Military
Lockheed Martin successfully tests Warrior Fightability & Training Programme
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December 7, 2007 Lockheed Martin has successfully tested its design for the Warrior Fightability & Lethality Improvement Programme (WFLIP), a new weapons system that uses advanced firing control to allow crews to engage moving targets while traveling. Read More
Active flow control technology allows Boeing to deploy munitions at Mach 2
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November 28, 2007 In a landmark demonstration, Boeing and the U.S. Air Force have used "active flow control" technology to deploy munitions from a weapons bay at twice the speed of sound. The MK-82 Joint Direct Attack Munition Standard Test Vehicle was released from a rocket sled at the High-Speed Test Track at Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico, representing the first safe release of munitions from a weapons bay at high supersonic speeds. Read More
Boeing achieves milestone in unmanned underwater vehicle recovery
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November 27, 2007 In a first of its kind operation,
Boeing has successfully demonstrated autonomous launch and recovery of a 21" Unmanned Underwater Vehicle (UUV) from a submarine. Read More
First-of-its-kind dual missile test intercepts targets in space
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November 18, 2007 Raytheon's Standard Missile-3s have successfully intercepted and destroyed ballistic missiles outside the Earth’s atmosphere, the first time a Navy has ship demonstrated simultaneous engagements against such targets in space. Read More
Lockheed Martin tests guided missile impervious to GPS jamming
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November 6, 2007 Lockheed Martin’s Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMLRS) has achieved all its test objectives in Unitary rocket Phase II product qualification test flights at White Sands Missile Range. The tests verified the missile’s ability to perform in a GPS jamming environment at long range – an essential feature for air strikes in close proximity to friendly troops, or with a low collateral damage threshold. Read More
Laser Shot announces Personal Weapon Simulator partnership
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October 29, 2007 Firearms and training systems specialist Laser Shot Incorporated has collaborated with Bohemia Interactive to deliver a Personal Weapon Simulation version of Virtual Battlespace Two (VBS2) software, which includes precise laser and live-fire hit detection, multiple shooter hit detection, camera field-of-view vehicle attachments and After Action Review integration. Read More
BAE Systems wins contract for Mortar Stowage System
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October 18, 2007 BAE Systems has won a US$13.9 million contract to supply its M326 120-mm Mortar Stowage System to the U.S. Army. The hydraulic lift system is designed for loading 300-pound mortar tubes out of humvee trailers - freeing up the 3-4 soldiers normally required for the task and facilitating faster firing and movement of the weapon. Read More
New battlefield robot features “transformer” design
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October 17, 2007 The manufacturer of the TALON® and SWORDS robot units for military and first response scenarios has introduced a new Modular Advanced Armed Robotic System. Known as MAARS™, the robot trumps its predecessors with a 50%, or 2.5mph, increase in speed, a more powerful M240B Medium Machine Gun, a bigger payload bay, higher torque, enhanced safety features and a modular design that enables the gun turret to be switched with a manipulator arm used in the neutralization of roadside bombs. Read More
Boeing-led test successfully intercepts target missile
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October 4, 2007 The Boeing Company, working with industry teammates and the U.S. Missile Defense Agency, has successfully completed a missile defense flight test resulting in the intercept of a target warhead to demonstrate the capability and reliability of the nation's only defense against long-range ballistic missiles. Read More
BAE to develop next-generation night-vision goggles
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September 25, 2007 U.S. army soldiers will be the recipients of enhanced night vision goggles that use digital imagery to improve mobility and situational awareness under all lighting conditions, overcoming battlefield obscurants that would generally hinder vision. Under development by BAE systems as part of the Enhanced Night Vision Goggle program for the U.S. defense forces the helmet-mounted system will digitally combine video imagery from a low-light-level visible sensor and an uncooled long-wave infrared sensor onto a single color display located in front of the soldier's eye. Read More
Russia tests “Father of All Bombs”
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September 18, 2007 Russia has just announced the completion of successful testing of what it dubs the “Father of All Bombs” – four times more powerful than the USA’s comparatively placid “Mother of All Bombs". Both devices are viewed - somewhat dubiously - as “environmentally friendly” alternatives to nuclear devices, as they leave no radioactive fallout. Read More
Integrated tourniquet clothing system aims to save lives on the battlefield
