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Hitting the Books: Raytheon, Yahoo Finance and the rise of the 'cybersmear' lawsuit
That time Raytheon subpoenaed Yahoo! to get it to give up the names of three anonymous Y! Finance message board users so it could sue them too.
DARPA's hypersonic weapons move closer to free-flight testing
DARPA testing is moving forward on two variants of a weapon concept that can travel faster than the speed of sound.
US Air Force gets its first anti-drone laser weapon from Raytheon
Raytheon has delivered the first anti-drone buggy to the US Air Force, just over year after it introduced the technology. It's a high-energy laser system mounted on a small all-terrain vehicle, to be specific, which uses electro-optical/infrared sensors to detect and track drones. After it identifies and tracks the unwelcome flying device, it then neutralizes it with its laser in a process that takes a few seconds.
Raytheon's laser and microwave buggy test brought down 45 drones
This week, Raytheon announced it successfully tested its anti-drone technology. The advanced high-power microwave and laser dune buggy brought down 45 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and drones at a U.S. Army exercise that was held in Fort Sill, Oklahoma.
Girl Scouts launches computer science program to encourage STEM careers
Back in 2012, the Girl Scouts Research Institute conducted a survey, called the Generation STEM report, in which they discovered that 74 percent of teen girls are interested in STEM. However, that fades through middle and high school, in large part because their exposure to STEM isn't in a way that informs or supports their career decisions. Now, the Girl Scouts is launching its first computer science program, aimed at girls in grades 6–12. It's sponsored by defense contractor Raytheon.
Russian hackers had hundreds of US targets in addition to the DNC
Various US agencies continue to look into the role Russia played in last year's presidential election, and targets of those investigations include interactions between Trump advisors and Russian officials, ads purchased by Russian agents through social media sites like Facebook and Twitter and whether the Kremlin was involved in the DNC email hacks of last year. In regards to the latter, Russia has been suspected of being behind the hacks for quite some time and just this week, reports have surfaced that the US Department of Justice has pinpointed six Russian officials it believes to have been involved in the hacks. However, a report released today by the Associated Press suggests that the group behind the DNC email breaches actually had a much wider range of targets.
The Army is flight testing helicopter-mounted laser weapons
The US military's experiments shooting lasers from vehicles continue with another important milestone: Laser-equipped attack helicopter fired at targets for the first time. The US Army keeps getting better at nailing UAV targets with ground-based truck lasers, but it's harder to fire accurately from helicopters. Not only does their position fluctuate with airborne conditions, but their whole frame vibrates as their rotors spin fast enough to keep the whole vehicle aloft. Hitting a target almost a mile away from the air, as the Army just accomplished in a New Mexico tests series, is a big deal.
Smart bullets will help warships fend off drone swarms
Navies already have a lot to worry about between rival warships and aircraft, but it's only going to get worse when drone swarms of all kinds threaten to overwhelm their defenses. The US Navy might not have that problem, though: DARPA just tapped Raytheon for the second phase of a smart bullet development project that will help fight off swarming attacks. The MAD-FIRES project (Multi Azimuth Defense Fast Intercept Round Engagement System) should lead to ammo that's as fast and small as what you'd find in a medium-caliber gun (20- to 40-caliber), but with the guidance of a missile. if a horde of robotic flyers appeared, a vessel could theoretically take all of them out even if they're approaching from different directions.
US' new stealth destroyer may finally have affordable ammo
To put it mildly, the US screwed up when it decided to carry on with its Zumwalt-class stealth destroyers when they depended on smart ammo the Navy couldn't afford. However, it might have a clever workaround. Officials speaking to USNI News say the Navy is looking at Raytheon's Excalibur, a GPS-guided artillery round, as a substitute for the custom LRLAP (Long Range Land Attack Projectile) shells the Zumwalt's main guns were designed to use. Excalibur has roughly half the range at about 30 miles, but it costs much less -- about a quarter of the $800,000-plus cost per round of LRLAP. It can also hit moving targets where LRLAP couldn't.
Raytheon signs $1 billion contract to protect government websites
Homeland Security has signed a five-year contract with Raytheon, which could be worth a whopping $1 billion. While the defense contractor is more known for weapons development, DHS hasn't joined forces with it to create more missiles, lasers, warheads and UAVs. No, the agency has asked the company's help to secure government websites. According to Raytheon's announcement, it will aid the government in developing, deploying and supporting technologies that watch out for and mitigate cyberattacks. Reuters says the company will also help around 100 agencies manage their network security within the duration of the partnership as the prime contractor for DHS' National Cybersecurity Protection System and Network Security Deployment divisions.
