In late September 2007, Boeing successfully tested a 1kw solid state laser weapon mounted on a converted Avenger anti aircraft vehicle in Redstone Arsenal, Alabama. The Avengers laser was able to successfully destroy several unexploded mortar shells and two unmanned aerial vehicles, both of which were on the ground.

Until recently, military lasers were extremely big. Powerful lasers such as Boeing’s Airborne Laser (ABL) developed in order to destroy ballistic missiles in flight from a distance of hundreds of miles were so big they required a fully modified Boeing 747-400F to house the system. Thanks to new developments in solid state laser technology, the Avenger system is more compact than any previous military lasers.

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It has always been a goal to improve our military strength and skill over our soldiers. DARPA has been at the fore-front of technology that is taking this to a new level. A robotic exoskeleton that would let GIs run faster, leap further and carry more is starting to materialize and become reality. A very practical and ambitious idea that is allowing many more options for our military.

According to DARPA, the exoskeletons will be delivered for Army testing in 2008. After 14 companies and universities initially (circa 2001) came up with different designs, they have selected the firm that will build the beast: Sarcos of Salt Lake City in Utah, US.

Sarcos has come up with a system that uses just one engine instead of lots of them. The engine, and a tank containing a 24-hour supply of fuel, will be slung ‘beneath your rear end’ says Main. The engine (a turbine, two-stroke or four stroke - they haven’t decided yet) will then drive hydraulic fluid via high pressure lines to servo valves on each joint, amplifying the force used to move each limb when the wearer’s motion is sensed.

“It makes you feel really, really strong. You get the sensation that you have a lot of strength. I sort of felt like The Hulk and I’m a skinny guy. I wore a 100-pound weight on my back and it felt I was carrying nothing like that amount,”

In 2006, Engineers in Japan were perfecting a wearable power suit that amplifies human strength to help lift hospital patients or heavy objects. It was driven by portable batteries, micro air pumps and small body sensors that pick up even the slightest muscle twitch. Lead by project researcher Hirokazu Noborisaka, the Stand-Alone Wearable Power Assist Suit was designed to help nursing home workers lift patients of up to 180 pounds while cutting the amount of strength required in half.

However, that suit needed to be more flexible for easier movement and protective cover that shrouds the suit’s sensitive or sharp areas.

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British defense researchers have invented a means to cloak tanks and make them invisible tank. London’s Daily Mail, Daily Telegraph and Sun all report on tests conducted by the Ministry of Defence last week in which a tank rolled across a field, completely invisible to observers standing at a certain point.

“This technology is incredible,” an unnamed soldier was quoted by the Daily Mail and Sun. “If I hadn’t been present I wouldn’t have believed it. I looked across the fields and just saw grass and trees but in reality I was staring down the barrel of a tank gun.”

Although as you first heard this topic, it is not as mystical as it might seem. The technology relies on heavy use of camera and projectors. Basically, a camera films the background, which is then projected upon a special surface applied to something in the foreground in this case, a tank.

You can see the similar technology in the following video that has gained a lot of popularity on the internet

Sir John Pendry of Imperial College London, one of the world’s leading experts on surface reflectivity and lead author of a widely reported paper last year that said:

“Cloak of invisibility is theoretically possible. The drawback at the moment is the dependence upon cameras and projectors,” the Sun quoted Pendry, who did not confirm an implied connection with the defense project. “The next stage is to make the tank invisible without them which is intricate and complicated, but possible.”

Ever since I was a little kid, I knew this type of technology would eventually surface if it hadn’t already. Below in the video by General Dynamics you can see Trophy Active Defense System in action. It offers an invisible force field for military vehicles that disables incoming RPG rounds.

The system can simultaneously engage several threats, arriving from different directions, is effective on stationary or moving platforms, and is effective against short and long range threats (such as RPGs and ATGM). Trophy was designed to be effective in open or closed terrain, including urban area and can be operated under all weather conditions

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) are always pushing the boundaries; continuing to develop Defensive Technology, and their latest invention is no exception.

At some point in the not too distant future, a moth implanted with a computer chip will take flight into enemy territories in hope to spy and transmit a video feed as well as other information back to base. The computer chip implanted whilst the creature is still a pupa, in the cocoon, enables the moth’s entire nervous system to be controlled remotely. The moth will thus be capable of landing in the camp without arousing suspicion, all the while transmitting information back to its masters via what its developers refer to as a “reliable tissue-machine interface.” More importantly however, this Cyborg Moth will help bring down terrorist and thwart future terrorism plots.

