Roadside bombs are a source of fear for both soldiers as well as their worried families at home. Thankfully the Pentagon is working on projects such as Yellow Jacket: unmanned helicopters which detect electromagnetic emissions from potential improvised explosive devices (IEDs).

As many IEDs are set off using a wireless signal, these drones will be able to survey areas for the electromagnetic emissions associated with receivers and provide an early warning to soldiers. No matter how silly the codename, this is one important project and I hope that it gets put into use as soon as possible. [Aviation Week via Pop Sci]