Military Transformation

The Macabre Science Of Blast-Induced Brain Injury - Technology Review

2011-02-10T07:13:00.000-08:00

The Macabre Science Of Blast-Induced Brain Injury - Technology Review

Technology Review details the source of blast injury to the brain. This follows three pathways so simply dealing with one hasn't got the desired effect. The article also deals with the usefulness of knowing how to wound but not kill in a military situation.

Future Weapons: Fire Scout UAV

2010-09-03T08:45:00.000-07:00

Fired Scout is one of the Navy's new UAV's It can fly a pre-programmed mission initiated with a push of the button.

This weapon is the one that went out of control over restricted areas in Washington recently. Slate Magazine had an article on drones that mention this event. The Slate article brings up war crimes in connection with UAV's. Of course that is a possibility.

The U.S. government runs two drone programs. The military’s version, which is publicly acknowledged, operates in the recognized war zones of Afghanistan and Iraq, and targets enemies of U.S. troops stationed there. As such, it is an extension of conventional warfare. The C.I.A.’s program is aimed at terror suspects around the world, including in countries where U.S. troops are not based. It was initiated by the Bush Administration and, according to Juan Zarate, a counterterrorism adviser in the Bush White House, Obama has left in place virtually all the key personnel. The program is classified as covert, and the intelligence agency declines to provide any information to the public about where it operates, how it selects targets, who is in charge, or how many people have been killed

Read more http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/10/26/091026fa_fact_mayer#ixzz0yTl3iVxg

According to the New Yorker article

Peter Bergen and Katherine Tiedemann, report that the Obama Administration has sanctioned at least forty-one C.I.A. missile strikes in Pakistan since taking office—a rate of approximately one bombing a week. So far this year, various estimates suggest, the C.I.A. attacks have killed between three hundred and twenty-six and five hundred and thirty-eight people. Critics say that many of the victims have been innocent bystanders, including children.

Read more http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/10/26/091026fa_fact_mayer#ixzz0yTmhTgjn

The article goes on to discuss how targeting algorithms work and difficulties in their implementation. Israel has considerable experience in this type of action. Part of its targeting procedure includes a lawyer and an expert in arab culture.

It appears that UAV's require a good deal of thought in their targeting and use, and that that thought has not been up to par so far

Darpa's Immortal Cells

2010-02-11T10:00:00.001-08:00

As part of its budget for the next year, Darpa is investing $6 million into a project called BioDesign, with the goal of eliminating “the randomness of natural evolutionary advancement.” The plan would assemble the latest bio-tech knowledge to come up with living, breathing creatures that are genetically engineered to “produce the intended biological effect.” Darpa wants the organisms to be fortified with molecules that bolster cell resistance to death, so that the lab-monsters can “ultimately be programmed to live indefinitely.”

Read More http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2010/02/pentagon-looks-to-breed-immortal-synthetic-organisms-molecular-kill-switch-included/#ixzz0fFeMRbZr

"Sea Fighter" The X-Craft was designed to demonstrate to the US and other navies the versatility of a very high speed, high payload capability vessel which can cross oceans quickly, and operate in shallow coastal waters on missions which include mine counter measures and antisubmarine warfare. The Littoral Surface Craft-Experimental LSC(X) was developed by the Office of Naval Research and christened Fast Sea Frame Sea Fighter (FSF 1) on 5 February 2005. The X-Craft transformational program is a high-speed, aluminum catamaran consisting of an advanced hull geometry, designed to give the craft speeds of 50 knots or more. Initially, she will be used by ONR for purposes of hydrodynamic experimentation and as a test bed for Hull, Mechanical, and Electrical (HME) concepts for the Navy's new class of warship, Littoral Combat Ship (LCS). X-Craft is the first vessel that the Navy has designed specifically as a “sea frame,” decoupling hull, mechanical and electrical (HM&E) systems from the mission packages and allowing for a true “plug and fight” mission module capability. Mission flexibility will be demonstrated through interchangeable “mission modules” (standard twenty-foot containers) housed in the X-Craft’s large mission bay. The mission bay will hold up to twelve containers, each with its own dedicated service panel, permitting rapid reconfiguration of the vessel to support a variety of potential missions including battle force protection, mine countermeasures, anti-submarine warfare, amphibious assault support, and logistics/humanitarian support.