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Over the weekend I was able to get sometime at the paintball courses out here in Thailand. The courses are actually just jungle with some forts and miscellaneous vehicles for reference points. Paintball is a huge hobby for military guys and a great way to hone your military skills. Most bases offer paintball courses, and of course you can always set up your own in your backyard. Today well list out where to get the latest paintball gear online.

Ultimate Paintball Gun Store, obvious by its name, carries a large selection of hot paintball manufactures such as: Tippmann, Spyder, Smart Parts, Dye, Draxxus. The list doesn’t stop there so you can easily compare prices, check out the latest styles, and research extreme paintball gear to find which is best for you.

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Making the rounds to an Email box near you! I just got it and found out that this has been circulating for some time. Below are photographs of a prototype aircraft known as the Talon. Reportedly it was taken onboard the USS George Washington CVN-73 for catapult fit checks. It noted that it was not exactly still Top Secret but certainly not yet made public.

The specs that were known were list to be a Mach 3.5 (top speed in the Mach 4 range), super-cruise stealth fighter / bomber / interceptor with approximately a 4,000nm range.

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Since the Cold War the U.S Missile Command and the U.S Air Force have continually focused their efforts on designing an Airborne Laser Weapon. Whilst this idea may still seem like science fiction, testing for this ground breaking technology has already begun.

A powerful Chemical Oxygen Iodine Laser (COIL) has been mounted in a turret-like array on the nose of specially modified Boeing 747-400 air freighters. The Airborne System’s (ABL) primary mission will be to locate and shoot down enemy ballistic missiles whilst still in the launch stage.

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Great video clip, from the cockpit of a U.S. Military Jet turbo-prop, of a fighter pilots naval aviator’s view when landing on a runway flight deck of a military nuclear powered aircraft carrier during a military exercise in the middle of the ocean.

Can anyone give us any information on the type of Jet this pilot is flying or which carrier they are landing on?

The Transformers was an American cartoon series depicting a war between giant robots who could transform into vehicles, animals, and other objects.In Japan, the series was called Fight! Super Robot Life Form Transformers (??! ?????????????????, Tatakae! Cho Robotto Seimeitai Toransuf?m?). The Transformers toy-line and cartoon series owed their existence to the Japanese toyline, Microman (an Eastern descendant of the 12 inch G.I. Joe action figure series). For many, like myself, Transformers were a huge part of their childhood and this movie was long awaited. The technology and computer graphics in the 80s or even 90s were not advance enough to accurately portray the concept behind Transformers. Today’s CGI technology has finally caught up and Steven Spielberg’s and Dream Works team went all out!

Transformers quickly grossed astronomical amounts attributing to Steven Spielberg’s and Dream Works continued success. Anyone who has seen Transformers knows why this movie is in the Top 20 at theaters and already grossed over $70-Million USD! The most realistic computer graphics in movie productions yet, with an action packed video that featured a bunch of military high tech equipment and military men and women (both active duty and former) as extras and speaking roles.

More than 300 Airmen and numerous aircraft were featured in the July 4th released film to help make this movie possible. Backed by the Defense Department, the movie was more factual and realistic than most movies that portray the military are. Many 80s movies were notoriously incorrect with their cast, ranks, equipment, and protocol.

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Defense and security has come a long way in recent years, with tragic events like Sept 9/11 the public has seen a sharp increase in security measures worldwide. Now a Florida based start-up dubbed SeaAway (no relation to Segway) has turned their attention to making our ports a lot safer and guarding against terrorist attacks.

To security experts, the immense cargo ships that ferry more than 11 million containers into this country annually are potential Trojan horses each one could easily harbor a WMD (weapons of Mass Destruction), such as a dirty bomb. At present, only once the ships have been unloaded is their cargo subjected to random inspections and radiation scans. This method is outdated and well overdue for an upgrade!

SeaAway has developed a security system that would move cargo screening 14 miles offshore to the safety of the open seas. The plan calls for pairs of 100-foot-wide platforms anchored outside the world’s major ports. Equipped with an array of unmanned surveillance drones and sensors such as RFIDs (Radio Frequency Identification), the system monitors for chemical, biological and nuclear traces as ships travel between the platforms. If the sensor flags a suspicious container the Coast Guard is called into action. Robots have played a vital role in the War on Terror as we have seen from our previous posts.

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A three letter abbreviation that’s becoming synonymous with the Iraq War is IDE. Improvised explosive device (IED) is a bomb constructed and deployed in ways other than in conventional military action.The Navy recently pressed for new out-of-the-box technologies that could predict where IED bombs will explode, now the Marines have just ordered 1000 mine resistant, ambush-protected vehicle (MRAP’s) to further save lives on the streets of Iraq.

