Military
ASTOR Radar tests deliver quality target imagery
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January 13, 2006 The flight test programme for the U.K. Airborne Stand-Off Radar (ASTOR) programme is progressing well in the U.S. and the U.K. As of December, 2005, a/c #1 (based in Greenville, Texas) was well into its series of check flights while, in the U.K., a/c #2 had completed its first phase of flight testing. According to the test team, the DMR in a/c #1 was producing good quality imagery on only its second operational check flight. ASTOR is a ground surveillance system designed to provide information regarding the deployment and movement of enemy forces. It uses state-of-the-art radar technology to obtain high resolution imagery of static features and can also identify and track moving vehicles. Imagery gathered is transmitted in near-real-time to a network of distributed Ground Stations deployed with front-line forces. Images can be displayed and analysed within the Ground Stations, ensuring that tactical commanders are aware of the latest developments on the ground. ASTOR will be a brand new capability for the UK Armed Forces and the most advanced system of its kind, anywhere in the world, when it enters service. It will be a vital force multiplier in the modern conflict where speed of battle is such that up-to-date information is crucial if troops are to be deployed effectively. Read More
Sea Based X-Band Radar
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January 12, 2006 We just had to run this US Department of Defence image because it rates as remarkable on several counts. That’s the Norwegian heavy lift vessel MV Blue Marlin with a deck cargo of a Sea Based X-Band Radar entering Pearl Harbor a few days ago after completing a 15,000-mile journey from Corpus Christi, Texas. The Sea Based X-Band Radar is a combination of the world's largest phased array X-band radar carried aboard a mobile, ocean-going semi-submersible oil platform. The radar is capable of highly advanced, ballistic missile detection while discriminating a hostile warhead from decoys and countermeasures. The platform, which is much larger than it looks, will undergo minor modifications, maintenance and routine inspections in Pearl Harbor before completing its voyage to the Aleutian Islands. See inside for more pics, including one which will suddenly jolt your senses into just how gargantuan the subjects of this image are. Read More
New Radar Scope offers X-ray vision
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January 15, 2006 There was once a time when a concrete wall on the battlefield meant that a soldier was both safe from bullets and invisible to the enemy. Thanks to the coming XM25 Advanced Airburst Weapon System and DARPA’s latest invention, the “Radar Scope”, the concrete wall has now been rendered useless on both counts. The new "Radar Scope" offers warfighters the very same x-ray vision with which SuperMan captivated a generation of youngsters – it can see through walls. The Radar Scope is a light-weight, low-cost, through-wall personnel detector that uses stepped-frequency radar to detect subtle changes in Doppler signature of the returned signal. Put simply, it is a motion detector that can see through walls. Read More
The cannon of the 21st century - the Howitzer M777
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December 5, 2005 The Chinese were the first to experiment with explosive powders around 300 AD but it was not until 1252, when the secret ingredients of those powders were documented in an essay by Roger Bacon that the age of the cannon and “gun powder” began. The cannon of the modern era was first used sometime between 1300 and 1350 and was widely used throughout Europe by 1400, redefining warfare and reaching the heights of its powers in the 17th century before further technological developments matched its key military role. These days it would be easy to underestimate the role of the cannon in warfare where brute force has been replaced with surgical precision but ponder for a minute the capabilities of the new Howitzer M777. The M777 is the first ground combat system to make extensive use of titanium and aluminium and is approximately half the weight of comparable systems, making it easily transportable, easily towed across country at high speed and easily fitted to faster, lighter, purpose built vehicles. It is capable of firing a 155mm shell at up to five rounds per minute while achieving high levels of accuracy with targets up to 30 kilometres away. Firing Raytheon’s new Excalibur satellite-guided artillery shell, the M777 has proven pinpoint accurate, and although specifications call for them being capable of striking within ten metres at a range of 40 kilometres, tests have shown much greater accuracy. Read More
Guncam offers accountability and understanding
