Defense Systems reports on the Army’s 3D printing operation at the Picatinny Arsenal in New Jersey, describing how they’ve been using additive manufacturing to print antennas into helmets, sensors into clothes, and even whole functioning batteries—among other things
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We all know by now that 3D printing is the future of manufacturing—even the president says so. The march of progress doesn’t always move as quickly as we’d like, however, especially when the military-industrial complex is involved. While 3D printing machines are becoming steadily cheaper and the possibilities incredibly sophisticated, the disparate branches of the U.S. armed forces tend to move slowly, weighed down by procedure and convention. However, there’s plenty of evidence to believe that’s changing when 3D printing is concerned.
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If you so happen to be in the US Army, I am quite sure that there are plenty of “toys” to play with, and these are more or less a whole lot more lethal and potent than just mere fireworks. Drones have been playing quite an important role in the military for quite some time now, as they are able to scout an area beforehand without having to put the lives of soldiers at risk. Heck, even drones can be armed with missiles, flying remotely to deliver the payload without the “pilot” leaving the comfort of a plush chair. Well, we have talked about the Maveric drone in the past that supposedly could be used to combat the mosquito problem in Florida, but here, Priora Robotics has bigger plans than just making short work of them bloodsuckers.
In fact, the new Maveric drone might seem to be a bird to the untrained observer, as it measures roughly the same size as that of a large pigeon. However, the Maveric will be equipped with a gimball mounted camera that would enable it to spy on ordinary folks as well as what is happening on the ground. It takes around 5 minutes for a single soldier to prepare this 2.5 pound drone to take off, where it can achieve a speed of 65 miles per hour, hitting altitudes as high as 25,000 feet. So far, we do know that the U.S. Army Rapid Equipping Force has already purchased 36 Maverics for an “urgent but undisclosed need”.
Priora Hopes To See Maveric Drone In Action For The US Army original content from Ubergizmo. 
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The U.S. Army just paid a $50 million settlement over accusations that it illegally installed software on thousands of devices without a license. Even after the settlement, the Army ended up saving a bunch of cash. Maybe crime really does pay?
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Down some spookily-lit corridor at the Pentagon, there are surely soldiers dreaming about the future of warfare. But, at the National Defense University, some of the nation’s top brass are actually playing out the scenarios. In fact, a group of generals just finished a rather innovative year-long wargame.
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This is not the first time that the US Army Research, Development and Engineering Command (RDECOM) has talked about their desire to get a real life version of Iron Man’s suit for soldiers, but now it’s giving a very specific timeframe: "The goal is to have a contract in place by next fall and have suits ready for full field testing in about four years."
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Talking at a US Army demonstration of autonomous weaponized robots at Fort Benning, Georgia, experts said that "ten years from now, there will probably be one soldier for every 10 robots. Each soldier could have one or five robots flanking him, looking for enemies, scanning for land mines."
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So this is completely terrifying. In a you will probably pee a little bit as you watch this GIF kind of way. In a holy crap wait a minute this isn’t a video game right kind of way. No, no it is not. This is what it looks like to take a direct hit from a tank shell in real life. You can see it blast out of the barrel and head straight for your face.
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When a nation sends its citizens to war, there are few things more important than providing the best treatment possible after they get injured in the line of duty.
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For the past few years, the government’s been relentless about making the American people respect the importance of cybersecurity. Obama’s given speeches, written newspaper columns, and issued executive orders to drive that point home. This is serious business! So why are the Army’s own instructional videos so silly?
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