The Big Picture: This missile can knock out warheads in space
Rising from a wall of flames, a Raytheon RIM-161 Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) takes flight from the Deveselu missile defense base in Romania. Designed to intercept short- and intermediate-range ballistic missiles before the inbound threats re-enter the atmosphere, the SM-3 has been likened to "shooting a bullet with another bullet." The armament is deployed both on land and at sea where it is utilized as part of the Navy's Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense.
Raytheon's updated JTACs situational awareness system eyes-on (video)
Though you may think drones do all the fighting these days, actual soldiers on the ground are still used to call in airstrikes. Sometimes it's still necessary to visually confirm targets before the flyboys create a smoking crater. Though the army has toyed with smartphones and other means to connect soldiers, Raytheon has created a new JTACs (Joint Tactical Air Controller system) prototype for ground forces to let them separate friendlies from enemies and relay the information to strike forces. The system consists of a chest-worn computer, heads-up monocle viewer and wrist-worn display, which together let the solider select a target merely by looking at it and pressing a button. They can also tag friendly forces the same way or send update situational data to the rest of the team, whether they're on the ground or flying a fighter overhead. That assistance from the ground will make it easier for those at the yoke to differentiate between friendlies and targets. We tried the prototype ourselves in a limited, 2D environment here at the 2013 Paris Air Show and, without any help getting set up, were able to tag targets as red diamonds and friendly forces as amber squares. Everything we did was also displayed on second screen, simulating the ability to send live updates to other soldiers or the base. Impressive as it was, the whole thing is merely a prototype for now, though, that could eventually change. The military AR system is part of a larger platform called AWARE, which Raytheon hopes to eventually deploy. For a detailed explanation about how it works, check out the video after the break.
Raytheon's Riot could make online stalking more efficient for governments (video)
When Raytheon isn't busy building a railgun or tinkering with exoskeletons, it apparently spends some time coding software to help keep tabs on what folks are doing online. The Guardian got ahold of a video from 2010 that reveals a Raytheon employee demoing such software with the moniker Rapid Information Overlay Technology, or Riot for short. Instead of sifting through streams of tweets and Foursquare checkins to figure out a person's haunts and schedule, Riot collates data for users and displays it in everything from maps (saved in .kml files) and charts. Riot is even savvy enough to pull out location information saved in the exif data of photos posted online. One visualization feature in the program arranges a target's info in a spider web-like view and highlights connections between them and people they've communicated with online. According to The Guardian, Raytheon shared the Riot tech with the US government and "industry" organizations in 2010 through a research and development initiative that aimed to build a national security system that could analyze "trillions of entities" online. Raytheon says it hasn't sold the software to any clients, but we think this is a fine reminder that your friends, family and secret admirers may not be the only ones interested in your tweets and check-ins. Head past the jump to catch a video of Riot in action.
Marines eye solar energy to eliminate dependency on fuel generators (video)
The United States Marines are already using solar panels to reduce their reliance on fuel generators, but by 2025, the few and proud hope eliminate the diesel-chugging monstrosities entirely. The Office of Naval Research has announced new partnerships with Raytheon, Battelle and Emcore to develop a transportable hybrid system that would leverage solar energy, heat and biofuel to power a Marine outpost for up to 15 days. Not only would these systems run much quieter, but they'd also reduce the need for fuel supply convoys, which are prime targets for attack in battle settings. Currently, researchers are tossing around ideas such as combining a Stirling engine with a satellite-shaped solar concentrator. As is, however, solar concentrators are considered too large for effective transportation. These efforts will take place under Renewable Sustainable Expeditionary Power program, which will keep yearly tabs on the progress of partner companies. To learn more, you'll find an overview video and press release after the break.
Liquidware team crafts laser tripwire that tweets intruder alerts, keeps fake sharks at bay (video)
Laser tripwire security systems can be expensive propositions that don't always work as planned -- just ask Raytheon, which saw its $100 million Perimeter Intrusion Detection System for JFK International Airport undermined by one wayward jet skier. Taking that as a form of dare, Justin Huynh and teammates at Liquidware have devised a much cheaper (if also much smaller) tripwire of their own. Any interruption of a laser pointer's beam is caught by an Arduino light sensor that promptly sends the alert to an Android-running BeagleBoard xM; if a toy like Bruce the shark dares cross the line, the BeagleBoard sends a Twitter message to let the authorities, or at least Huynh, clamp down on the trespasser. The invention won't replace Raytheon's handiwork anytime soon, although Huynh notes that additional or more powerful sensors could theoretically catch real, muscle-bound sharks and not just their plastic counterparts. The supply checklist and source code are waiting on the company's project page below, so those who'd like to ward off miniature invasions can get started today.
