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Australian-built drone jamming guns are helping protect Ukrainian military units from Russian attacks.

Sydney-based technology company DroneShield told 9news.com.au it had been supplying Ukraine with its equipment as part of a military aid contract.

The company was founded seven years ago with the aim of producing technology to counter civilian drones adapted for military uses.

READ MORE: Putin using critical gas pipeline as 'weapon', sending Europe into panic

DroneShield chief executive Oleg Vornik said the use of drones by Ukraine and Russia in the war had propelled the unmanned aerial vehicles into the media spotlight.

"Small drones were used against Saudi Arabia, in the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict and the Syrian conflict," he said.

"But drones largely stayed off the front pages in those conflicts until the Ukrainian conflict came along and drones were front and centre."

Since the Ukraine war started on February 24, drones have been used by both sides to pinpoint enemy positions, guide artillery strikes, track troop movements and jam opposing forces' communications.

Vornik said his company's Drone Gun and hand-held radio-sized units have proven effective in Ukraine because many Russian drones used Western componentry.

"Even Russian military-grade drones use commercial parts … our gear is quite effective in detecting and defeating those drones," he said.

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He said the response from Ukraine's military about the performance of the Australian built technology was largely positive.

Drone-jamming technology works by blocking the signal a drone sends to its ground station, or pilot.

Vornik said he agrees with many defence experts that the wide use of drones in Ukraine has changed the face of modern warfare.

In the early part of the war, Ukraine extensively used its stocks of Turkish-made Bayraktar TB-2 laser-guided, bomb-dropping drones to hit long convoys of Russian troops and supply columns.

READ MORE: Why wages aren't going up in line with inflation in Australia

Since the war began, the US and Western allies have shipped hundreds of other drones, including an unspecified number of "kamikaze" Switchblade 600s that carry tank-piercing warheads and use artificial intelligence to track targets.

But their range is limited, and they can only stay aloft for about 40 minutes.

Ukraine has pushed strongly for more advanced long-range drones that can survive radio interference and GPS jamming and rely on satellite communications for control and navigation.

– Reported with Associated Press

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The first mission to return samples from another planet will touch down on Earth in 2033, according to NASA and European Space Agency officials.

The Perseverance rover is currently collecting the samples on Mars.

As Perseverance investigates the site of an ancient lake that existed billions of years ago, it's collecting rocks and soil. This material is of interest because it could contain evidence of past microscopic organisms that would reveal whether life ever existed on Mars.

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Scientists will have the chance to use some of the most sophisticated instruments around the world to study these precious samples.

The ambitious Mars Sample Return program involves collaboration between the two agencies to retrieve 30 samples from the red planet. Multiple missions will launch to Mars later this decade to safely pick up and bring the samples back.

The program is nearing the end of its conceptual design phase, and NASA has completed its system requirements review. The review has led to changes that will reduce the complexity of future missions and increase probability of success, according to NASA officials.

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"The conceptual design phase is when every facet of a mission plan gets put under a microscope," said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator of NASA's Science Mission Directorate, in a statement.

"There are some significant and advantageous changes to the plan, which can be directly attributed to Perseverance's recent successes at Jezero and the amazing performance of our Mars helicopter."

Initially, the plan was to launch a fetch rover along with a Sample Retrieval Lander in the mid-2020s. Once released on the Martian surface, the fetch rover would have retrieved samples from where Perseverance has stashed them on the Martian surface.

READ MORE: Why wages aren't going up in line with inflation in Australia

Now, Perseverance will be the primary transport vehicle to carry samples to the lander. The rover's latest health and life expectancy assessment shows that it should still be in prime condition to deliver the samples itself in 2030. Perseverance will back up to the lander, and the lander's robotic arm will transfer the samples.

The Sample Retrieval Lander will carry two sample recovery helicopters, similar in style to the Ingenuity helicopter currently on Mars – rather than a fetch rover.

"Recent operations of the Ingenuity helicopter on Mars, which has completed 29 flights – 24 more than originally planned – have shown us the usefulness of potential rotorcraft of Mars," said Jeff Gramling, director of the Mars Sample Return Program.

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Engineers have been impressed with Ingenuity's performance. The helicopter has survived more than a year beyond its expected life span. In the event that Perseverance can't return the samples to the lander, the little choppers will be able to fly away from the lander, use arms to retrieve the samples and bring them back.

The two sample return helicopters will be similar in size to Ingenuity but will be a little bit heavier. The landing legs will come equipped with small mobility wheels to allow it to travel on the ground as well as fly, and each chopper will have a little arm that can grab sample tubes, said Richard Cook, Mars Sample Return program manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

If Perseverance's health remains the same over the next eight years and it doesn't need any help in returning samples to the lander, the choppers could observe and capture images of the process.

Getting samples back to Earth

The Sample Retrieval Lander also carries the Mars Ascent Vehicle – the first rocket that will ever launch from the Martian surface, with the samples tucked safely inside. The spacecraft is currently set to launch from Mars in 2031.

A separate mission will launch from Earth in the mid-2020s, called the Earth Return Orbiter, to rendezvous with the Mars Ascent Vehicle.