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September 7, 2007 One of the most common causes of preventable deaths in tactical environment is bleeding to death, so any advance in providing assistance as quickly as possible in such situations clearly has the potential to save lives. This is the thinking behind a new range of clothing from Blackhawk that integrates tourniquets into the design which can be immediately accessed by the wearer, their buddy, or a medic to minimize the loss of blood. Read More
Airborne Laser project achieves development milestones
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September 5, 2007 Successful testing of an aircraft mounted laser weapon system has been carried out by the US missile defense agency and industry partnership team at Edwards Air Force base in California. The Airborne Laser (ABL) team has demonstrated the ability to point and focus the Lockheed Martin developed Beam control/Fire control system on an airborne target. Read More
Unmanned Vehicle “Swarming”
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September 1, 2007 The dynamics of the battlefield have changed many times over the centuries as new "killer" technologies have emerged, and another change is about to occur thanks to the evolving role of unmanned systems. As on-board sensor data processing technologies have improved dramatically, the vehicles can function as fully robotic systems, capable of making their own decisions. With these technologies, unmanned systems can act as part of a distributed, intelligent network on the battlefield, processing, sharing and communicating critical data. As a key component of joint, network-centric operations, intelligent vehicles can perform the data processing and communications normally handled by personnel in the field or at a centralized location. Read More
Researchers explore the use of radar anti-landmine technology
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August 31, 2007 There is perhaps no graver reminder of the indiscriminate cruelty of modern warfare than the landmine. It's estimated that over 100 million landmines remain concealed around the world and with the aim of improving detection techniques, researchers from the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands are developing a ultra-wideband radar system that they hope will make the process safer and cheaper. Read More
Reaper UAV to be deployed for combat
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August 31, 2007 The US Airforce has announced the deployment of a new squadron of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) into combat zones in Afghanistan and Iraq. Capable of carrying a payload of 3,750 pounds, the jet-fighter sized MQ-9 Reaper can fly at 300mph, reach 50,000 feet and stay airborne for 14 hours at a time. The "hunter-killer" UAV also incorporates Infrared, laser and radar targeting and is capable of deploying precision guided weapons.
Lockheed Martin tests “Multiple Kill Vehicle” missile fleet defense technology
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August 28, 2007 The Cold War might be over, but the underlying strategy that arose with Reagan’s Star Wars missile defense program in the 1980s lives on as the threat of long-range missile attack remains a global concern. Lockheed Martin have just announced successful testing of part of the Missile Defense Agency's “Multiple Kill Vehicle” program designed to be a single-launch platform to neutralize an entire fleet of incoming enemy missiles. Read More
New Chinook unveiled at Fort Campbell
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August 21, 2007 Aviation history was made at Fort Campbell recently as a newly designed CH-47 Chinook helicopter was officially ushered into operation. Allowing greater capability and Soldier safety, the new $30 million bird was turned over to Company B, 7th Battalion, 101st Aviation Regiment, 159th Combat Aviation Brigade. Read More
MEADS reveal first glimpse of advanced battle management system
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August 20, 2007 MEADS International has released the first photographs of the highly versatile battle management tactical operations center (TOC) planned for the Medium Extended Air Defense System – a mobile air defense system designed to replace existing systems in the United States, Germany and Italy. Read More
Boeing's CH-47F Chinook helicopter fielded to first U.S. Army Unit
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Aug 16, 2007 Boeing has announced that its new CH-47F Chinook helicopter has been certified combat-ready by the U.S. Army and fielded to the first operational unit. Since being first unveiled in mid 2006, the new Chinook has successfully completed 60 rigorous flight test hours including simulated mission scenarios. Read More
LED Incapacitator is enough to make you sick
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August 10, 2007 A real life “light saber” that can subdue anyone in its path? This new type of non-lethal weapon comes in the form of a flashlight that totally incapacitates whoever looks into it. The LED (Light Emitting Diode) Incapacitator emits bright pulses of light at rapidly changing wavelengths that cause disorientation, temporary blindness, nausea, and even vomiting. Read More
BAE Systems demonstrate Common Modular Power System for tactical wheeled vehicles
