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App-enabled robocopters to bring supplies to Marines
Marines running low on ammo may one day use an app on their digital handhelds to summon a robotic helicopter to deliver supplies within minutes; the Navy officials in charge of the program are seeking researchers who will develop threat- and obstacle-detection and avoidance systems, as well as autonomous landing capabilities that can operate across different types of aircraft
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Military seeking high-pressure materials without high-pressure processes
Military missions place tremendous stress on the materials used for defense weapons, vehicles, and other applications; applications range from stronger armor, to lighter weights which allow for faster propulsion, to greater resiliency in aerospace, ground, and naval platforms
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U.S. Army to deploy VTOL UAV
The U.S. Army is developing a helicopter-like, VTOL (vertical-take-off-and-landing) UAS (unmanned aircraft system) with a DARPA-sponsored ARGUS wide-area surveillance sensor suite designed to beam back information and images of the surrounding terrain
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NORAD is ready to track Santa's flight
The North American Aerospace Defense Command is getting ready to track Santa’s yuletide journey. The NORAD Tracks Santa Web site went live the other day featuring a Countdown Calendar, a Kid’s Countdown Village complete with holiday games and activities that change daily, and video messages from students and troops from around the world
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The Israeli military prepares for a new type of war
The Israel Defense Force (IDF) has created a new military command – the Strategic Depth Command; this new command, and the new, commando-heavy, look of the IDF’s higher echelon, should tell us that Israel is preparing for a new type of war; adversaries of Israel who have been entertaining the thought that sheer distance from Israel would offer them some protection, may want to think again
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Research may yield more compact antennas for military use
Researchers say that the tall, bulky antennas the U.S. military uses could be scrapped for low-profile, broadband antennas — thanks to a different approach to antenna design that replaces large dipole antennas with a more compact and conformal multi-mode radiator
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New material increases weapons' explosive force
A new material, called High-Density Reactive Material (HDRM), is designed to replace steel in warhead casings with little or no compromise in strength or design
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Research centre to combat devastating effects of roadside bombs
Gaining a better understanding of the injuries caused by roadside bombs and improving both treatment and the means of protection are key aims of a new £8 million research center launched the other day; designing “intelligent” combat boots to deflect the impact of a roadside bomb and diagnosing damage more quickly in the injured to reduce future medical problems are two potential benefits
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U.S. Marines train in collect biometrics, evidence
U.S. Marines train in an “Afghan” city built inside a California Marines base; they train in foot-patrols, room clearing, and search operations where they collected biometric data and other evidence on citizens displaying suspicious behavior or possessing contraband
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Dogs of war: the role of canines in the Second World War
A new book examines how dogs were used by the U.S. and Japanese militaries during the Second World War; the book goes beyond the battlefield duties of these four-legged soldiers and captures how dogs like New York City’s “Skippy” and Tokyo’s “Aren” mobilized their people to their nations’ causes
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Autonomous deployment vehicles in flight tests
The Autonomous Deployment Demonstration (ADD) program has successfully completed flight tests; the ADD concept is to enable small unmanned air vehicles (UAV) equipped with sensor payloads to be launched from aircraft (manned or unmanned), balloons, or precision guided munitions, and dispersed in selectable patterns around designated areas
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Raytheon tests smallest air-launched weapon in its portfolio
Unmanned vehicles continue to evolve, and defense contractors build munitions form them; Raytheon has completed captive carry tests of its Small Tactical Munition Phase II configuration, paving the way for flight tests
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Nature inspires advances in ultrasound technology
Sonar and ultrasound, which use sound as a navigational device and to paint accurate pictures of an environment, are the basis of many technologies, including medical ultrasound machines and submarine navigation systems; when it comes to more accurate sonar and ultrasound, however, animals’ “biosonar” capabilities still have the human race beat – but not for long
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Brazilian fern inspires waterproof coating
A floating weed that clogs waterways around the world has at least one redeeming feature: it has inspired a high-tech waterproof coating intended for boats and submarines
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Researchers fire 1,000th shot on laboratory railgun
Scientists reached a milestone in the Electromagnetic Railgun program when they fired a laboratory-scale system for the 1,000th time on 31 October, the raygun is a long-range weapon that launches projectiles using electricity instead of chemical propellants
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More headlines
The long view
Tantalizing Method to Study Cyberdeterrence
Tantalus is unlike most war games because it is experimental instead of experiential — the immersive game differs by overlapping scientific rigor and quantitative assessment methods with the experimental sciences, and experimental war gaming provides insightful data for real-world cyberattacks.
Testing Cutting-Edge Counter-Drone Technology
Drones have many positive applications, bad actors can use them for nefarious purposes. Two recent field demonstrations brought government, academia, and industry together to evaluate innovative counter-unmanned aircraft systems.
European Arms Imports Nearly Double, U.S. and French Exports Rise, and Russian Exports Fall Sharply
States in Europe almost doubled their imports of major arms (+94 per cent) between 2014–18 and 2019–23. The United States increased its arms exports by 17 per cent between 2014–18 and 2019–23, while Russia’s arms exports halved. Russia was for the first time the third largest arms exporter, falling just behind France.
How Climate Change Will Affect Conflict and U.S. Military Operations
“People talk about climate change as a threat multiplier,” said Karen Sudkamp, an associate director of the Infrastructure, Immigration, and Security Operations Program within the RAND Homeland Security Research Division. “But at what point do we need to start talking about the threat multiplier actually becoming a significant threat all its own?”
The Tech Apocalypse Panic is Driven by AI Boosters, Military Tacticians, and Movies
From popular films like a War Games or The Terminator to a U.S. State Department-commissioned report on the security risk of weaponized AI, there has been a tremendous amount of hand wringing and nervousness about how so-called artificial intelligence might end up destroying the world. There is one easy way to avoid a lot of this and prevent a self-inflicted doomsday: don’t give computers the capability to launch devastating weapons.