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December 4, 2005 At some point in the future, it’s quite feasible that we’ll record everything we do, given that storage space continues to get cheaper and digital imaging devices are fast becoming ubiquitous. The important things will be first, so we can learn better ways, and one of the most important areas we know so very little about is what actually happens in a firefight – no other situation on earth has as much potential to distort reality as being in mortal danger. So the guncam is important - this weapon mounted camera records video in firefights, grants accountability, helps training and avoids risky body exposure of the user. One of the main problems in the use of firearms, in firefight incidents, is not knowing how they were used and how the missions were executed, which generates a problem in terms of accountability of actions. That is why it is fundamental for officers in command to easily retrieve as much accurate information as is available in order to analyze the events. The Guncam can also be used in conjunction with a GPS, enabling the locations at which images were taken to be pinpointed. Read More
Thermobaric weapons under fire again
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War is ugly and inhumane but seemingly inevitable - so it makes sense to have some rules around what is acceptable and what isn’t. One of the most interesting stories of the week surfaced when David Hambling wrote in Defensetech about a new weapon in use by the US in Iraq - the SMAW-NE. Shoulder-Launched Multipurpose Assault Weapons (SMAW) have been in use for two decades, using High Explosive Anti-Armor (HEAA) rockets against tanks and High Explosive, Dual Purpose (HEDP) rockets against bunkers and light armour. But now there’s a new rocket with a thermobaric charge so destructive it can be used to demolish buildings. Thermobaric weapons disperse a flammable mist of underoxidised fuel which ignites to create a multipurpose explosion of immense destructiveness. Firstly, it is accompanied by a massive fireball which incinerates all in its path. Secondly, it creates a massive pressure wave capable of rupturing the internal organs of all those nearby and so powerful that it can reduce load-bearing walls to rubble and bring down buildings. Finally, the explosion also sucks all the oxygen out of the air, asphyxiating anyone in the immediate vicinity . Basically, if you’re in the building when it hits, it’ll kill you. Human Rights Organisations believe the weapons are inhumane, and that the potential for non-combatant deaths is far too great for the weapons to be used in urban areas. Read More
PhaSR – the first man-portable, non-lethal deterrent weapon
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November 5, 2005 No this is not a movie prop nor will it be marketed by Mattel for the bigger boys this Christmas– it is one of two working prototypes of a non-lethal laser gun built by the Air Force Research Laboratory's Directed Energy Directorate. The non-lethal illumination technology weapon was developed by the laboratory's ScorpWorks team. Dubbed the PhaSR (who needs a Madison Avenue creative team when you can come up with names like this – an acronym for Personnel Halting and Stimulation Response), it is the first man-portable, non-lethal deterrent weapon and is intended for protecting troops and controlling hostile crowds. The weapon employs a two-wavelength laser system and is a hand-held, single-operator system for troop and perimeter defense. The weapon’s laser light temporarily blinds its targets. Read More
Low-Cost Autonomous Attack System (LOCASS) successfully flight tested
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November 4, 2005 The cost of armed, autonomous vehicles which can loiter over the battlefield and destroy enemy targets seems to be coming down fairly quickly, if recent flight tests are any indication. The Low-Cost Autonomous Attack System (LOCASS), is an autonomous, wide-area search, miniature munition equipped with a LADAR seeker and was successfully flight-tested at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida, USA on October 21. Each LOCAAS carries a multi-mode explosively formed warhead which can be detonated as a long rod penetrator, an aerostable slug, or as fragments, based upon the hardness of the target. The Lockheed Martin-developed LADAR seeker can identify the target and determine the aim point and warhead mode. Read More
The Battlefield Target Identification Device (BTID) - don't leave home without it
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November 1, 2005 Fratricide is the military term for getting killed by your own side. As dreadful as it may sound, it happens in every conflict and one of the key objective in the digitalisation of the battlefield is to eliminate the self-inflicted carnage. Raytheon (RSL) is currenty trialling two Battlefield Target Identification Device (BTID) Transponders at the Coalition Combat Identification Advanced Concept Technology Demonstrator (ACTD) trials being undertaken on Salisbury Plain which are intended to do just that. RSL was contracted by the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) in July this year to provide the systems and also to provide vehicle integration and associated technical support during the trials. The Raytheon equipment will be fielded on UK, US and Italian combat vehicles. Read More
Multi Ammunition Softkill System uses Bullfighting methodology
