 |
 Army
Testing New High Explosive Weapon
November 12, 2009
The Army plans on purchasing more than 12,500 systems starting
in 2012, which will be enough to put one in each Infantry
squad and SF team.
More... |
 PHOTO:
iRobot PackBot
November 03, 2009
An iRobot PackBot picks up an object at the Joint Robotics
Repair Detachment at Victory Base Complex, Baghdad, Iraq. The
robots can be operated by a commercial off-the-shelf
controller or a heads-up display.
Click here
for photo. |
 High-Tech
Vehicles Arrive in Afghanistan
October 23, 2009
New Mine Resistant Ambush Protected All-Terrain Vehicles
(M-ATVs), built specifically for the mountainous Afghan
terrain, have arrived in Afghanistan. The first eight in
theater will be used to train troops and mechanics in units
selected to receive M-ATVs.
Click here
for photos. |
 Virtual
Sand Table
September 20, 2009
 Since
the earliest days of armed, group combat, soldiers have been
drawing their attack plans in the desert sands. Today, many
military units use sand tables, complete with miniature
military pieces, to discuss tactics. Seems that wasn't good
enough, as scientists have now developed a computerized,
virtual sand table. Accompanying photo (click to enlarge)
shows Amela Sadagic, research associate professor at the Naval
Postgraduate School Modeling, Virtual Environments and
Simulation Institute, demonstrating the virtual sand table for
urban warfare operations at a training rehearsal in Monterey,
California. |
 VIDEO:
Gas Micro Aerial Vehicle
August 05, 2009
Click here
for video of a new prototype unmanned aerial vehicle, the Gas
Micro Aerial Vehicle (GMAV), that has the ability to hover in one
spot. |
 New
High-Altitude Airship Will Keep Watch Over Battlefield
July 5, 2009
By Donna Miles, American Forces Press Service
A giant, unmanned airship capable of hovering at about 70,000
feet promises to give future warfighters an unprecedented eye
on the battlefield.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's (DARPA)
Integrated Sensor is Structure program, ISIS for short, will
provide a detailed, real-time picture of all movement on or
above the battlefield, explained program manager Timothy
Clark.
As envisioned, the ISIS airship will be able to track troop
movements - friendly as well as enemy - up to 180 miles away
and track the most advanced cruise missiles from about 370
miles away.
It also will be able to watch ground targets through heavily
forested areas, a capability not possible without the huge
ultra-high-frequency antenna ISIS will provide.
Operating outside of controlled air space and out of the range
of most surface-to-air missiles, Clark said, the system will
bring a capability not possible with satellites: the ability
to maintain watch over a huge, fixed position without
blinking.
ISIS is expected to have a 10-year lifespan, although
engineers estimate it could last even longer. When it's no
longer needed in one location, it can be moved to watch
another. "We should be able to get it to anywhere the services
would need it in about 10 days," Clark said.
Since the program's inception in 2004, its focus has been on
developing technologies needed to create extremely large,
super-sensitive, but also super-lightweight phased-array radar
antennas. That's been accomplished, Clark said, with 6,000
square meters of X-band and UHF antenna condensed onto a
40-by-46-meter cylinder - about the size of a 15-story
apartment building.
Meanwhile, the antenna's weight has been cut 90 percent, from
20 kilograms per meter to about 2.
Powering the system so it can stay aloft was another
challenge. Batteries were too heavy, so engineers tried
something else. They opted to use solar rays during the
daylight hours and to electrolyze water, storing the hydrogen
and oxygen separately so they could be run through a hydrogen
fuel cell at night.
"Then we collect the water and run it again," Clark said.
"It's a fully regenerative system."
The next step is to incorporate these technologies into the
hull of a non-rigid, pressurized airship.
A demonstration program already is under way to see how this
will work, Clark said.
Large pieces of the system are being put together at various
locations around the country, and if all goes as planned,
they'll be put together in a Lockheed-Martin hangar in Akron,
Ohio.
Flight tests are expected to begin in late fall 2012, likely
in the Florida Keys. Initially, DARPA will conduct 90 days of
tests worldwide against air, ground and surface targets at
known positions and sizes to ensure the radar is operating
properly.
From there, the Air Force will take over the program,
conducting its own additional testing before taking the ISIS
operational.
Once operational, ISIS will bring not only new capabilities,
but also new approaches to how the military conducts
reconnaissance and surveillance, Clark said.
"It's going to provide an affordable persistence," he said.
Clark recalled the post-Gulf War years, when U.S., British and
French military aircraft regularly patrolled two no-fly zones
designated over Iraq to protect humanitarian operations in the
north and Shiite Muslims in the south. ISIS could monitor the
same areas without the wear and tear on flight crews and
equipment, and at a fraction of the cost of manned patrols, he
said.
'So you are talking about enormous change in how we do
things," he said. "You are also talking about rethinking
forward basing and crew rest. All those things change in how
you execute what you do on the battlefield." |
 VIDEO:
Overview of the U-2 Full Pressure Suit
June 25, 2009
Click here
for an overview of the different parts of the U-2 Dragon Lady
full pressure suit and the benefits it provides pilots while
flying at extremely high altitudes. |
|
Unmanned
Little Bird (ULB) |
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|
June 16, 2009
The Unmanned Little Bird (ULB)
helicopter is capable of carrying a 300-pound payload for
missions that include resupply and casualty evacuation. The
photos above are from Bridgeport, California, home of the
Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center. The ULB would
especially be useful in mountainous regions, as supplies,
including food and water, must either be hauled up mountains
by troops or airlifted by helo. As a Marine who spent some
time at Bridgeport hauling five gallon water jugs up the
mountains, I opt for the latter. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Chief Warrant Officer 2
Keith A. Stevenson) |
|
Top header:
A Scan Eagle unmanned aerial vehicle is launched from a Mk V
Naval Special Warfare boat off the coast of San Clemente
Island. |
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