2009-12-28T18:14:00.001-08:00

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ship/images/fsf-1_x-craft_050204-n-7676w-193.jpg

Was Rummy Really Wrong? | The LA Progressive

2009-08-05T07:01:00.000-07:00

Was Rummy Really Wrong? The LA Progressive

Is Military Transformation dead? This article says that it has uses against a conventional, major power. Somehow, I think the article misses the point. Military Transformation is not focused on specific missions alone. It is a state of mind. Iraq worked well in the initial phases. (this has nothing to do with our need to go there for the right reasons). The military simply had no plan for a successful occupation. The radical ideas of transformation could have been applied there, but the entire bullet seems to have been missed in the planning.

Winslow T. Wheeler, Director, Straus Military Reform Project, Center for Defense Information

2009-01-13T15:03:00.001-08:00

Says real reform starts with at least three principles:

1. No failed system can be fixed if it cannot be accurately measured. A crash program to make Pentagon spending accountable is essential. But just that is also insufficient. DOD must also have an ability to predict with reasonable accuracy the cost, performance, and schedule of its future programs and policies. The current bias, based on advocacy, is the heart and core of business as usual.

2. The basis for competence cannot just be intelligence and hard work; it must also be objectivity and independence, ruthlessly enforced. We currently have a fundamentally corrupt incentive system for senior Pentagon decision-makers. The iron-clad control of the Pentagon decision process by people (in and out of uniform) who are free to then collect salaries and other emoluments from defense contractors (or other organizations, frequently lobbying firms and think tanks, funded by them) must end - without compromise. The similar sham of members of Congress and - especially - their staff pretending to perform oversight on Capitol Hill and then accepting jobs from those they "oversee" (including the Pentagon) must also end.

3. If ever the above two principles are observed, President Obama can very usefully review all existing hardware programs. We need a process where well informed, independently minded Pentagon managers can actually identify the unaffordable, the irrelevant, and the impractical hardware programs combined with an atmosphere where people appreciate that the money party in Washington is over.

Tags: Pentagon Reform

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New Missiles in Opposition to the US Navy

2009-01-13T14:30:00.001-08:00

Link to missle article

Some of the old names are disappearing from the list of modern missle weapons. Read the article to see what has changed.

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Laser Weapons on the Horizon

2008-12-18T12:25:00.001-08:00

A megawatt laser weapon was fired from an aircraft for the first time.Although the Airborne Laser (ABL) was fired from a stationary plane at a target on the ground just a few metres away, the test marked a milestone for the weapon, developed by aerospace firms Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman.The laser was 12 years in the making and cost $4.3 billion, putting it vastly over budget.

Some laser weapons are already being used by the military. In Iraq and Afghanistan a laser system called Zeus, developed by the US navy, is being tested by coalition forces for detonating the improvised explosive devices of insurgents. The 10-kilowatt laser is pointed at the device from a few hundred metres away, to heat the explosive until it detonates. It can take between 4 seconds to 15 minutes to destroy an explosive device - but the advantage is that no soldiers' lives are risked. And last month Northrop Grumman launched Firestrike, an electrically powered 15-kilowatt battlefield laser that can be multiplied in power by adding more units.

I have followed the ABL system for years. It appears to finally be here. I was surprised by some of the other laser weapons mentionned.

Tags: ABL, Laser Weapons, Zeus, Firestrike

Link

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2008-12-18T09:45:00.001-08:00

The U.S. Defense Department has awarded its up to three-year, $300 million contract for "information operations" in Iraq and possibly Afghanistan. There are four lucky firms: the Lincoln Group, which was outed in 2005 for planting U.S. military-written pieces in Iraqi newspapers; Leonie Industries, a woman-owned company that promises "access to seemingly impenetrable markets" around the world; SOS International, which in 2006 won a contract to monitor foreign media for coverage of the so-called Global War on Terrorism; and MPRI, a unit of L-3 Communications that won a contract in 2003 to involve former Iraqi soldiers in public works projects. The new PR push is "seen by the [U.S.] military as a means toward 'reconciliation' of the country and a way to foster support for Iraqi Security Forces from Iraqi civilians," reports O'Dwyer's.

This is an example of the Admin function in Barnett's book, Pentagon's New Map.