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October 25, 2005 The effectiveness of armed forces has improved dramatically thanks to the availability of advanced, information-processing sensors, but as these capabilities have spread, the threat to man and material from hostile reconnaissance systems and missiles has also grown and the development of effective protection systems is becoming increasingly important. The recent demonstration of Rheinmetall Waffe Munition’s MASS (Multi Ammunition Softkill System) by BAE Systems for U.S. military forces was a site to behold. The system works in exactly the same way that a bullfighter draws the alignment of the charging bull away from his body – MASS lures the hostile missile system away from its naval target with a optimized key stimuli. Insiders refer to this as the Pamela Anderson principle. Read More
U.S. Army invests US$22 million in next-generation thermal weapon sights
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October 16, 2005 All objects emit infrared energy or heat, and this energy can be viewed with an infrared lens designed to create a thermogram, or picture, of the environment, regardless the amount of light. Although objects in a scene can be the same temperature, they often appear to be different temperatures, due to the way they emit infrared energy. Variations in the energy that objects emit create a detailed temperature map of a scene that easily can be interpreted by the viewer. Accordingly, it’s not surprising that the U.S. Army is investing US$22 million with thermal imaging specialists DRS technologies to produce next-generation Medium Weapon Thermal Weapon Sights (TWS II) for U.S. Marine Corps applications. Read More
First live fly demonstration of airborne, maritime and fixed station JTRS prototype
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October 15, 2005 The once free-flowing battlespace is fast becoming a tightly-integrated information system for the US military. Lockheed Martin this week successfully completed a live fly demonstration of the Airborne, Maritime and Fixed Station (AMF) component of the military's Joint Tactical Radio Systems (JTRS) program. The demonstration featured airborne, ground-based and simulated maritime units collaborating in real time across an integrated airborne IP network to rapidly find, identify and strike a time-sensitive target. Read More
Kelly the Dolphin: armed and dangerous?
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September 27, 2005 The Guardian Unlimited ran a story on September 25 about armed dolphins having escaped from US Naval facilities during Hurricane Katrina. The article explains the dolphins have been trained to shoot toxic darts at terrorists and spies using a specially designed harness and could prove extremely dangerous to surfers, divers and windsurfers should they be mistaken for terrorists by the dolphins. It went on to state, “The US Navy admits it has been training dolphins for military purposes, but has refused to confirm that any are missing.” It’s a great yarn and it really got us going, until we checked with the US Navy’s press office and found the following press release had been issued on September 17, eight days prior to the Guardian's article. It reads, “Kelly the dolphin is placed in a temporary saltwater pool in a facility at Naval Construction Battalion Center Gulfport. Kelly has spent the last two and a half weeks in the Gulf of Mexico with four other dolphins who escaped when Hurricane Katrina destroyed their home at the Marine Life Oceanarium in Gulfport.” The press release continues ... Read More
Successful Compact Kinetic Energy Missile Test
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September 21, 2005 Lockheed Martin has successfully conducted a sled test of its Compact Kinetic Energy Missile (CKEM) recently at the High Speed Test Track at Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico. The test evaluated penetration data and the lethality mechanism of the CKEM missiles' design. Test objectives were achieved. The missile was accelerated by test track rocket motors to a velocity representing a long-range mission, and was tested against an armored tank turret. A second lethality test is scheduled for later this year, and will be against an up-armored tank. Lockheed Martin is co-funding the tests with the U.S. Army Aviation Missile Research Development and Engineering Center (AMRDEC) in Huntsville, AL. Read More
NSA SME-PED - the handheld for spooks
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September 16, 2005 The United States National Security Agency (NSA) is planning to build its own secure wireless handset capable of voice and data communications over public networks, including CDMA, GSM and Wi-Fi. The handset which is currently going under the name of "secure mobile environment - portable electronic device," (SME-PED) is a secure wireless product that will provide users with voice and data communications supporting security levels up to Top Secret, as well as e-mail communications supporting security levels up to Secret. The SME-PED also provides Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) functionality. The SME-PED will provide the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and other U.S. Government users with a converged voice and e-mail communications device similar to commercially available devices such as BlackBerry, SideKick and Treo 650. Two companies have been awarded US$18 million dollar multi-year contracts to develop the SME-PED. Read More
