircraft, as well as drone interceptors and more advanced loitering munitions. All of this is putting the helicopter’s future efficacy in many mission sets in question. AI will fuse with lower-end drones in the near future making them capable of autonomous air defense operations, as well. This will allow persistent air patrols in areas where enemy helicopter traffic is most likely to occur, including behind enemy lines.

The attack in Colombia comes months after we reported that rebels fighting Myanmar’s junta say they used an FPV drone to down an Mi-17 Hip transport helicopter attempting to land with supplies. 

Footage emerged on social media showing the video feed of what purported to be an FPV drone operated by the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) careening toward the helicopter, which was hovering just a few feet off the ground at the time. The video cuts off as the FPV drone gets right next to the helicopter’s rotor blades. The video then shows a different angle of what appears to be a small explosion amongst the Mi-17’s rotors. The helicopter reportedly later crashed a short distance away, killing everyone on board.

Rekaman Video Amatir dan dari Drone FPV milik kelompok Pemberontak Etnis Kachin Myanmar ( Kachin Independence Army ) saat menghantam satu dari 3 Helikopter Mil-17 Angkatan Udara Myanmar yang tengah mendrop Pasukan di kawasan Bhamo pada tanggal 20 Mei lalu. pic.twitter.com/rY8zhOSzMo

— 🦅 Golden Eagle 🦅 (@Y_D_Y_P) May 22, 2025

Myanmar’s military government, however, chalked the crash up to mechanical failure. The War Zone cannot independently verify either claim, although it is generally understood a drone took it down.

Another troubling aspect of this crash is how drug organizations in the Western Hemisphere are increasing the use of drones to execute attacks.

We have reported frequently about how Mexican cartels have been using drones as weapons against rivals and government targets. These groups even reportedly sent members to fight for the Russians against Ukraine to learn how to use FPV drones.

In an investigation by Intelligence Online alleges that Mexico’s Centro Nacional de Inteligencia/CNI sent a report to Ukrainian intelligence w/ concerns that cartel affiliated Mexicans are joining the Ukrainian Foreign Legion to receive drone training.https://t.co/SdlXYF4r6w

— Pernicious Propaganda (@natsecboogie) July 30, 2025

Colombian rebels began using weaponized drones in April 2024, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Since then, “the military here says there have been 301 strikes with unmanned aerial vehicles, more than two-thirds of them in Cauca and Norte de Santander provinces,” the Journal noted. “Both regions are covered in coca, the plant used to make cocaine, with heavily armed militias fighting each other over drug routes. At least 22 soldiers and police officers have died in the attacks.”

Beyond those concerns are reports that Russians are training the Colombian groups how to fight with drones, another sign of how lessons learned in the war in Ukraine are being spread globally.

“Russian contractors and former military personnel are also training FARC dissidents and ELN groups in the use and modification of explosive drones,” the Colombian El Tiempo news outlet reported back in June. “They are doing so from Venezuelan territory, with the knowledge and support of that country’s government, highlighting the growing foreign interference in the Colombian conflict.”

“We know that Russia and Iran support Venezuela with technical capabilities, and from there, Colombian combatants are being trained,” the publication added, citing an anonymous military source.

The attack on the CNP helicopter is the latest iteration of the guerrillas’ drone war.

“Dissidents already employ swarm tactics, microdrones, and some modified devices with thermal cameras and alternating frequencies to evade jammers,” El Tiempo noted. “These drone attacks have left four soldiers dead and more than 50 uniformed personnel injured, as well as one civilian killed and seven injured.”

We believe that it is worth pointing out, as there are claims that a drone was used in this attack, that both FARC & ELN groups are being trained by Russian contractors & former military members on how to utilize drones in conflict within Venezuela as reported in June this year. https://t.co/y6N5XPyHkx

— Pernicious Propaganda (@natsecboogie) August 22, 2025

The claim that the Colombian rebels trained in Venezuela raises the specter that these efforts were conducted with the approval or knowledge of that country’s leader, Nicolas Maduro. As we wrote earlier this week, U.S. President Donald Trump has ordered several warships and thousands of troops deployed toward Venezuela. At least part of that movement is directly aimed at Maduro, a source familiar with the operations told us. His administration considers Maduro a “narco-terrorist.”

