If the music's anything to go by, pretty much everyone was on something in the '60s -- and that includes the engineers. BAE Systems has recently dug up some totally batshit-insane ideas that were seriously being kicked around by its 'crack' team of engineers, and they're both totally ridiculous and dangerously awesome. Read More >>
Featured comment by Voight-Kampff:
"I preferred the version of MUSTARD (which I seem to recall stood for MUlti STAge Rocket Delivery, or somesuch) where all three segments were arranged ..." More »
The Royal Engineers, a.k.a. the people who never got over their 4-year-old fascination with JCBs, have just got a new toy to play with. Named Terrier, it's a heavily armed tank/bulldozer combo that can be remotely commanded to smash through things at 45 mph. Lucky gits. Read More >>
You don't joke about mining important maritime trade routes—Iran did and nearly started WWIII. And while America's fleet of MH-53E Sea Dragons and Avenger-class mine countermeasures ships are still quite effective, they're getting really, really old. Both platforms entered service in the mid-1980s and are quickly nearing their retirement dates. Here's what the US Navy has in store for its future countermining operations. Read More >>
News emerged this week that the U.S. Army, which has been collecting biometric data of locals in places like Iraq and Afghanistan, is going to start storing that data in the cloud. Put simply, biometrics is the collection of personal, physical data using devices like retina scanners, and no matter what way you spin the situation, it's a potentially pretty creepy practice. (Do you want the government to take pictures of the inside of your eyeball?) But in a warzone, it seems downright dangerous. Doubly so in the cloud. Read More >>
Just a few weeks after President Obama announced plans to scale back the country's drone program, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Administration (DARPA) announced plans to roll out a program for the rapid development and manufacture of sensors to help power unmanned aerial, land and underwater vehicles. Read More >>
Google Glass might be new on the scene, but wearable displays aren't unseen technology. Head-mounted displays have been projecting information into fighter pilot's eyeballs for years now, and we recently had the chance to get up close and personal with the latest and greatest systems out there. Read More >>
Submerged mines were once the scourge of sea warfare, silently lurking in bays and channels to blow a hole in your hull. That's why the US military has developed a trident countermeasure, hunting for the underwater bombs from below the waves, along the surface, and from the air using the biggest bird in the Navy's arsenal, the MH-53E Sea Dragon. Read More >>
Featured comment by khos:
"Kind of ironic that "Sikorsky" has Russian origins and is now a USA military Aircraft. Stallone and Dolph Lundgren would not be pleased at all with th..." More »
According to a confidential report that's been prepared for the US Pentagon, Chinese hackers have stolen blueprints for some of the country's most sensitive advanced weapons systems. Read More >>
Featured comment by Hennifer Lopez:
"If the machine was not hacked by using the internet the problem is much bigger than we previously thought. These machines cannot be on the internet an..." More »
Nothing's worse than a dead battery—except maybe if you run out of juice while on patrol in the backwoods of Afghanistan. But until now, US and British forces have had to lug around a huge and heavy charger. Not any more.A US Army research division has just shrunk a mobile charging station small enough for any soldier to carry on assignment. Read More >>
If you told me this image was a frame capture from the next Call of Duty game for Xbox One, I could almost believe you. Ish. Thanks to the digital camera and postprocessing work, its unrealistic perfection, dramatic illumination and striking mix of colours make the photo look like a computer render. But still, real-time graphic engines need more firepower to get to this level of perfection. Maybe this will happen in the next next generation. Read More >>
Featured comment by Steveymoo:
"When it gets to the point where you have so much processing grunt, the only limit to how realistic a game looks is down to how talented the developers..." More »
It's not as exciting as seeing Big Dog or Petman in action, but infantry in the US Army should be happy now that DARPA's begun testing its Warrior Web support system. One day robotic exoskeletons will allow humans to easily lift and carry hundreds of pounds, but for the immediate future DARPA has set its sights on a more immediately achievable goal with what could be described as the future of supportive undergarments. Read More >>
Featured comment by holmergreen:
"My wife has heart failure and both knees have had replacements. Please get this out into civilian use ASAP - it would change her life and we could thr..." More »
This is China's stealth combat drone, an airplane that seems very similar to the American Northrop Grumman X-47B. The unmanned combat air vehicle was photographed while performing taxiing tests. Given the development speed of China's other military aeroplanes, it wouldn't be surprising to see this in flight in the next few weeks. Read More >>
Featured comment by otaviokz:
"I'm hopping China's military tech matches USA's one as soon as possible. Not being a national of any of such countries (nor a military ally), I believ..." More »
Finding a suitable runway to launch your multibillion pound fighter jet from isn't always as easy as it sounds. That's why the F-35B Lightning II is designed to with the ability to both take off and land without ever needing to taxi. Here's the first look at its vertical launch. Read More >>
Featured comment by ScyBy:
"UK companies like BAe are part of the F-35 programme and the British government contributed to its development, so it is partly a British plane.
Ho..." More »
You are about to witness an historical event: the first drone jet ever launched from an aircraft carrier. In a few decades, when autonomous drone planes battle each other in the skies, fire missiles at drone troops and battleships, humanity will look back at this day as the true beginning of total drone warfare. Read More >>
In 1942, after having finally entered WWII, the United States Marine Corp spent two million dollars on an insane new initiative. The mission? Strap napalm bombs to bats, and send them flying on deadly kamikaze runs. Seriously. Read More >>
Featured comment by Frypot:
"Seems there was a very lax process for eliminating crazy ideas in the 30s and 40s military hierarchy. A 'fuck it we'll give it a shot' approach seems ..." More »