DARPA September 26, 2018 DARPA has selected nine teams to compete in the Subterranean (SubT) Challenge – seven in the physical Systems track and two in the Virtual track – to develop new approaches to rapidly map, navigate, and search underground environments to better equip warfighters and first responders to explore human-made tunnel systems, urban underground, and natural cave networks. The teams will design and develop novel solutions that address the challenges of subterranean environments in tunnel systems, urban underground, and natural cave networks, culminating with a final event encompassing elements from all three environments… read more.
Category Archives: Military technology
Army looks into laser-powered drones
Defense Systems September 5, 2018 Some drone systems deliver power through a tether to keep a small drone aloft for an entire week. To supply power through a laser, the Army is developing a system where the drone would be outfitted with a photovoltaic cell that could take the light beam from the laser and turn it into electricity without the extreme heat damaging the drone. The Army wants to be able to use a laser to power a drone on the ground by 2019 and then in flight by 2020. DARPA is also experimenting with beaming power to drones… […]
Does technology really enhance our decision-making ability?
Phys.org September 6,2018 Recommender systems are artificially intelligent algorithms that use big data to suggest additional products to consumers based on things such as past purchases, demographic information or search history. Researchers at ARL contradict this assumption and even demonstrate that a person’s subjective satisfaction with their decisions are all strongly influenced by their cognitive state and traits. As the Army continues to push for increased modernization of its forces, recommender systems and other forms of AI are expected to play a key role in battlefield decision making, but academic and corporate approaches to designing such systems often fail when […]
China applying naval electromagnetic catapult launch for land based missiles
Next Big Future August 30, 2018 Conventional rockets rely on chemical explosives or fuel, but the new rockets will be launched using additional electromagnetic force. The report suggested that the new electromagnetic rockets could be deployed in Tibet. With possibly hundreds of kilometres range, from there they would be able to strike the heartland of India. China has widely deployed 300mm PHL-03 rockets, modified from the Soviet BM-30. Those have a flight range of around 150km (about 93 miles) … read more.
Mystery Russian satellite’s behaviour raises alarm in US
BBC August 15, 2018 The satellite in question was launched in October last year. It was impossible to say if the object may be a weapon. According to the US the satellite’s behaviour on-orbit was inconsistent with anything seen before from on-orbit inspection or space situational awareness capabilities, including other Russian inspection satellite activities. US had serious concerns that Russia was developing anti-satellite weapons… read more.
China Just Launched a Hypersonic Aircraft That Could Slip a Nuke Past US Defences
Science Alert August 8, 2018 The wedge-shaped Xingkong-2 (Starry Sky-2) hypersonic experimental waverider vehicle can reportedly achieve a top speed six times the velocity of sound. During the recent test the max speed was reportedly Mach 6 or 4,600 miles per hour (7,400 km/h), according to the state-run China Daily. The vehicle made several high-altitude and large-angle maneuvers at a maximum altitude of a little over 18 miles. The aircraft then landed in the targeted area as intended. The speed, as well as the unpredictable flight trajectories, of these vehicles make them particularly difficult for existing defence systems to intercept… […]
Hypersonic enabled militaries in the 2030s
Next Big Future June 13, 2018 The hypersonic missiles being introduced now and over the next few years have speeds of mach 5 to mach 20. This will be followed by more mature hypersonic weapons. Russia’s Kinzhal has a claimed range of more than 2,000 km (1,200 mi), Mach 10 speed, and an ability to perform evasive maneuvers at every stage of the flight. China’s HGV warhead, the DF-17, will be the first hypersonic glide weapon. The US will be spending billions to have Lockheed and other develop hypersonic missiles and other weapons. 2035 and beyond the hypersonic drones and planes […]
China testing stealth enhancing metamaterial on non-stealth planes
Next Big Future April 24, 2018 A new mass-produced metamaterial developed by researchers in China is being tested on aircraft at a major military aircraft production base. Other countries, especially the United States, have also been heavily engaged in the research and development of similar technology to cloak military jets, but there have so far been no public reports on the mass application of such metamaterials overseas. Metamaterials were also extremely difficult to mass produce. Currently the technology was effective within only certain radio bandwidths… read more.
China is deploying metamaterials and railguns using SR-71 like development speed and flexibility
Next Big Future April 14, 2018 China has implemented metamaterials for enemy radar absorption and improved active radar, deployed a railgun to a navy ship before the United States, will have an operational hypersonic missile before the USA, making large investments in artificial intelligence, quantum computer and other quantum technologies. These show that China is competitive with the USA in science and technology for military systems. They are able to build, upgrade and incorporate the new technology with more flexibility and speed than the US… read more.
Lightweight metal foam blocks blastwave, debris from high-explosive rounds
Science Daily March 26, 2018 A team of researchers in the US (North Carolina State University, US Army) found that steel-CMF (composite metal foam) offers much more protection than all other existing armor materials while lowering the weight remarkably. In tests the steel-CMF held up against the wave of blast pressure and against the copper and steel fragments created by the exploding round, as well as aluminum from the strikeplate. When compared to the experimental results, their model matched very closely. The experimental and analytical results are proving that novel CMF material can be the solution for the pressing need […]