Hasta La Gadget!

There are plenty of drone variants available, but Lockheed Martin is pushing the boundaries of drone warfare thanks to their Transformer TX drones, which will be able to transport cars to and from the battlefield.

The Transformer TX is being developed by Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works division, and the drone will be able to transport cars, storage containers, and even pods filled with soldiers.

It started out in 2010 with a concept that would attach to cars, but evolved into a solution to ferry larger pieces of tech to the battlefield remotely. It will use a pivoting ducted fan propulsion system with no exposed rotor, and this should allow it to take off and land vertically in an area about half of that of a helicopter.

Currently, the team is finalizing its design before building a working prototype. If DARPA accepts the prototype, the drones could be delivered for flight by 2015.

[via IEEE Spectrum via Gizmodo via The Verge]

Swords may be driven into ploughshares when they’ve finished their fighting, but tanks are often left to rust, in graveyards of military vehicles or on the battlefields where they fell.

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You gotta love videogame marketing. First we got, pre-orders, then DLC, then exclusive DLC based on where your pre-order. Now they’re using pre-orders as viral advertisements. If you thought the $190,000 (USD) pre-order bundle for Grid 2 – which included a street legal race car – was ridiculous, get ready to hit your computer with a penetrator bat.

The upcoming balls-to-the-wall insanity simulator that is Saints Row IV has a pre-order bundle exclusive to the UK store Game. It’s called the Super Dangerous Wad Wad Edition, and it costs $1,000,000. That number becomes a tad sillier considering only people in England and Wales can buy it. They should’ve just priced it an even £645,000. So what does that obscene amount of money get you? Let’s hit the image above with the Inflator Gun:

A Lamborghini Gallardo? Sweet! A trip to space? Whaaat! Plastic surgery? Yeaiiee- wait what? That bit makes me think that this bundle is either a joke or, well, a joke. On the pre-order page, it says that the person who buys this bundle has to accept that the “content of the ‘Super Dangerous Wad Wad Edition’ must be taken as stated and cannot be deferred.” The buyer’s going to get a plastic surgery whether he likes it or not. And after he’s done getting a new nose, he’ll still have to pay $10 to get the game’s DLC because the Season Pass isn’t included in the bundle. That’s how the 3rd Street Saints do.

[via Game via Joystiq]

When you lust after something as exotic as the Lamborghini Sesto Elemento, but just aren’t able to spend millions on a hypercar, then I guess you’ll just have to settle for something as mundane as a Gallardo.

The Lamborghini Gallardo LP570-4 Squadra Corse is almost identical to the LP 570-4 Super Trofeo, a single-series race car, but it is street legal. Just like the Super Trofeo, the Squadra Corse shares components with the Gallardo Superleggera.

Its 570 hp V10 engine is complemented with a carbon fiber rear wing and removable hood. Thanks to the ample use of this lightweight material, the Squadra Corse weighs 154 lbs less than the LP 560-4.

Interior components have been made from lightweight materials as well including an ample helping of lush Alcantara and more carbon fiber.

Getting to 60 mph takes only 3.4 seconds, and you will hit 124 mph in 10.4 seconds. Its top speed is 199 mph, which should be plenty, especially for a car you can take off of the track.

[via Autoblog]

There are plenty of electric bikes around, and if you use one as a mode of transportation, it’s nice to have that little extra boost to get you home just a little faster. Also, cruising along one one is pretty nice.

The Cykno e-bike has a distinctive look and combines elements of a moped, a mountain bike and an electric bike. Its frame has been accented with leather, and it has a Swedish central motor mounted on a carbon fiber cradle. The saddle is suspended on a stainless steel high-resistance foil. Range for the battery is approximately 60 km (~37 miles) on a 4 hour charge, and the bike offers integrated disc brakes.

The bike also offers unique, wide wheel spokes which create some neat effects as they spin:

The Cykno electric bicycle isn’t yet available, but when you eventually ride one, you’ll be ready to put the finishing touch on all of that Steampunk cosplay that you’ve been putting off.