Manning the turret atop an armored vehicle is among the most essential and dangerous assignments in a military convoy. Gunners must stand exposed through a hole in the vehicle’s roof while laying cover and engaging targets. To reduce gunner casualties, the US military designed a Common Remotely Operated Weapon Station, a joystick-driven killing machine called the CROWS. More »
Army personnel often face situations during combat that can’t be overcome with readily available equipment, and they rarely have time to wait for the Pentagon’s glacial-paced R&D to devise a solution. But with the Army’s new mobile specialty production facility, they won’t have to. More »
The US Army’s not-so-secret Long Endurance Multi-Intelligence Vehicle (LEMV) spy blimp is better at staying hidden than we thought… if unintentionally. Although it was due to fly the friendly skies of Lakehurst, New Jersey in mid-June, Northrop Grumman’s usually unmanned surveillance was only just caught floating over the Jersey Shore as part of a maiden flight on August 8th. The conspicuous, delayed test run proved that the LEMV could take off, steer and land smoothly, and started a series of exercises that should culminate in combat trials over Afghanistan at the start of 2013. Northrop’s KC Brown Jr. tells Wired that there’s a possible (if purely coincidental) consolation for missing another deadline — the airship could be used in a pinch for carrying as much as seven tons of supplies without getting into harm’s way, albeit at a fairly glacial 30MPH. The successful first flight won’t be much consolation to Mav6, whose Blue Devil 2 was scuttled at the last minute after technical issues; it’s nonetheless a relief for US troops, who may get weeks at a time of constant intelligence on enemy movements. Catch a short snippet of the early LEMV journey after the break.
Filed under: Robots, Transportation
US Army’s LEMV spy blimp spotted hovering over New Jersey, may take up cargo duties (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 09 Aug 2012 06:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Combat is a grizzly business, and despite the best efforts of medical evacuation crews, it’s not always feasible to send rescue teams into the fray. The US Army is seeking to address this with “autonomous vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) unmanned aircraft systems (UAS)” (read: drones) for dropping off medical supplies and picking up injured troops. In its latest request for research and development proposals, the Army calls not for new tools, but for the repurposing of current aircraft to do the job. Preferred candidates in the already unmanned class include the A160 Hummingbird and the K-MAX, while one of the suggestions for remote-control modification is the infamous Black Hawk. Makes the AR.Drone seem a little wimpy, doesn’t it?
Filed under: Robots, Transportation
Army seeking proposals for casualty-carrying UAVs originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 05 Aug 2012 14:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Starting next month, around one thousand frontline personnel in Afghanistan will begin testing the Soldier Body Unit, a sensor kit for recording the effects of explosions on the human body. While that’s not the most pleasant of subjects, the blast sensors have been rushed out to collect as much data as possible before soldiers head home in 2014. The US Army’s Rapid Equipping Force and the Georgia Tech Research Institute, which developed the sensors, hope to gather info on concussions and traumatic brain injuries to improve aftercare. This will also be used at source to stop super-soldiers heading back out after a concussion and increasing the probability of an even worse injury. Further sensors will be carried on military vehicles, to help measure the effects of IED blasts on passengers. Adding two pounds in extra equipment probably won’t make the Soldier Body Unit too popular, but it’s thought the kit could weigh in at half a pound once it’s been refined.
Filed under: Misc. Gadgets
US soldiers to wear blast sensors in Afghanistan, collect shock data originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 Jul 2012 07:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Starting next month, US soldiers in Afghanistan will be wearing a Soldier Body Unit, a two-pound pack with four blast sensors, to collect data on concussions and traumatic brain injuries. The data the soldiers collect will help us better protect soldiers in the future. More »
Smartphones: the future of wartime communication? That is the goal of the US Army through the development of its portable wireless network, dubbed Warfighter Information Network-Tactical or WIN-T. The Army hopes to leverage WIN-T to bring near-instant digital communication to the battlefield by outfitting soldiers with Motorola Atrix handsets running a heavily modified version of Android. An exposé by Wired explains that the system’s main goal is information and intelligence sharing; between both soldiers and central command. Friendly troop positions, suspicious vehicles or persons and surveillance video from unmanned areal vehicles (UAVs) can all be mapped and shared with servicemen and women in the field. It’s been a dream of the Pentagon since the mid-nineties, but has only recently become monetarily and technologically feasible due to advances in smartphone processing power. It’s nerdy, it’s fascinating… and this is the stuff the Army is willing to talk about. Hit the source link for the full write-up.
Android Army: US soldiers to leverage portable battlefield network and smartphones originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 30 Jun 2012 01:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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The problem with laser weapons is this — they need a lot, a lot of power. Seriously. Some of those big, plane-mounted prototypes choke down enough juice to power a whole city. Not so with the Laser-Induced Plasma Channel weapon being developed by researchers at Picatinny Arsenal. While still using plenty of electricity, this more moderately specced laser is just powerful enough to strip electrons off the air molecules around it generating a thin filament of plasma. Its not the high-intensity laser pulse that does the damage, though. Instead, the channel of plasma is used as a conduit for a high-voltage blast of electricity. That laser-assisted bolt of lightning could disable vehicles, people and even IEDs. There are plenty of obstacles, including making the weapon rugged enough for battlefield use and reliable enough to keep the plasma channel from leading the blast of electricity back into the laser and damaging it. Now, if only we could find the video that still above was taken from.
LIPC weapon combines lasers and lightning, proves soldiers are a bunch of nerds originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Jun 2012 00:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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It’s not me, it’s you. The US Army’s dalliance with Boeing’s A160 Hummingbird drone got one step closer to Splitsville after the military branch issued a stop-work order for the project. Initially scheduled to see action in Afghanistan starting this July, the chopper-drone turned plenty of heads thanks to a DARPA-developed Argus-IS imaging system with a 1.8-gigapixel camera capable of spying on ground targets from 20,000 feet. The honeymoon period between the Army and the A160 is apparently over, however, thanks to a host of issues. These included wiring problems as well as excessive vibration that caused an A160 to crash earlier this year due to a transmission mount failure. The problems not only increased risk and caused delays, but also led program costs to helicopter out of control — a big no-no given Uncle Sam’s recent belt-tightening. In the meantime, the Army is reportedly checking out the K-MAX, though it’s important to note that this unmanned chopper specializes in cargo and doesn’t have the A160’s eyes.
US Army breaking up with A160 Hummingbird drone-copter, says it’s too high maintenance originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 26 Jun 2012 07:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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