Mar 25

US satellites successfully track ballistic missile from cradle to grave, don’t pay for the flowers

Posted in: military, space, Today's Chili

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.

US satellites successfully track ballistic missile from cradle to grave, don’t pay for the flowers originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 25 Mar 2011 09:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mar 22

DARPA M3 program to make cheaper, more mobile robots for the US war machine

Posted in: research, robot, RobotApocalypse, robotics, Robots, Today's Chili

DARPA, that governmental black magic factory that gave us the flying Humvee and Hummingbird spybot, has unveiled its new Maximum Mobility and Manipulation Program (M3) program that plans to put us on the fast track to our robotic future. M3 aims to improve robotic research through four specialized development programs — design tools, fabrication, control, and prototype demonstration — that divvy up the work between commercial labs and universities. The program will not replace existing bionic projects, but some, like the Autonomous Robotic Manipulation (ARM) program, will be folded into the new scheme. DARPA anticipates that the plan will result in cheaper bots superior to those we have today, but not superior to man… we hope.

DARPA M3 program to make cheaper, more mobile robots for the US war machine originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Mar 2011 00:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mar 01

Boston Dynamics Cheetah and Atlas robots get DARPA funding, getting ready to find you

Posted in: robot, Today's Chili
Okay, so it may not look quite as impressive as some other mechanical cheetahs

Okay, so it may not look quite as impressive as some other mechanical cheetahs we’ve seen in the past, but this new one from Boston Dynamics certainly has a lot of potential. That robot, plus a new humanoid called Atlas, have won DARPA contracts and so will be put into at least limited production, much like the company’s earlier BigDog. Cheetah is said to run “faster than any existing legged robot and faster than the fastest human runners,” while Atlas can “move through difficult terrain using human-like behavior,” meaning neither running nor hiding will work. That leaves only fighting, so get ready to buck up.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Boston Dynamics Cheetah and Atlas robots get DARPA funding, getting ready to find you originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Mar 2011 03:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Feb 07

X-47B unmanned stealth bomber completes its first flight (video)

Posted in: Today's Chili, video, wargadget
The evil geniuses at Northrop Grumman successfully completed the first flight of its X-47B unmanned stealth bomber a few days ago at Edwards Air Force Base in Edwards, California. In the air for a full twenty-nine minutes, the tailless, fighter-sized UAV flew to 5,000 feet and completed several racetrack-type patterns, before landing safely at 2:38 pm PST. The aircraft will continue to undergo tests at Edwards AFB before heading to Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland, later this year. The ultimate goal is to get this bad boy taking off and landing on US Navy carriers. Carrier trials are currently slated for sometime in 2013. Video, PR after the break.

Continue reading X-47B unmanned stealth bomber completes its first flight (video)

X-47B unmanned stealth bomber completes its first flight (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 07 Feb 2011 13:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jan 14

BAE Systems develops e-ink camo for tanks and war zone e-readers

Posted in: e ink, Today's Chili, wargadget
BAE Systems, long known for its wargadgets that blind and obfuscate, has recently announced that it is developing an e-ink camouflage system that displays images on the side of a vehicle which reflect the environment — and which change in real time. This is well-suited for areas such as those found in Afghanistan, where terrain can vary from plain ol’ desert beige to a lively and vibrant green, and — provided it doesn’t break down in the desert sand — probably seems a lot more convincing than paint on metal. (We also wonder if this technology will work on cocktail dresses.) The company hopes to have a prototype within four years, while for our part we hope to have our troops out of the region in much less time than that.

BAE Systems develops e-ink camo for tanks and war zone e-readers originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 14 Jan 2011 10:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jan 11

BAE’s lasers blind high seas pirates, have no effect on Ice Pirates

Posted in: laser, Today's Chili, Transportation, wargadget
BAE Systems has had its hands in some pretty crazy research in the past, from Bug Bots to invisibility cloak development and more. But as this next item has implications for our planned dystopian gadget community on the high seas (think Waterworld-meets-The Engadget Show), we took notice tout de suite. Being marketed as a non-lethal deterrent to pirates, the heart of the ship-based system is a Nd:YAG laser that can be used to warn off attackers over half a mile away — and disorient them at closer ranges. “The effect is similar to when a fighter pilot attacks from the direction of the sun,” said BAE’s Roy Evans. “The glare from the laser is intense enough to make it impossible to aim weapons like AK47s or RPGs, but doesn’t have a permanent effect.” Wild, huh? Check out the PR after the break for the complete low-down.

