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Watch these smart bullets home in on targets like tiny missiles
Soldiers have long dreamed of smart bullets that always hit their targets, and it looks like they're now much closer to getting their wish. DARPA has posted the first footage of EXACTO (Extreme Accuracy Tasked Ordnance), a .50-caliber bullet that uses optical guidance and sensors to home in on its prey. As you see in the fuzzy-looking video below, the projectile compensates for movement, weather and wind with all the agility of a missile -- even if you try to miss, it easily swerves back on track. The project is still young, but it could prove a tremendous help to long-distance snipers for whom even the tiniest slip-up could ruin a shot.
SkyShield protects airliners from missile strikes, completes testing in Israel
SkyShield, created by Israel's Elbit Systems, has reportedly been under development for the better part of a decade, but the laser-based missile deflector has just now successfully completed live testing. The Multi-Spectral Infrared Countermeasure (MUSIC) device, which is mounted on an aircraft's belly, uses a thermal camera paired with a laser to change the direction of approaching missiles, saving airliners and passengers from destruction. When the camera detects a missile, it rotates the plane so that the belly faces the approaching weapon. It then fires a laser beam, redirecting the missile so it can explode a safe distance away. It's not clear when the technology will begin rolling out, but according to Haaretz, SkyShield will be used on all Israeli civilian aircraft, many of which operate around the world.
Final X-51A WaveRider hypersonic mission achieves Mach 5.1, record flight length
With the third X-51A WaveRider failing to reach hypersonic speed due to a fin failure last August, it seemed the United States Air Force would possibly forgo the fourth (and final) run. On the morning of May 1st, however, that last X-51A got its chance to soar, successfully reaching Mach 5.1 during a record 370-second flight. According to the Wright Patterson Air Force base, the aircraft's rocket booster helped it hit Mach 4.8 about 26 seconds after being released from a B-2H at 50K feet, at which point its air-fed scramjet brought it to 60,000 feet while achieving hypersonic flight. The USAF notes that "it was the longest of the four X-51A test flights [230 nautical miles] and the longest air-breathing hypersonic flight" -- surely taking some of the sting out of the $300 million program's previous shortcomings. Past flights aimed to hit Mach six, with the first and second tests only sustaining Mach five. The aircraft made destructive splashdown landing into the Pacific as planned, but data from the whole flight was recorded. The USAF isn't planning a follow-up to the X-51A anytime soon, though the program will likely serve as a reference for future designs. You can dig into the official rundown at the link below.
US Navy tests first 11-meter missile-firing sea drone (video)
Advances in unmanned military tools and vehicles have come on leaps and bounds, but, until now, we haven't seen a weapon firing drone operating in the seas. A recent test taking part offshore near Maryland saw several missiles launched from a new remote-controlled inflatable-hulled ship. While the Navy has used drones before for mine clearing and other defensive tasks, the small boat (similar to that pictured above) is the first experiment to involve true offensive capabilities. The almost zodiac-like craft has been an ongoing project over recent years, and contains a fully automated system which the Navy calls a "Precision Engagement Module" which uses an Mk-49 mounting with a dual missile launcher manufactured by Rafael. The hope is that such vehicles could patrol the coastline, or serve as a first defense against pirates, and other such small, fast-moving seafaring dangers. If you want to catch it in action, head past the break for the video, but don't be fooled. While it might look like a series of misses, the Navy claims this is just a trick of the camera angle, with all six missiles apparently making contact.
Boeing tests microwave missile that knocks out electronics, represents our worst nightmare (video)
Forget bombs or the robopocalypse. In our minds, the most fearsome weapon is the one that disables our gadgets. That's what makes Boeing's newly tested Counter-electronics High-powered Microwave Advanced Missile Project (CHAMP) scarier than most projectiles. The missile bombards targets underneath with microwaves that shut down computers, power systems and just about anything electrical in their path. Thankfully, CHAMP's invisible payload arrives in discrete bursts and arguably makes it the world's most advanced (and likely expensive) non-lethal weapon: the prototype can target multiple individual buildings without ever having to detonate and hurt someone. Boeing is still developing CHAMP in a multi-year program and doesn't have guarantees that it will become military ordnance, which gives us enough time to accept that saving lives is far, far more important than the risk we'll have to stop fiddling with our technology.