The Cougar (known in the United Kingdom as “Tempest”, and previously it seems in the US as “Lion” and “Typhoon”), is designed to withstand a 30-pound blast of TNT to either the front or rear axles as well as a 15-pound blast to the center portion of the vehicle. The Cougar Hardened Engineer Vehicle, until 2002 marketed as the Lion, can be configured to complete a wide variety of mission requirements. The new HEV can serve as a mine-proof troop transport vehicle, a law enforcement special response vehicle, a weapons platform, or an escort protection vehicle.

The $490 million contract, which will be the biggest order for MRAP’s so far, calls for 300 Cougar 4 x 4s and 700 of the larger, six-wheeled Cougar 6 x 6s. Whilst no vehicle is completely safe from an IDE the Cougar is better armored than the Humvee and features a V-shaped undercarriage that partially redirects explosive blasts around the vehicle. The Marines field-tested various mine-resistant vehicles before settling on the Cougar. In 2006 this Cougar RG-31 suffered a direct IED hit, but none of the crew were killed.

The Cougar 4 x 4 and 6 x 6 models both have 330-hp diesels, top speeds of 65 mph, a 600-mile range, and seating for 10. The 6 x 6 can haul 14,000 pounds, nearly triple the 4 x 4 max load. Cougar, developed and produced by Force Protection Inc. is a multi-purpose, 12 ton mine protected armored patrol vehicle. The design uses a monocoque, bulletproof and blast-proof capsule fitted with transparent armored glass, which protects the driver and crew from small arms fire, mine blasts and IED.

Typical roles for the vehicle are armored, mine protected troop transport for security, stability and peacekeeping missions, protected weapons platform, law enforcement special response vehicle, counter IED an EOD / Range Clearance vehicle. The vehicle can accommodate 10 passengers in a 4×4 configuration and 16 passengers in a 6×6 configuration. Cougar was selected to serve with the US Marine Corps as a Hardened Engineer Vehicle (HEV), to support engineer mine clearing and explosive ordnance disposal teams deployed in Iraq.

As of June 2006, there are more than 130 Cougars and Buffalos in Afghanistan and Iraq. Since their deployment to Iraq in 2003 the Cougar and Buffalo vehicles employed with explosive ordnance disposal teams and engineers units have taken about 1,000 IED hits without a loss of life, said Wayne Phillips, a company vice president in charge of Marine Corps programs. The vehicle has proven to be superior to less protected vehicles, such as the up-armored Humvee or armored trucks.

Bigger plans to order more MRAP’s are still caught up in political controversy however the Pentagon hopes to eventually deploy a total of 7774 MRAPs at the total cost of 8.4 billion dollars. A small price to pay for the lives of our Troops on the streets of Iraq.

Defense Technology on the H Series Cougar Armord Truck

NetCam XL - Rugged Design, Beautiful Results

With images up to 2048×1536 in resolution, the new NetCam XL 3MP is the highest quality network camera on the market. Using a 3.1 megapixel sensor, the NetCam XL 3MP is the perfect tool for web attraction, weather monitoring or high definition security camera.

Bring on the cold! NetCam XL can withstand temperatures down to -40° degrees without a heater.

The NetCam XL is the latest generation in the popular NetCam series of network cameras. Designed for both indoor and rugged outdoor installations, the NetCam XL streams video and produces some of the highest quality images found in a network camera.

No computer is required to operate the NetCam XL — it is a standalone solution that can connect to a local network, DSL, cable modem, satellite modem, cellular, wireless Ethernet or even a phone line. You simply browse to its IP address to view live video and access configuration options. Set up is straightforward and simple and NetCam XL is designed to run unattended for years on end.

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It is often said that amphibious assaults are the hardest of all military operations to coordinate. High Speed Amphibians enable a transformation of operational maneuvers from the sea to the land like never before. An amphibious operation is a military operation launched from the sea by naval and landing forces embarked in ships or craft involving a landing on a hostile or potentially hostile shore or beachhead. Modern U.S. Navy Amphibious Assault Ships project power and maintain presence by serving as the cornerstone of the Amphibious Readiness Group (ARG) / Expeditionary Strike Group (ESG). The two nations that have made by far the most amphibious assaults during the past century are the United States and the United Kingdom. From the great assaults of World War II to the recent attack on the Al-Faw Peninsula in Iraq, both countries have been at the forefront of developing amphibious assault doctrine and shipping. From small swift reconnaissance missions to truly amphibious expeditionary and support vehicles, High Speed Amphibians have the ability to realize the vision of the future fighting force. The transition from land to sea, and vice-versa, is seamless, eliminating operational pause in ship to objective maneuvers.

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