Onboard the Earth Return Orbiter is the Capture/Containment and Return System, which will collect the container of samples from the Mars Ascent Vehicle while both vehicles are in orbit around Mars.

READ MORE: Mars rover finds bundle of string on planet's surface

The Earth Return Orbiter will then head back to our world. Once the spacecraft is close to Earth, it will release the Earth Entry Vehicle that contains the cache of samples, and that spacecraft will touchdown on Earth in 2033.

Previously, the agency said the samples could return to Earth by 2031, but the planned launch dates for the orbiter in fall 2027 and the lander in summer 2028 have created the new arrival date.

Engineers are currently testing robotic components for the campaign at NASA and ESA centers. The Mars Sample Return program will move into the preliminary design phase in October, which will last for about a year. The design phase will result in technology development as well as engineering prototypes for the main components.

"ESA is continuing at full speed the development of both the Earth Return Orbiter that will make the historic round-trip from Earth to Mars and back again; and the Sample Transfer Arm that will robotically place the sample tubes aboard the Orbiting Sample Container before its launch from the surface of the Red Planet," said David Parker, ESA director of human and robotic exploration, in a statement.

Diverse samples

The Perseverance rover has collected 11 rock core samples so far. The samples represent "an amazing suite of materials," said Meenakshi Wadhwa, principal scientist for Mars Sample Return and director of Arizona State University's School of Earth and Space Exploration.

"The latest one, in fact, is a fine-grained sedimentary rock that has the greatest potential for preserving biosignatures, potentially, and so we have a diversity of materials already in the bag, so to speak, and really excited about the potential for bringing these back," Wadhwa said.

"Working together on historic endeavors like Mars Sample Return not only provides invaluable data about our place in the universe but brings us closer together right here on Earth," Zurbuchen said.

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Australia's wages are going up across the board, but with inflation continuing its upwards spiral, it's still effectively a pay cut.

Prices have gone up 6.1 per cent in the past 12 month, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

But according to data from March, average wages in Australia have only gone up 3.4 per cent.

EXPLAINED: What is inflation? And how a record-high CPI might affect you

Fair Work Australia raised the minimum wage in recent weeks to keep in line with inflation.

But University of Melbourne sociology professor Irma Mooi-Reci said most people not on the minimum wage were not getting pay increases in line with inflation.

"It is fair to say that the average pay increases in the private sector are lower than the recent increases in the minimum wages," she said.

She noted the data did not include extra earnings from bonuses or promotions.

And yet, the unemployment rate is at a 48-year-low of 3.5 per cent.

With countless job vacancies in nearly every industry, it would be expected to see wages go up to compete for workers.

But that hasn't happened.

READ MORE: Australia records fastest rise in inflation since introduction of GST

"One of the reasons for this could be attributed to the expectation of firms that labour immigrants will soon return and will fill the current skill shortages," Mooi-Reci said.

"Another reason may be related to the fact that Australians are not massively changing jobs or resigning to bargain for higher wages, thus different from trends we have seen in the US. 

"Such trends indicate that there are fewer forces of demand for wage increases from workers' side."

While America saw what was described as a "great resignation" post-pandemic, a similar trend hasn't happened here.

Instead most Australians are staying in their jobs and hoping for a raise.

READ MORE: How inflation is impacting your shopping trolley

ACTU Secretary Sally McManus said the cost-of-living crisis was happening at the same time as record corporate profits and CEO bonuses.

"Profits have skyrocketed and working people are really feeling cost of living pressures with inflation spiking," she said.

"Employers can afford pay increases and workers need and deserve them, but too many employers are trying to keep wage increases low to protect their profits.

"Our bargaining system is no longer generating wage growth which keeps pace with the cost of living and is not fit for purpose – it's time for change."

So is there any hope for a solution to the inflation crisis soon?

READ MORE: Federal Reserve makes history with second massive rate hike in as many months

"If 'soon' means as of this year, then the answer will probably be no," Mooi-Reci said.

"However, if 'soon' means in the next couple of years, then the answer is 'of course' we will certainly see wage growth match inflation."

In between now and then, it is almost certain Australian mortgage holders will see more interest rate rises to cool the economy.

You can read our full explainer on what inflation is – and how it affects you – here.

A woman allegedly jumped into an elderly woman's car, then threatened and attacked the 80-year-old, pulling her hair and holding a carving fork to her neck.

The shocking attack occurred in St Kilda, in Melbourne's inner south-east, about 1.40pm on July 6.

The elderly woman was getting into her car on St Kilda Road when the stranger opened the passenger door and climbed into the passenger seat.

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The woman allegedly then threatened the victim with what police believe was a large carving fork, holding it to the victim's neck.

The woman also pulled the victim's hair as she demanded money.

The woman then ordered the victim drive her to the airport.

However, the victim only drove her attacker to Carlisle Street, St Kilda where woman got out of the car.

The victim then drove home and contacted police.

Police are calling for the public's help to track down the woman.

She was wearing a white-coloured long sleeve shirt, light coloured pants, a black jacket wrapped around her shoulders and black shoes, and was carrying a backpack.

Anyone with information is urged to contact police.

Police classify the incident as an aggravating carjacking and kidnapping.

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