Fire Shadow missile can remain aloft for six hours before obliterating a moving target (video)
If we were making a list of terrifying airborne war machines, this would probably rank near the top. You certainly won't want to be targeted by the Fire Shadow, but from the safety of a web browser, it's impossible not to marvel at the craft's versatility. Manufactured by French developer MBDA, the Fire Shadow missile is designed to strike a stationary or moving object on command. But unlike some other UAVs, this ingenious rig can remain airborne for up to six hours before it's assigned to destroy a large vehicle (and its occupants) from a nearly vertical angle of attack. Tipping the scale at less than 440 pounds (about 200 kilograms), it has a range of approximately 62 miles (100 kilometers) and is described by MBDA as being "low cost." The British Army is said to have taken delivery of the missile in March, and will begin testing in Sweden later this year, but you can see it action today in the demo video after the break.
DARPA tests advanced hypersonic weapon prototype, makes railgun sweat
The US Army completed testing of its hypersonic weapon yesterday, launching a test projectile across the Pacific Ocean. The glider flies at a lower trajectory than typical missiles, traveling at several times the speed of sound, making it capable of hitting anywhere on this peaceful ball of blue and green within an hour. We saw DARPA's hypersonic aircraft's successful launch earlier this year -- the Falcon HTV-2 (pictured above) managed to hit the dizzying speed of Mach 20 during its tests, before it crashed. Despite recent military funding issues in the US government, hopefully all things hypersonic will get to fly again soon.
Decoy swarm has the potential to protect attacking jets with hundreds of drones
MALDs (miniature air launched decoys), for those of you not up on your wargadgets, are a cross between cruise missiles and aerial drones -- a hybrid used to protect attacking jets by confusing or distracting the enemy during combat. Various branches of the US military have been using them for years, but now one company's figured out a way to unleash hundreds of 'em, creating a veritable drone swarm. Defense contractor Raytheon has developed a system that ejects MALDs from a cargo aircraft, sending clusters of eight missiles into the air, at which point they initiate the standard wing deployment and engine ignition sequence. And, according to Wired, the company is considering putting sensors and warheads inside future MALDs, which would make these swarms more intelligent and, you know, explosive. PR after the break. [Image credit: Raytheon via Wired]
First piece of SBIRS missile defense system launched, not shot down
No need to worry about that loud, fiery exploding noise in Florida last week -- that was the sound of us all becoming a little bit safer. An Atlas 5 rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral on Saturday, carrying Lockheed Martin's Space-Based Infrared Systems (SBIRS) Geo-1. The spacecraft will be followed by three more satellites launched in the next five years, all totaling $17.6 billion. Ominously referred to as "persistent overhead surveillance," the $1.3 billion first piece of the SBIRS constellation missile defense system is set to replace the antiquated Defense Support Program launched in 1970. It's a small price to pay to keep those darn space invaders out of our hair.
US satellites successfully track ballistic missile from cradle to grave, don't pay for the flowers
Lasers destroy missiles, missiles shoot down satellites, and soon, satellites may tell both where to aim, as the United States successfully managed to track an entire ballistic missile launch from "birth-to-death" with its prototype Space Tracking and Surveillance System. After a year and a half in orbit, two Northrop Grumman-built satellites managed the feat last week, in what the company's calling "the Holy Grail for missile defense." While we're not reading about any plans to mount any lasers on the satellite's... ahem... heads, Space News reports that the US Navy will attempt to relay the satellite tracking data to its Aegis ships with interceptor missiles on board, and hopefully obliterate incoming projectiles with the extra range and reaction time that satellite coordinates afford. The Navy has reportedly scheduled its first game of space-based Missile Command for next month.