Continue reading BAE’s lasers blind high seas pirates, have no effect on Ice Pirates

BAE’s lasers blind high seas pirates, have no effect on Ice Pirates originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 11 Jan 2011 16:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dec 22

Secret Soviet-era laser tank pops up in the Ivanovo Oblast

Posted in: laser, military, Today's Chili, wargadget
If we’ve learned anything from the former Soviet Union, it’s that collapsed empires have lots of awesome tech just layin’ around. We’ve recently heard tale of someone who found the remnants of the USSR’s lunar program under a tarp somewhere, and now a Russian website has uncovered some pretty bad-ass pics of the 1K17 Self-Propelled Laser Complex. First deployed in 1992, the vehicle features a laser system that could be used, as the machine translated document says, to “provide anti-opto-electronic surveillance systems” in even “the harshest climatic and operating conditions imposed on the armor.” (In other words, the lasers would disrupt the enemy’s electronics and optics, even in the bleak Russian winter.) It seems that the program was discontinued pretty quickly due to expense, with the hardware eventually being consigned to the Military Technical Museum in the Ivanovo Oblast.

Secret Soviet-era laser tank pops up in the Ivanovo Oblast originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Dec 2010 14:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dec 21

El Paso resident finds Mexican Orbiter Mini drone in his front yard

Posted in: robot, Today's Chili, wargadget
When discussing drones, we usually think of the Af-Pak theater (or perhaps joy ridin’ UK teens), so it was with some amusement that we heard about a little border excursion that a Mexican UAV made into American airspace a few days ago. According to reports, the device — believed to be an Israeli-made Orbiter Mini — was being operated by the Mexican government (on its side of the border) when it experienced some sort of “mechanical malfunction” and crossed over to El Paso, Texas, where it was discovered on a resident’s front lawn last Tuesday. The Orbiter Mini, manufactured by Aeronautics Defense Systems, has a six foot wingspan and will stay in the air up to four hours.

El Paso resident finds Mexican Orbiter Mini drone in his front yard originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 21 Dec 2010 17:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dec 16

USAF to receive the last of its Predator drones in early 2011

Posted in: military, Today's Chili, wargadget
While the controversial (and deadly) use of combat drones certainly shows no signs of abatement, the Air Force has announced that a recent purchase of 268 Predators will be its last. The vehicles, manufactured by General Atomics, should be in the hands of the military by early next year. For its part, the USAF will apparently switch to purchasing Reaper drones — which can carry a wide variety of armaments, including Sidewinder or Hellfire missiles and laser-guided bombs. We just hope that they aren’t using the unencrypted video feeds that made Predators so easy to monitor.

USAF to receive the last of its Predator drones in early 2011 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 16 Dec 2010 02:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dec 15

UA engineers develop ‘invisible,’ fiber optic border monitoring system

Posted in: Today's Chili, wargadget
As if the nation’s overexcited and misguided border vigilantes didn’t have enough ways to trigger alarms and bedevil the U.S. Border Patrol (whose job is hard enough as it is), University of Arizona researchers have developed Helios, a monitoring system that uses an acoustic sensor to detect movement via fiber optic cables buried beneath the US-Mexico border. The system is evidently able to distinguish between vehicles, animals, and humans — and it can even differentiate between different types of human activity, including walking, running, and digging. But that ain’t all! UA is looking to spin the technology out into the private sector, working with a company called Fotech to automate the system, further refine the database of signals, and maybe even integrate this into a comprehensive border security system complete with mobile surveillance vehicles and an animatronic Jan Brewer that is, according to a guy we overheard at the bar, “only slightly more human than the actual Arizona governor.”

UA engineers develop ‘invisible,’ fiber optic border monitoring system originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 15 Dec 2010 16:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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