No es casual que apenas días después de que Trump se reuniera con Putin, suceda esto. Venezuela es un punto estratégico para el kremlin. Si no hay acuerdo de paz, Maduro tiene sus días contados. pic.twitter.com/E662kAFfCQ

— Fabrizio Mercado Soria (@fabriziosoria) August 20, 2025

Meanwhile, the overall use of drones by drug and insurgent groups is raising alarm bells in Washington.

As we have written in the past, there are increasing concerns that Mexican cartels could expand their use of drones across the border as the Trump administration ramps up its pressure on these groups. That has led the general in charge of the border security and drone interdiction efforts to seek greater permission to shoot down drones.

Air Force Gen. Gregory M. Guillot testified to the House Armed Services Committee in April that since Trump took office, he “proposed … a change to the rule of force.” It would “allow us to shoot down or bring down drones that are surveilling over our deployed and mobile troops … not just that are in self-defense, but anything that’s surveilling and planning the next attack on us within five miles of the border.” 

“Because they’re mobile,” U.S. troops on the border are not allowed to take down drones under current law, Guillot, the commander of U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM) and the joint U.S.-Canadian North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), added. You can read more about the various limitations on the military’s use of force against drones in the United States in our deep dive here.

As the evolution of the weaponized low-end drone continues to accelerate, the threat to helicopters from them will only increase. As it sits now, there is not much being done at scale to combat it, so more of these incidents are likely to hit headlines in the coming months and years.

Contact the author: [email protected]

As Hart High football players participated in a 6 a.m. workout on Wednesday morning, injured player Micaiah Underwood was given an important task — flying the team’s drone to take video. He had been trained by head coach Jake Goossen.

When an alarm went off alerting low battery, Underwood calmly manipulated the controls to bring the drone down — though it briefly went so high that teammates were joking it was out of control.

Managers make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for football players to eat after practices.

(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)

Every head coach needs to delegate responsibilities and rely on others to help him focus on getting his team ready, and three important positions in 2025 are drone operator, manager and athletic trainer.

Every program needs one of each.

At a City Section school earlier this week, three managers were making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for players to eat after practices. At another school, the athletic trainer was taping ankles and roaming the field in case of an emergency. For those teams without athletic trainers, coaches were forced to take on the task.

Coaches kept handing out their keys to managers to retrieve or open something.

Managers and trainers have been around for years, but drone operators are new. At Hart, they have to pay special attention to hawks. Seriously, Hart had a drone disabled by a hawk. Now there are spotters to make sure no hawks are nearby. After all, Hart’s new nickname is the Hawks and apparently the real hawks like flying drones.

So everyone say thanks to the drone operators, managers and trainers. They’re unsung helpers every program needs.

Electric bikes lined up at Hart High.

(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)

Oh, and one more trend. There are so many players using electric bikes to get to practices perhaps a charging station is next to be added on a program’s football budget.

IT looks like it should be easy when you first look at it.

But it might be harder than you think to distinguish the odd mistake in this number jumble.

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The chart features a sea of identical numbers, each reading 4502.

However, there one different number, hiding in plain sight.

And it takes someone with eyes as sharp as a hawk to spot the odd one out – especially if you manage to do it in less than 20 seconds.

Ai Ching Goh, co-founder of Piktochart, said of the brainteaser: “This campaign is a fun reminder of how easy it is to miss small details, especially in data-heavy designs.

“Imagine you’re at work and your boss asks you to check over the latest numbers.

“Would you be able to spot the mistake?”

If you’re struggling, it’s a good idea to take the puzzle column by column.

Scroll down through the rows as you flit your eyes up and down, trying to spot the number that doesn’t fit.

If things aren’t getting any easier, try splitting the box of numbers into quarters – taking one at a time.

And if your frustration is getting the better of you, you can find the answer below.

Brainteasers are excellent for your noggin because they stimulate cognitive function, improve problem-solving skills and enhance overall mental agility.

They also challenge different areas of the brain, including memory, logic and spatial reasoning. 

So what’s the benefit exactly? Improved neuroplasticity, which is the brain’s ability to adapt and form new neural connections.

As well as this, activities like brainteasers, puzzles and riddles require you to think critically, which also sharpens your analytical and reasoning skills.

If you want to continue to challenge your brain further, you can find a range of optical illusions on our website.

Different images can test different parts of your brain.

This image of pearls might be a good way to test your eyesight, while this maths puzzle helps improve your critical thinking.

What about testing your eyesight by spotting the word ‘Ball’ in this mind-boggling illusion?

Or if numbers is more your game, try and spot the number 879 in this sea of 876s.

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