Israel to activate SMS-CB missile alert system next year
This one's been talked about since the middle of last year (at least), but it looks as if the time for contemplating is over and done with. It's bruited that the Israel Defense Forces will be moving forward on a plan to light up a new cellular system that will blast out SMS-CB alerts to citizens if and when a missile is fired in the direction of Israel. Just over $7 million will be invested, with the application itself being jointly designed by eVigilo and Ericsson. If all goes well, it'll be operational in June of 2011, and it's just one aspect of the country's effort to consolidate all emergency alerts into one centralized system. We're told that the blasts would be sent in a variety of languages, and there's even potential to send 'em to TVs, radios, websites and "billboards." And unlike various other SMS emergency alert systems that have been implemented, these would actually differ based on how the threat was forecasted to affect different geographic regions. Something tells us eVigilo's going to become a multinational company in no time. Update: eVigilo pinged us with a few extra details surrounding the service. For starters, it'll be using SMS-CB (read: not standard SMS) in order to circumvent core networks that tend to collapse during emergencies. This will enable the messages to bypass any congestion and hit all users at around the same time. The alerts would be delivered geographically, not to a specific number of users, with tests proving that "millions" could be reached within 20 seconds over 3G. Besides broadcast over mobile networks, the company will also connect to the national TV network using DVB and offer also DAB reaching digital radio subscribers. Additional capabilities will be given through multicast over IP (Billboards, Variable Message Signs and social networks).
U of M laser mimics helicopter heat signatures to thwart missiles
Researchers at the University of Michigan have developed a new laser-based countermeasure for aircraft, and unlike others we've seen (and we've seen a few) this technology aims to "blind" missiles rather than knock 'em out of the sky. The system uses a mid-infrared supercontinuum laser to mimic the heat signature of a helicopter, and it has no moving parts -- making it rugged enough to last a long time on rotor-based aircraft. The school has even spun off a company, Omni Sciences, to develop the thing, and has received some $1 million in grants from the Army and DARPA to build a second-generation prototype. Of course, questions remain: is it really a wargadget if you can't blow something up with it? And even if it is, where's the fun in that?
Boeing 747 destroys ballistic missile with laser (update: photos!)
No, this isn't a call to arms (yet), the US is simply evaluating its airborne laser weapon again. Now listen in because this latest test was a doozy. Last night at 8:44pm Cali time, the Airborne Laser Testbed (ALTB) successfully "destroyed" a liquid-fueled ballistic missile from an airborne platform, according to the Missile Defense Agency. A first for the directed energy weapon that we've been following since 2006. The dirty work was achieve by a modified Boeing 747-400F airframe fitted with a Northrop Grumman higher-energy laser and Lockheed Martin beam and fire control system. After an at-sea launch, the ALTB used a low-energy laser to track the target. A second, low-energy laser was used to measure and compensate for atmospheric disturbances before the megawatt-class laser was fired, "heating the boosting ballistic missile to critical structural failure." The entire episode was over just two minutes after missile launch. Good work generals, but let's see you fit that laser to a shark if you really want to impress us. Update: Infrared images of the ALTB destroying the short-range ballistic missile after the break.
iLauncher for iPhone makes you more dangerous than a dictator with an inferiority complex
You might think that everything that could possibly be said or done with USB missile launchers had already been said and done, but you'd be wrong -- dead wrong. The next (final?) frontier for these staples of modern cube warfare has arrived in the form of an iPhone app, iLauncher, that'll allow you to control your PC-connected arsenal from afar over WiFi. It's the coolest use of a phone as a deadly weapon since James Bond ghost rode a Bimmer in Tomorrow Never Dies using some crazy one-off Ericsson, but air / ground supremacy doesn't come cheap: expect to spend $2.99 to nab this off the App Store.