EDO Introduces Rugged Mini Tablet Computer: Situational Awareness in the Soldier's Pocket
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September 13, 2005 EDO Corporation is introducing its new MINI-T Rugged Mini-Tablet Computer at the Defence Systems & Equipment International (DSEi) Exhibition, which is being held this week in London. The one-kilogram, personal-digital-assistant (PDA) design offers "situational awareness in the soldier's pocket" that is useable from the Antarctic to the desert. Typical PDA screens tend to be too small for situational awareness information needed in the battlefield and thus have been limited mainly to sending messages. The MINI - T rugged computer solves this problem with as much as twice the usable screen area as a PDA, powered by substantially faster digital-signal processing. It includes a 6.4 inch sunlight-readable touch screen and dual processing with a 200MHz RISC/DSP. Read More
Vehicle-mounted Acoustic Sniper Detection System
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August 28, 2005 If there’s one thing worse than having snipers shooting at you, it’s getting shot at and not knowing. That’s the bizarre situation US Forces have encountered in both Iraq and Afghanistan as they travel the vast distances in convoys, unable to tell if a bullet has just flown past amidst the noise, dust, and rumble of up to 100 war machines around them. DARPA and BBN Technologies decided to tackle this increasingly common problem and came up with the device pictured. It’s called the Boomerang Mobile Shooter Detection System and alerts soldiers of incoming sniper fire to give them the opportunity to retreat to safety or return fire before they are hit. The Boomerang units attach to a vehicle and use seven small microphones, arranged like the spine of a sea urchin, to detect both the muzzle blast and the shock wave from a speeding bullet. Once a sniper's bullet is detected, Boomerang's display panel, which is located inside the vehicle, alerts soldiers through audio and visual signals that a bullet has been fired, its direction and elevation. Boomerang is currently being trialled on 50 Humvees in Iraq. Read More
Small Diameter Bomb likely to become one of the most successful weapons development programs ever
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August 27, 2005 The US Air Force’s Small Diameter Bomb (SDB) is designed to help the airforce fly fewer sorties and hit more targets and looks likely to become one of the most successful weapons development programs ever. Essentially, the idea is to reduce the size of the bomb so planes can carry more of them and with final testing finishing this week and proving devastatingly accurate, the SDB will now begin operational service deployed on the F-15E Strike Eagle in early 2006. The all-weather SDB weapon system includes four bombs and is compatible with every U.S. fighter and bomber aircraft. It has a standoff range of 60 nautical miles. At 71 inches long, this 250-pound class weapon quadruples the number of weapons every aircraft can carry. Read More
The Gladiator: US Marines' Unmanned Ground Vehicle
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UPDATED August 28, 2005 NEW IMAGES It’s smaller than the smallest car and it may look harmless and cute but pray you never get on the wrong side of the aptly named Gladiator – last week Carnegie Mellon University and BAE Systems North America (formerly United Defense Industries) gave the world its first glimpse of the battlefield future when it held the first public demonstration of Gladiator, the first tactical unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) being developed for the U.S. Marine Corps, demonstrating what the combat UGV might look and act like. It is anticipated that the Gladiator will be deployed for a wide range of dangerous situations where it can do the same job as a soldier without risking a life – things like carrying out search-and-discovery missions in hostile areas, urban battlefields, mine fields, or when there is a high possibility of chemical or biological weapons being used. The Gladiator is also capable of bearing arms so it can eliminate threats when necessary. Read More
The use-once flying video camera
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The Firefly is a new disposable camera fired from a grenade launcher designed for those unfortunate moments a soldier encounters once in a while when you need to see what’s ahead, but don’t have a UAV to tell you. The Firefly is a miniature projectile weighing 145g and launched from a standard-issue M203 grenade launcher attached to an M16 assault rifle. It’s a use-once video camera with a life-span of just eight seconds. The idea behind the Firefly is that it is launched skyward above the area you wish to get a look at – say, over the next hill or above the location of people who are shooting at you. The camera has a range of 600 metres and and thanks to the wings that extend once it is launched, an extended hang-time of around eight seconds during which it transmits high resolution, colour video images back to portable PC or handheld (with add-on receiver and antenna) of what’s lying directly under its trajectory.
