Surveillance

U.S. forces deployed just 13 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) at the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, but although the potential of surveillance and combat aircraft that don't put pilots in the line of fire has always been clear, few would have predicted just how quickly this technology would transform modern warfare. The proof? The U.S. Army has recently surpassed one million unmanned flight hours and is now using 333 different types of unmanned aerial systems in Iraq and Afghanistan... and the growth curve isn't about to level out.  Read More

Researchers at the Southern Methodist University (SMU) in Dallas are developing new miniature camera technology and an iris recognition application built on a high-resolution, light and compact platform known as Panoptes. The technology is designed to help the military and border patrol to track combatants in dark caves or alleys and airport security personnel to quickly and unobtrusively identify a subject from an iris scan.  Read More

While it’s not quite to the level of the Esper Machine in Blade Runner, the integration of the ImmerVision 360 degree Panamorph lens into Feeling Software’s Omnipresence 3D Security System is as close as we’ve seen. Designed to serve as a visual platform for complex, critical security systems such as airports, nuclear facilities, and universities the marriage of the two technologies eliminates blind spots to provide a system that can apparently see it all.  Read More

The sniper is without doubt the most fearsome of opponents – capable of taking your life from great distance. Current anti-sniper counter measures depend on the sight or sound of the initial shot, and by that time, it may be too late. Now a new device which uses the same "red-eye" effect of flash cameras and projects it hundreds of meters, can identify binoculars, sniper scopes, cameras and even human eyeballs that are staring at you. It is hence the first machine that can offer 24/7 warning that you are being watched or targeted, BEFORE a shot is fired.  Read More

Russia has reportedly successfully test-flown its first fifth generation fighter jet prototype. Formally known as the Prospective Aircraft Complex of Frontline Aviation (PAK-FA), the craft made its 47 minute maiden voyage on 29th January. Manufactured by the Russian state owned Sukhoi Aircraft Corporation, the development of this tactical frontline stealth fighter jet is being seen as a significant milestone in the efforts of the country to modernize its post Soviet–era military technology.  Read More

The age of unmanned aerial vehicles UAVs has well and truly dawned but designers aren't resting on their laurels when it comes to improving the capabilities of these multi-talented aircraft. One innovation that's come to the fore recently is the use of an enclosed four rotor platform (see our recent look at the CyberQuad) which offers a number of advantages including greater stability, agility, hovering ability and a smaller footprint. This unique new design from Britain's VTOL Technologies takes this idea a step further, adding four movable rotors to a single "flying-wing" to create an aircraft that claims to deliver a higher payload capacity for its size and up to four times the endurance of current vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) UAV designs.  Read More

Whether you’re tracking a moose, trying to locate a sinking ship, or conducting a little spying, you’re going to be using a field strength logger. One of the slickest units currently available is the WiNRADiO PFSL-G3 Portable Field Strength Logging and Surveillance System. Whereas such systems used to consist of several pieces of equipment, the PFSL-G3 is all contained in one portable, compact, rugged unit. It also now comes with an optional TETRA control protocol decoder, allowing users to prioritize signal traffic by importance.  Read More

Airbus Military's all-new A400M four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft has taken to the air for the first time. The aircraft’s first test flight in the skies above Seville, Spain, comes after many delays – it was originally scheduled for Q1 2008 – but was successfully completed when the plane landed safely at 14.02, December 11, after a flight lasting three hours and forty-seven minutes. The A400M will increase the airlift capacity and range of the aircraft it was designed to replace - the C-130 Hercules and Transall C-160.  Read More

The first of the next generation of Northrop Grumman’s Block 40 configuration RQ-4 Global Hawk has successfully completed its first flight. The two hour flight took the aircraft from Northrop Grumman’s manufacturing facility in Palmdale, California to Edwards Air Force Base, California. Designated AF-18, the Block 40 configuration of the high-altitude, long-endurance (HALE) unmanned aircraft system (UAS) will carry the Multi-Platform Radar Technology Insertion Program (MP-RTIP) active electronically scanned array radar that will help warfighters detect, track and identify stationary and moving targets.  Read More