Reconnaissance

April 24, 2007 The remarkable success of robots in Iraq and Afghanistan is now well documented. UAVs have proven invaluable at every level and robotic ground systems, primarily iRobot’s Packbot, have performed tens of thousands of missions and saved countless lives from the dreaded Improvised Explosive Device (IED). The PackBot is used daily in war zones to disarm IEDs and search buildings, caves and tunnels. Now, the Boeing and iRobot are to combine knowledge to build a next generation of the robotic military ground platform. The SUGV Early will be a smaller, lighter version of the PackBot, and will provide military, civil and commercial users with unprecedented reconnaissance and secure, real-time intelligence capabilities.  Read More

March 31, 2006 As much as it might sound like it comes from a satellite television company, the Fox (aka Fuchs in German) NBC (Nuclear, Biological and Chemical) reconnaissance vehicle is a very serious machine with an increasingly important role. A decade after the end of the Cold War, nuclear, biological and chemical warfare agents remain a serious, perhaps even growing threat in particular reference to biological and chemical agents due to their relatively easy production compared to nuclear agents. Terrorism is another growing threat to populations, forces and territory, as well as to international security. Therefore the ability to reliably and quickly detect the covert release of NBC warfare agents and other toxic substances even under difficult conditions is becoming increasingly important. As such, the announcement that the United Arab Emirates is purchasing 32 Fox NBC vehicles (only 260 exist today) gives us an opportunity to outline the capabilities of these remarkable systems.  Read More

August 2, 2005 Bell Helicopter last week was awarded a US$2.2 billion contract by the United States Army to build 368 of its next generation Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter (ARH) between 2006 and 2013. The ARH will replace the Army’s OH-58D Kiowa Warrior Helicopter and it is a significant improvement being fast agile and able to stalk its prey like nothing else in the air. Indeed, there's nothing it can’t spot in any weather, day or night thanks to its FLIR system. Not only can it track its prey, it can also be proactive thanks to an array of weapons systems such as a 2,000rpm Gatling gun, 2.75 inch rockets, Hellfire missiles or as many as 38 Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS) tubes at one time. With room for two pilots and three passengers, the ARH has room for the smartest weapons of all. Finally, it thrives in adverse conditions with its high ballistic tolerance, crashworthiness and the latest aircraft survivability equipment. Bell’s ARH is a militarized version of its highly successful 407 single engine light helicopter – sometimes known as the “sports car of the air.” Capable of being equipped with a wide variety of weapons, the Bell ARH will provide the Army with exceptional mission versatility and with the flexibility to accomplish armed reconnaissance, light attack, troop insertion, and special operations missions with a single aircraft. Check out this video of the Bell ARH doing its thing.  Read More

June 30, 2005 Researchers at the United States National Nuclear Security Administration’s Sandia National Laboratories flew what is probably the world’s smallest fine-resolution synthetic aperture radar (SAR) recently, making real-time images from the 6-kilometer range with a resolution of four inches. It was a first for the 25-pound instrument that may soon be used for reconnaissance on near-model-airplane-sized unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).  Read More

March 6, 2005 The CHARC is designed to provide a lethal response for some of the emerging littoral threats facing large Navy vessels including suicide speedboats packed with explosives, small high-speed boat "swarm attacks" and diesel-electric submarines. With similar offensive capabilities to that of an AH-1W Super Cobra helicopter crammed onto a high-speed surface platform, the CHARC is small, fast and stealthy and can attack on a moment's notice using an array of Hellfire missiles, 20-millimeter guns, 40-millimeter grenade launchers and torpedoes. Like the AH-1W Super Cobra, a crew of two control the craft from a forward cockpit.  Read More

February 2, 2005 - Northrop Grumman has successfully completed the first phase of flight testing a demonstrator version of a new medium altitude endurance unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). Soldiers in urban battle zones could receive more timely and complete information about enemy forces from low-flying unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) with the technologies being developed.  Read More