Australian Army scores Bulls-Eye with first Hellfire II launched from a Eurocopter Tiger ARH
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August 11, 2005 The Australian Army scored a first when it performed the first successful firing of a HELLFIRE II missile from Australia's Eurocopter Tiger armed reconnaissance helicopter (ARH), at the Woomera test range in Australia's southern desert earlier this week. The Tiger is the first non-U.S. platform to integrate the HELLFIRE II missile. The missile was equipped with an inert warhead and was launched in the lock-on-before-launch mode by a Eurocopter test pilot, targeting a simulated armored personnel carrier (APC) target six kilometers downrange. The target was designated by the launching ARH helicopter. The missile struck dead center, leaving a gaping hole in the target. The Hellfire II comes in four models: the high-explosive anti-tank missile, the blast fragmentation missile, the millimeter-wave radar Longbow missile and the thermobaric Hellfire missile. Watch the videos inside to understand the differences between each lethal variant. Read More
Airborne Laser Team Completes New Phase of Payload Testing
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August 5, 2005 The Boeing Airborne Laser (ABL) team has completed flight testing of the system’s passive mission payload, moving the program through another phase of critical testing. This test event, called the Low Power Systems Integration-Passive test, included ground and flight tests of ABL’s battle management command and control system and the Beam Control/Fire Control segment. The Airborne Laser is an intregal part of the Ballistic Missile Defense System designed to protect the United States, its allies, and its deployed troops from ballistic missile attack. Using a megawatt-class Chemical Oxygen Iodine Laser housed aboard a modified Boeing 747-400 Freighter, the Airborne Laser’s mission is to detect, track, target and destroy ballistic missiles during their boost-phase, or shortly after launch. Its revolutionary use of directed energy makes it unique among the world’s weapon systems, displaying a capability to attack at the speed of light at a range of hundreds of kilometres. Read More
Javelin Enters Service Four Months Early
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August 2, 2005 UK Javelin, developed and produced by the Raytheon/Lockheed Martin Javelin Joint Venture for the UK's Light Forces Anti-Tank Guided Weapon (LFATGW) program, has been declared operational four months ahead of schedule. The world's premier shoulder-fired anti-armor system, Javelin automatically guides itself to the target after launch, allowing the gunner to take cover and avoid counterfire. Soldiers or Marines can reposition immediately after firing, or reload inside 20 seconds to engage another threat. Using an arched top-attack profile, Javelin climbs above its target for improved visibility and then strikes where the armor is weakest. To fire, the gunner places a cursor over the selected target. The Javelin command launch unit then sends a lock-on-before-launch signal to the missile. With its soft launch design, Javelin can be safely fired from inside buildings or bunkers. Check out these video links of the Javelin proving how devastating it is in action. Read More
Directed Energy Active Denial System for security applications
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July 25, 2005 An Active Denial System that fires 95 GHz-millimeter-wave directed energy is being developed for multiple uses by a multi-organizational team. ADS systems are a new class of nonlethal weaponry using 95 GHz-millimeter-wave directed energy. This technology is capable of rapidly heating a person’s skin to achieve a pain threshold that has been demonstrated by AFRL human subject testing to be very effective at repelling people, without burning the skin or causing other secondary effects. The US Department of Energy Office of Security and Safety Performance Assurance (SSA) is exploring the potential to use directed energy weapons technology sponsored by the Department of Defense (DoD), named Active Denial Technology (ADT), to help protect DOE nuclear assets. Read More
First Round fired from 38-Calibre NLOS Cannon
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UPDATED August 3, 2005 The Non-Line-of-Sight Cannon (NLOS-C) Concept Technology Demonstrator is the next generation advanced cannon artillery solution for the US Army and it has been clocking up milestones on its fast-tracked road to deployment recently. Designed to move rapidly and set-up quickly, the Non-Line of Site cannon is capable of firing a round every 10 seconds and maintaining a sustained rate of six rounds per minute at ranges of nearly 15 miles. The NLOS-C is a hybrid-diesel aluminium-armored vehicle with extremely quiet 18-inch band tracks. Most significantly, it is far more automated than any mobile cannon in history, with an automatic ammunition-handling system laser igniter and enough robotics to reduce the crew from four to two compared to the Crusader it will replace. It is also half the weight of a Crusader, 30 percent more fuel-efficient and the lead manned ground vehicle system of the US Army's Future Combat Systems program.
The Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) Block 1A Quick Reaction Unitary Missile gets even more accurate
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July 20, 2005 The US Army order an extra 106 Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) Block 1A Quick Reaction Unitary missiles earlier this week, significantly upgrading its surface-to-surface missile arsenal. At US$745,000 each, they aren’t cheap, but the recently upgrade guidance, control and fuze system on these missiles is very special – they can take out a target (5.7MB video) with surgical accuracy at a range of 300 kilometres while almost completely eliminating collateral damage. ATACMS is the only long-range tactical surface-to-surface missile ever fired in combat by the U.S. Army. The ATACMS Block IA Unitary is a derivative of the ATACMS Block IA tactical ballistic missile, with the M74 submunitions replaced by a monolithic 500-pound warhead. This warhead reduces collateral damage likelihood and makes it particularly suitable to attack hardened targets such as fortifications and bunkers. When used in Operation Desert Storm and Operation Iraqi Freedom, it destroyed or rendered inoperable every target it engaged. The new model with improved guidance is capable of flying over obstacles, such as mountains or tall buildings in a built-up area, then diving vertically to more accurately engage its high-payoff, time-sensitive targets. Read More
60th anniversary of the first nuclear explosion
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July 16, 2005 On this day sixty years ago, the world entered the nuclear age with the first nuclear explosion in the famous top secret test named “Trinity” by Robert Oppenheimer. Oppenheimer had an avid interest in Sanskrit literature and the reference was to the divine Hindu trinity of Brahma (the Creator), Vishnu (the Preserver), and Shiva (the Destroyer).
The detonation took place at 5:29:45 local time on July 16, 1945, when “the Gadget" (code-named as such during its development) exploded (pictured). Upon witnessing the explosion, which proved the theoretical predictions and calamitous effects of the new weapon, Oppenheimer recited the following passage from the Bhagavad-Gita: “If the radiance of a thousand suns, Were to burst at once into the sky, That would be like the splendor of the Mighty One ... I am become Death, The shatterer of Worlds.” The US$2 billion Manhattan project began six years earlier when Albert Einstein wrote to President Franklin D. Roosevelt telling him of Nazi Germany’s efforts to build an atomic bomb. The project culminated within a month of this test after the only two uses of nuclear weapons in history. Three weeks later (August 6) a uranium bomb was dropped on Hiroshima instantaneously killing 66,000 people. On August 9, 1945, a Plutonium bomb fell on Nagasaki instantly killing 40,000. Japan offered to surrender on August 10, 1945.
Armoured Security Vehicle (ASV) in demand in Iraq
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July 15, 2005 Our recent story on the World's toughest bus which has been used to defeat many ambushes in Iraq caused a lot of reader response, so we thought it might be worth noting the United States Army’s US$500 million purchase of an additional 724 Armoured Security Vehicles (ASV) to protect troops in Iraq. The ASV is a 4X4 wheeled armoured vehicle that provides crew protection against medium calibre armour-piercing machine gun fire, large artillery projectile fragments, and land mines. The advanced exceedingly lightweight ceramic armour allows the vehicle to be able to "roll-on/roll-off" C-130 military transport aircraft. ASV’s off-road performance includes the capability to ford water depths of five feet, climb gradients of 60 percent, and overcome obstacles 2 feet high. Unlike many other vehicles, the ASV enables the crew to load, reload and clear gun jams under full armour protection. Special run-flat tires with central tire inflation offer the crew added mobility when under fire. When faced with nuclear, biological and chemical threats, ASV’s gas particulate air filtration system, used in tandem with a ventilated facepiece, offers additional protection. Read More
Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader Light Sabers
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July 9, 2005 They may not be real but that isn’t expected stop two of the best known concept weapons in history from fetching in excess of US$50,000 when Beverly Hills auctioneer Profiles in History auctions treasures from the archive of filmmaker Gary Kurtz on July 29. Kurtz was the producer of Star Wars and Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, and among the lots to go under the hammer will be original, screen-used props such as Luke Skywalker’s hero light saber, Luke's X-Wing flight suit, Darth Vader’s hero light saber and a Stormtrooper blaster. Star wars fans will need the force with them on the day of the auction as bidding is expected to be fierce with Luke’s light saber and flight suit expected to fetch as much as US$80,000 each. Read More
PAC-3 Missile Receives NDIA Gold Medal For Exemplary Performance
