Military
Mortars have existed for hundreds of years, proving extremely useful in World War I where the high angle of flight of the shells made them an ideal weapon for the muddy trenches of the Western Front. The weapon’s simplicity coupled with the ease with which it can be transported and operated means mortars are still in common use today but, although methods of calculating azimuth and elevation angles for targeting have improved, their greatest weakness still remains their lack of accuracy. Mortars are now moving into the 21st Century with U.S. Soldiers in Afghanistan set to receive a first-of-its-kind, GPS-guided 120mm mortar munition that can pinpoint targets at ranges of up to 6,300 m (20,669 ft). Read More
U.S. Army takes delivery of iPhone app for Patriot Missile training
Want to learn how to launch a Patriot missile? Turns out there’s an app for that. Incorporating video of actual Patriot Missile crews in action as well as 3D animation and illustrations, C² Technologies, Inc.’s Patriot Missile mobile app trains Patriot missile crews how to position and ready the Patriot missile system to launch and fire. The app is designed to not only provide training for soldiers at any time and any place, but also to offer access to critical information in the field. Read More
DARPA asks public to design new combat support vehicle
In an effort to streamline the design and build process for manufacturing military vehicles, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is enlisting the “power of the crowd”. Through the Experimental Crowd-derived Combat-support Vehicle (XC2V) Design Challenge, which asks entrants to conceptualize a vehicle body design for combat reconnaissance and combat delivery & evacuation, the agency is looking to pick the brains of not only armed service members and engineers, but also members of the public and others that usually have no way to contribute to military design. Read More
Princeton University engineers have developed a new laser sensing technology that is expected to enable the remote distant detection of explosives, airborne pollutants and greenhouse gasses. The technique differs from previous remote laser-sensing methods in that the returning beam is not just a reflection or scattering of the outgoing beam but an entirely new laser beam generated by oxygen atoms whose electrons have been "excited" to high energy levels. This "air laser" is a much more powerful tool than previously existed for remote measurements of trace amounts of chemicals in the air. Read More
Silynx’s C4Grip puts soldier’s non-trigger fingers to good use
These days guns used by soldiers are more than just a weapon designed to send a high velocity projectile at an enemy. Modern assault rifles also include attachments for flashlights, laser sights and even wireless communications. However, operating these extra capabilities usually means taking a hand of the weapon, which can leave the soldier vulnerable to attack or result in them missing the opportunity for that vital shot. The C4Grip from Silynx is a forward grip that solves this problem by putting extra controls at the user’s fingertips. Read More
We've seen TASER electroshock weapons designed for law enforcement, personal protection and even riot control, but in all of the above cases, it's a human on the receiving end. Now the company has a different target in sight for its "less lethal" technology ... and it's one that could create as much controversy as its predecessors – the TASER Wildlife Electronic Control Device. Read More
BAE Systems has presented the fruits of its Future Protected Vehicle program (FPV) to the U.K. Ministry of Defence, and it's an intiguing glimpse of the what we can expect to see in tomorrow's high-tech battlefield. With input from over 35 organizations, the FPV study is aimed at identifying "innovative technologies and concepts for short, medium and long term exploitation into future lightweight land platforms." Hundreds of new technologies were canvassed in the study and seven platform concept vehicles have been floated to showcase the most significant of these, including the use of electronic ink camouflage systems, microwave weapons, floating electro-magnetic armor and a type of mechanical "sweat" that reduces thermal signature. Read More
Squad Mission Support System set for Afghanistan
Lockheed Martin’s (LM) Squad Mission Support System (SMSS) has passed a final round of tests at Fort Riley, Kansas, before scheduled deployment to Afghanistan in 2011. The system, which turns a six-wheeled amphibious ATV into a robotic packhorse and charging station, has been subjected to a variety of simulated warzone environments in both remote controlled and fully autonomous modes. Read More
If there's one place you don't want to be caught wandering around right now, it's the demilitarized zone that separates North and South Korea. Especially since South Korean military hardware manufacturer DoDAMM used the recent Korea Robot World 2010 expo to display its new Super aEgis 2, an automated gun turret that can detect and lock onto human targets from kilometers away, day or night and in any weather conditions, and deliver some heavy firepower. Read More
Color-changing “Blast Badge” to detect relative shockwave exposure
Blast-induced traumatic brain injury from improvised explosive devices (IEDs) is the "signature wound" of the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. With the damage to the brain often not immediately obvious and no objective information of relative blast exposure, soldiers may not receive appropriate medical care and are at risk of being returned to the battlefield too soon. To overcome this inadequacy, researchers have developed a color-changing patch that could be worn on soldiers’ helmets and uniforms to indicate the strength of exposure to blasts from explosives in the field. Read More