Navy shells out for development of missile-killing free-electron laser
You may think that the Navy's just the baby brother to the two other US Armed Forces, but its weapon development record definitely shows otherwise. Just over two years after building an 8-Megajoule railgun, the branch has penned two $7 million checks to defense contractors Boeing and Raytheon for the design and development of a free-electron laser (FEL). For what it's worth, such a device has been yearned for since a day after the dawn of time, as unlike chemical-based lasers, the FEL would be 100 percent electric and easier to move. For those unaware,this stormy petrel of a weapon would be used to blast down missiles in mid-flight, all while putting on a pretty impressive light show. 'Course, the Navy must also figure out how to build a massive energy generating ship in order to use it, but let's not get too far ahead of ourselves here, okay?[Image courtesy of AIP]
Auto-aiming USB missile launcher makes good use of your Wiimote
It's tough for us to go six months without a newfangled approach to hacking the famed USB missile launcher, so it's with great joy that we present to you this particular one. By utilizing a spare Wiimote, a USB-enabled PC, a USB missile launcher, a few strips of duct tape and a minor amount of programming knowledge, you too can craft an auto-aiming launcher which can find, aim at and attack IR targets. Grab the aforementioned items and hit the read link, just take care to not poke your eye out, alright?[Via HackNMod, thanks Joe]
Northrop Grumman's aircraft-mounted laser moves forward in testing
We're beginning to think the US government is playing tricks with our head. Let's see, in late 2004, a Boeing anti-missile airborne laser achieved first light; in October of 2006, a laser-equipped 747-400F was deemed ready for testing; in January of 2007, an MD-10 with Northrop Grumman's Guardian anti-missile system took off; now, we're back to the testing stage? Something doesn't add up. Whatever the case, we're being fed information that leads us to think that the US Air Force's Airborne Laser has moved on to some "other" stage of testing. More specifically, engineers are making sure its "sequencing and control" functions are operating normally. Unsurprisingly, we're left in the dark as to when this thing will see action (again?), but consider our interest piqued for a reason The Man didn't intend.
Navy develops 8-Megajoule railgun, Nukem bows down
The mere mention of the word brings back visions of the original first-person-shooters to grace our now-antiquated machines, and now the US Navy is getting real personal with a realized version of the pixelated railgun we all love and adore. Presumably ripped straight from the (admittedly lacking) storyline of Quake, an 8-Megajoule railgun has been officially created, fired, and deemed worthy of flanking our naval ships, which should strike fear in the hearts of anyone wishing us harm. The gun was showcased this week at the Naval Surface Warfare Center at Dahlgren, Virginia, and utilizes massive quantities of electricity rather than gunpowder to propel "nonexplosive projectiles at incredible speeds." The weapon is powerful enough to equal the damage inflicted by a Tomahawk cruise missile, and the device's project director compared the impact to hitting a solid object "going 380 miles-per-hour in a Ford Taurus." Moreover, the railgun touts a 200 to 250 nautical-mile range, compared to the 15 nautical-mile range that current five-inch guns sport now. Interestingly, the weapon should "only" cost around $1,000 per shot once loaded onboard, which is chump change compared to the cool million that vanishes each time a cruise missile is deployed, and if everything goes as planned, we'll be seeing a 32-Megajoule prototype in June, with a 64-Megajoule rendition adorning our ships by 2020.[Via Slashdot]
MD-10 departs LAX with Northrop Grumman's Guardian anti-missile system
Considering all these homemade sentries we're teaching mischievous folks how to build, and all the zany ideas popping into folks' brains after catching the Jack Bauer power hours, it's no surprise that our Department of Homeland Security is equipping as many aircrafts as it can with anti-missile systems. While we'd heard that Boeing's laser-equipped 747-400F was ready for takeoff, and that these aircraft-mounted weapon detection systems weren't too far off, it looks like the DHS has completed the first step in rolling the technology out. An MD-10 cargo plane took to the friendly skies from LAX airport today as the "operational testing and evaluation of the laser system designed to defend against shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles" began, and while its doubtful that we'll be seeing the very pricey Guardian system on typical passengers flights anytime soon, equipping the Civil Reserve Air Fleet is potentially one of the uppermost priorities. And for those paranoid folks who can't wait to get this on their next Southwest friendly fare flight, you should probably consider how much coin you'd have to lay down to help compensate for the $1 million installation cost (per plane), not to mention the $365 airlines would be forced to cough up each flight for "operational and maintenance costs" -- yeah, we'll hold off for awhile.
Boeing's laser-equipped 747-400F ready for testing
It looks like scenes from Independence Day and Star Wars may not be so futuristic after all, especially considering Boeing's recent unveiling of its heavily modified (and laser-equipped) 747-400F. Following the recent "first light" phase on its ATL-packin' C-130H, the "airborne laser (ABL) aircraft" was officially introduced at a ceremony in the firm's integrated defense systems facility in Wichita, and it was announced that all systems were go for "testing." Even the branch's director, General Henry Obering III, threw in a Skywalker reference as he insinuated that the forthcoming plane represented "the forces of good," and unleashing it was akin to "giving the American people their first light saber." Just be careful where you bust that bad boy out, Mr. Obering. [Via FARK]