Attack of the drones: US Navy picks Linux for its unmanned VTOL aircraft control system
Disagreement between passionate Windows and Mac OS diehards have caused many a kerfuffle on the Interwebs. When it comes to the tactical control system of the US Navy's autonomous vertical take-off-and-landing craft, however, the military branch is putting its money on a different operating system. The Navy just awarded a contract worth nearly $28 million to Raytheon Intelligence and Information Systems to transition its VTOL drones to using its own flavor of good, old Linux. Eventually, the Navy plans to have 168 Northrop Grumman MQ-8B Navy Fire Scout drones rocking the OS as part of its fleet. The Register reports that the move was likely made for security reasons following a malware attack on the Air Force's Windows-based drone system last year. Add Samsung's recent inclusion into the Platinum ranks of Linux's core supporters and you really can't blame fans of the operating system if they decide to wear shades while pondering its future. [Image credit: Northrop Grumman]
Pain Gun vs. Reporter round two, reporter left feelin' hot, hot, hot (video)
You may not recall when 60 Minutes' David Martin took a shot at the Pain Gun, but it didn't end well for the fleshy anchorman. Now Wired's Spencer Ackerman's having a go, with similarly one-sided results. The Pentagon's sanguinely-named Active Denial System turns electricity into millimeter-wave radio frequency, silently pumping out 95GHz of searing hot agony from distances of 2,500 feet. The project's still got a few issues, namely that it takes 16 hours to boot up, uses a heck of a lot of energy and stops working if it's raining, snowing or dusty. But, you know, it'll be back when the air clears up, and you probably don't want to be around when it arrives. If you'd like to see the score go 2-0 to the weaponized microwave, head on past the break.
US Navy ship-mounted railgun closer to reality, Raytheon and others to make it happen
Ah, the railgun. Previously a flight of fancy fit only for wars in works of science fiction, the ultimate in electromagnetic weaponry is one step closer to becoming a reality for the US Navy. We've seen the system working well in the lab, but Raytheon has just gotten $10 million to create the pulse-forming network needed to get a railgun flinging projectiles off the deck of a Naval warship. Making such a network isn't easy, as it must store massive amounts of energy in a small enough package that it can be "used in a modular and versatile way for multiple platforms" -- so that some day, even dinghies will have 33-megajoule stopping power on board. In addition to Raytheon's pulse-forming framework project, the Navy has already tasked BAE and General Atomics to design tactical technologies that'll get future railguns firing up to ten rounds per minute. When can we expect to see such kinetic weapons on the high seas? The goal is 2025, but naturally, finances and politics will dictate its date of deployment, so keep your fingers crossed it's sooner, rather than later.
It's not a flying fish, it's a submarine-launched UAV
VTOL may be old news already, but here's another great USP for any UAV: the ability to launch from a submerged submarine. The technology is still in development, but the Navy wants to try it from periscope depth during exercises in the Pacific Ocean next year. If all goes to plan, a Switchblade folding-wing drone will be ejected from the submarine's trash disposal unit and then carried to the surface by an SLV ('submerged launch vehicle'), which will keep it dry, point it into the wind and then hurl it heavenwards so it can go a-snooping. Whether the experiment succeeds or fails, we've glimpsed a worrying possibility: submarines are capable of dumping their trash right into the ocean. Until now, we sort of assumed they took it home with them.
Transistor pioneer Norman Krim dies at 98
A man who helped make our world smaller died last week. As noted in the New York Times obituary linked below, Norman Krim didn't invent the transistor, but he was a driving force behind its use, having persuaded his employer, Raytheon, to manufacture them on a large scale. They were designed for use in hearings aids initially but, as IEEE Spectrum's Harry Goldstein explains, some later batches proved too "noisy" for that purpose and wound up in the hands of hobbyists instead, who used them in a variety of electronic projects. Krim was also intent on making things smaller even before the transistor, and led a team at Raytheon in the late 1930s that developed miniaturized vacuum tubes for use in battery-powered radios. Later in his career, he was also involved the early days of the Radio Shack chain, buying two stores in Boston then expanding to seven before selling the business to the Tandy Corporation. He was 98.