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July 6, 2005 The PAC-3 Missile has received one of the US National Defense Industrial Association's (NDIA) Gold Medal Award for industrial development and manufacturing, one of the Association's highest honours. The "hit-to-kill" PAC-3 Missile is the world's most capable air and missile defense interceptor. It uses the kinetic energy of "hit-to-kill" intercept to defeat ballistic missiles carrying weapons of mass destruction, advanced cruise missiles and aircraft. The PAC-3 Missile, the world's first operationally deployed missile employing hit-to-kill technology, made its combat debut with U.S. Army forces in Iraq in 2003. Sales of the missile to non-US Patriot users commenced this year, with orders from The Netherlands and Japan. Read More
Next-Generation Communications for Unmanned Systems
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June 28, 2005 Technology continues to add ever increasing, capabilities, firepower and situational awareness to the modern warfighter. Indeed, the ability for soldiers on the ground, at sea and in the air to share information in real time has been the goal for all fighting forces around the world and will soon be a reality thanks to next-generation signal intelligence and data link products shown at the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI's) Unmanned Systems North America 2005 Conference in Baltimore, Maryland today. The products build on Cubic's field-proven data link technologies, which transmit real-time data, video and other sensor information from airborne systems to ground-based and shipboard platforms. Read More
The toughest bus on the planet
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June 18, 2005 “Route Irish” is the local name for the heavily travelled, and highly dangerous road between the secure Green Zone in Baghdad and Baghdad International Airport. There have been so many ambushes and IED explosions on that route that all U.S. State Department personnel were forbidden from travelling the route by road last December (2004) and must use helicopters instead. If you don’t have a helicopter at your disposal in Baghdad, as nearly all Military and civilian contractor personnel don’t, there’s really only one certain option if you wish to remain alive and that’s to travel in one of the heavily armoured Rhino Runner buses. Without a shadow of doubt, the Rhino Runner is the toughest bus on the planet – when the human value of the cargo is V.I.P. and above, it is the military’s vehicle of choice to provide safe ground transportation. Regular users of the vehicle in Baghdad include U.S. Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, General Dick Myers, Saddam Hussein and all other V.I.P. prisoners. The stories surrounding the massive attacks that Rhino Runners have withstood border on the preposterous. Read More
US Airforce testing remotely manned security vehicles
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June 16, 2005 The mundane duties of routine patrolling and perimeter control take on new and dangerous meaning in a war zone, as has been found in Iraq, so it’s not entirely unexpected to see the US Air Force Research Laboratory experimenting with how unmanned detection, challenge and response systems might integrate robotics into the day-to-day security forces mission. “These systems are not intended to replace human interaction,” said Kevin Hodges, AFRL robotics program manager. “They remain under human control at all times and are designed to help our Airmen by keeping them out of harm’s way. Our focus is saving lives.” Read More
The networked battlefield moves a step closer
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June 1, 2005 The network centric battlefield moved a step closer this week with the first live-fire testing of the Quick Reaction Unitary (QRU) Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) using a network centric integrated High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) launcher. If it sounds complex, that’s because it is, but the big idea is to save time when a time-critical target is identified in the battle space. The test went like this: an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) identified a Time Sensitive Target (TST), relaying the information to the proper system node in order to generate a "call-for-fire" message to a Battle Command Cell (BCC) prototype. The BCC prototype provides embedded battle command capabilities, including command and control, situational awareness and direct sensor feeds of target imagery. The UAV provided geographic location data to the BCC, which then ordered a fire mission for an ATACMS QRU off the network-integrated HIMARS launcher, significantly reducing the time to hit the target. The test proved that in those defining moments when seconds matter, a directly networked HIMARS firing ATACMS in the command and control structure will prove to be a considerable force multiplier. Read More
XM25 Prototypes in testing – 500% lethality increase over existing weapon systems
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May 27, 2005 The XM25 Advanced Airburst Weapon System is an entirely new class of weapon that takes the concept of a grenade launcher and adds some smarts, thereby increasing the probability of hit-to-kill performance by up to 500 percent over existing weapons. The advanced design allows the soldier to program the air bursting 25mm round so that it flies to the target and detonates at a precise point in the air. It does not require impact to detonate and is hence capable of defeating an enemy behind a wall, inside a building or in a foxhole. Read More