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August 9, 2007 BAE Systems are demonstrating a prototype Common Modular Power System (CMPS) at the Power and Energy Symposium currently being held at Troy, Michigan. This is in response to a need expressed by the United States Department of Defense for a power system that is able to provide 400amps of 28-volt DC power across the full rev range of a High-Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV or Humvee ) - a perceived requirement for 21st century warfighting. Read More
B-2 Bomber with Massive Penetrator weapon
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July 23, 2007 Just how important does someone have to be to have their own 30,000 pound bomb delivered by a billion dollar aircraft? We'll soon know. We have written about the Massive Penetrator weapon before here and detailed the awesome firepower and effectively infinite range of the US$1.157 billion B-2 here. The B-2 is a multi-role bomber capable of delivering both conventional and nuclear munitions through previously impenetrable defenses. The B-2’s low-observable technologies with high aerodynamic efficiency, large payload and an unrefueled range of approximately 6,000 nautical miles (9,600 kilometers) give it the unique ability to penetrate an enemy's most sophisticated defenses and threaten its most valued, and heavily defended, targets. Read More
Happy 60th birthday to the deadliest gun in history
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July 8, 2007 No-one knows how many AK-47s have been made - a patent was never applied for, so it has been copied by numerous small arms manufacturers across the world since it came into being this weekend, sixty years ago. One estimate puts the number of Kalashnikov AK-47s manufactured at 100 million, making it by far the most populous rifle in history. For six decades, it has been the common man’s rifle - the lowest common denominator of conflict across the planet and the standard issue of many armies still. A triumph of self-taught design, Mikhail Kalashnikov’s AK-47 delivered more bang-per-buck than any other firearm of its day and it never stopped working. Born in 1947, the AK-47 has been best friend to hundreds of millions of men, driving the popularity of the boy’s name Kalash in war-torn countries. Cumulatively, AK-47s have been the first spoil of war, so each weapon would have changed sides many times, with every damaged weapon yielding its undamaged parts to another composite weapon – astoundingly, of the 100 million made, 30 million are still in service in the harshest environment of all. That equally qualifies the gun as delivering the highest levels of misery and wasted humanity of any invention in history. Like the spear, bow and arrow, sword and earlier incarnations of the rifle, the AK-47 has been the dominant military weapon responsible for nearly all changes of sovereignty, and is now taking its place in history in the national emblems of many new nations. Sadly, Kalashnikov’s body of work suggests he would have been a genius in any other field. Read More
Lightweight, hybrid multifunction fuel cell to lighten soldiers' backpacks
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July 5, 2007 Infantry soldiers have a tough lot in life. Apart from being constantly shot at and placed in risk of bodily harm, they're frequently forced to carry around large amounts of heavy equipment, sometimes weighing over a third of their bodyweight. On a typical 5-day-operation, disposable and rechargeable batteries alone account for about ten kilograms of backpack weight, not to mention the various charging devices for cell phones, PDAs and visual systems. There's good news though - German researchers have developed a lightweight hybrid power supply that will soon be able to ease the load. Read More
TASER-armed robots keep police out of harm's way
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June 3, 2007 Love them or hate them, TASER stun guns have become an essential and effective part of law enforcement armory. Perhaps their main drawback has been that even the long-range wireless shotgun-mounted TASER XREP puts a police officer within 30 feet of a potentially dangerous suspect before they're in range. Now, a new partnership between TASER and iRobot will see the construction of TASER-wielding robots that can be sent in to incapacitate violent suspects without ever exposing police officers to the risk of harm. What's more, TASER has released their Remote Area Denial (TRAD) system, an unmanned device that operates in a network to identify and incapacitate intruders in secured areas. It all points towards an interesting future with embedded moral implications; how long will it be until suspects are told "you have 15 seconds to comply?" Read More
CUTLASS next generation Bomb Disposal Robot
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June 28, 2007 Northrop Grumman demonstrated its CUTLASS unmanned explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) vehicle to the U.K. Under-Secretary of State for Defence last week. The CUTLASS system offers the latest technology in a modular design, enabling the user to deal with the full range of both military and improvised explosive devices. Its highly versatile design means that it is capable of accommodating a wide range of payloads, sensors and tools. The manipulator arm is equipped with a state-of-the-art gripper and has nine degrees of freedom for greater movement and agility inside limited spaces, such as the interior of a car. The robot is able to creep along at deliberately slow speeds for delicate operations and may accelerate to high speeds to enable rapid travel. The six-wheeled design offers mobility on all types of hard and soft terrain and in all weather conditions.
TASER to launch wireless non-lethal projectile
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June 27, 2007 TASER is set to introduce the latest addition to its range of non-lethal weapons next month. The new Extended Range Electronic Projectile (XREP) is launched from a standard 12-gauge shotgun platform and is the first wireless TASER device. Now well established in the market, TASER stun guns are widely used in law enforcement, military and more recently, consumer applications. Along the way the company has become embroiled in a string of court cases relating to injuries or deaths which were claimed to be caused by the device and has released a special white paper on the topic ahead of the XERP launch. Though we cannot think of a situation where it would not be preferable to respond with non-lethal force rather than lethal force, it seems people still wish to take on TASER legally - so far the scoreline reads 51-0. Read More
LANdroids - self-organizing, self-healing communications network for urban warfare
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June 25, 2007 Modern warfare is increasingly urban - when you're fighting small groups of anonymous guerrilla insurgents there's no pitched battlefields and American forces are finding that their radio communications are suffering in these Non-Line-Of-Sight environments. The solution? Squadrons of smart communications robots, or LANdroids, each the size of a deck of cards, that can be scattered through an urban environment to create a self-organizing mesh radio network. Each unit constantly repositions itself for maximal signal strength, and if a LANdroid is destroyed, the rest of the units will reposition themselves to restore communications. Read More
Advanced Gun Systems for U.S. Navy's futuristic new destroyers
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June 21, 2007 The role of the Navy has changed with the U.S. "War on Terror" - it is seldom involved in direct naval battles and much more often relegated to support of invading (liberating?) land and air forces. Thus, munitions are being designed to suit. BAE Systems' Advanced Gun Systems (AGS) are currently under construction and will redefine the state of the art for naval firepower. The vertically loaded, pivoting gun towers will launch 155mm standard and guided munitions to a range of approximately 100 miles, with accuracy between 20 and 50 metres and at a rate of up to 12 rounds per minute. Read More
Removable Laser Countermeasure System successfully thwarts heat-seeking missiles
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June 19, 2007 We’ve all seen the scenario many times in films – a heat-seeking missile is launched towards a helicopter and relentlessly pursues its prey to destruction. Now it appears that there’s a removable laser Directional Infrared Countermeasures (DIRCM) System which can defeat such threats. The system was tested for the first time recently and successfully thwarted a series of simulated heat-seeking missile attacks on a Dutch AH-64D Apache helicopter during flight trials at Vliehors Test Range in the Netherlands. The small pod containing Northrop Grumman's laser Directional Infrared Countermeasures (DIRCM) system mounts to the end of the stub-wing on the Apache AH-64D attack helicopter. The system functions by automatically detecting a missile launch, determining if it is a threat and activating a high-intensity laser-based countermeasure system to track and defeat the missile.
Next-generation Sky Warrior's maiden flight a success
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June 18, 2007 Resurrecting a great name from the 1950s, General Atomics have completed the maiden flight of their Sky Warrior Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV). While the original, built by Douglas, was known for being the largest and heaviest "whale" of a bomber to take-off and land on aircraft carriers, the new Sky Warrior will operate as an unmanned long range surveillance, communications and weapons delivery drone. Able to run happily on diesel or jet fuel due to its Heavy Fuel Engine, the Sky Warrior will form a key part of the U.S. Army's Extended Range/Multi Purpose Unmanned Aircraft system. Read More
Using polarisation to help detect deadly trip-wires
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June 4, 2007 Silent, unmoving, millimetre-thin and extremely difficult to see, trip and command wires are frequently found on land mines, conventional munitions and many improvised explosive devices (IEDs). In a bid to increase troop and civilian safety in war zones, defense contractor QinetiQ has been given a UK£800,000 contract to produce and evaluate portable tripwire detection devices based on polarization technology that's showing positive results. Read More
U.S. Defense report nervous on Chinese military capability
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May 31, 2007 A new report from the US department of defense has raised concerns about China's growing military power, particularly in regard to cyber-warfare preparations and an expanding counter-space program. The report to congress entitled "Military Power of the People’s Republic of China" asserts that whilst Beijing continues to focus its military preparedness on the Taiwan Straits, it appears to be shifting its attention to arenas that may pose a greater threat to the rest of the world. Read More
High altitude launch capability demonstrated for MK-54 torpedos
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May 30, 2007 If there’s an absolute truth about military technology, it’s that it keeps getting more deadly with each passing year and the High Altitude ASW Weapons Concept (HAAWC) is a prime example. HAAWC employs the Lockheed Martin LongShot Wing Adapter Kit to allow the launch of torpedoes from high altitudes and long standoff ranges, allowing aircrews to remain beyond the reach of enemy air defences. Additionally, the manoeuvrability of the concept allows for off-axis launch of torpedoes at potential undersea targets preventing the need for the aircraft to manoeuvre. Read More