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How To Start A Religion

2008-12-08T18:18:00.001-08:00

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs)

2008-12-08T12:32:00.001-08:00

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are remotely piloted or self-piloted aircraft that can carry cameras, sensors, communications equipment or other payloads. They have been used in a reconnaissance and intelligence-gathering role since the 1950s, and more challenging roles are envisioned, including combat missions. Since 1964 the Defense Department has developed 11 different UAVs, though due to acquisition and development problems only 3 entered production. The US Navy has studyied the feasibility of operating VTOL UAVs since the early 1960s, the QH-50 Gyrodyne torpedo-delivery drone being an early example. However, high cost and technological immaturity have precluded acquiring and fielding operational VTOL UAV systems.

By the early 1990s DOD sought UAVs to satisfy surveillance requirements in Close Range, Short Range or Endurance categories. Close Range was defined to be within 50 kilometers, Short Range was defined as within 200 kilometers and Endurance as anything beyond. By the late 1990s, the Close and Short Range categories were combined, and a separate Shipboard category emerged. The current classes of these vehicles are the Tactical UAV and the Endurance category.

Pioneer: Procured beginning in 1985 as an interim UAV capability to provide imagery intelligence for tactical commanders on land and see at ranges out to 185 kilometers. No longer in the Army inventory (returned to the US Navy in 1995).

Tactical UAV : Designed to support tactical commanders with near-real-time imagery intelligence at ranges up to 200 kilometers. Outrider Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration (ACTD) program terminated. Material solution for TUAV requirements is being pursued through a competive acquisition process with goal of contract award in DEC 99.

Joint Tactical UAV (Hunter): Developed to provide ground and maritime forces with near-real-time imagery intelligence at ranges up to 200 kilometers; extensible to 300+ kilometers by using another Hunter UAV as an airborne relay. Training base located at Fort Huachuca, with additional baseline at Fort Polk to support JRTC rotations. Operational assets based at Fort Hood (currently supporting the KFOR in Kosovo).

Medium Altitude Endurance UAV (Predator): Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration now transitioned to Low-Rate Initial Production (LRIP). Provides imagery intelligence to satisfy Joint Task Force and Theater Commanders at ranges out to 500 nautical miles. No longer in the Army inventory (transferred to the US Air Force in 1996).

High Altitude Endurance UAV (Global Hawk): Intended for missions requiring long-range deployment and wide-area surveillance (EO/IR and SAR) or long sensor dwell over the target area. Directly deployable from CONUS to the theater of operations. Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration (ACTD) managed by the US Air Force.

Tactical Control Station (TCS): The Tactical Control Station is the software and communications links required to control the TUAV, MAE-UAV, and other future tactical UAV's. It also provides connectivity to other C4I systems.

Micro Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (MAV): DARPA program to explore the military relevance of Micro Air Vehicles for future military operations, and to develop and demonstrate flight enabling technologies for very small aircraft (less than 15cm/6in. in any dimension).

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Name	Endurance (Hours)	Payload Weight (Pounds)	Altitude Capability (Feet)	STATUS
AQM-34N Firebee	hr.	lbs.	ft.
Aquila	hr.	lbs.	ft.
Arcturus T-16	16 hr.	20 lbs.	17,000 ft. (gas) - 40,000 ft. (electric)
COMPASS ARROW	hr.	lbs.	ft.
COMPASS BIN	hr.	lbs.	ft.
COMPASS COPE	hr.	lbs.	ft.
COMPASS DAWN	hr.	lbs.	ft.
Condor	hr.	lbs.	ft.
CR-TUAV	hr.	lbs.	ft.
CR-UAV	hr.	lbs.	ft.
Darkstar	8 hrs.	1,000 lbs.	45,000 ft.
Dragon	hr.	lbs.	ft.
Eagle Eye	8 hrs.	300 lbs.	20,000 ft.
Exdrone	2.5 hr.	25 lbs	10,000 ft.
Firebee	1.25 hrs.	470 lbs.	60,000 ft.
Global Hawk	42 hrs.	1,960 lbs.	65,000 ft.
Gnat 750	48 hrs.	140 lbs.	25,000 ft.
Hunter	12 hrs.	200 lbs.	15,000 ft.
Model 324	2.5 hrs.	200 lbs.	43,000 ft.
Model 410	12 hrs.	300 lbs.	30,000 ft.
MR-UAV	hr.	lbs.	ft.
MRE	hr.	lbs.	ft.
Outrider	4 hrs.	160 lbs.	15,000 ft.
Pioneer	5.5 hrs.	75 lbs.	12,000 ft.
Pointer	1 hr.	2 lbs.	3,000 ft.
Predator	29 hrs.	700 lbs.	+40,000 ft.
SEA FERRET	hr.	lbs.	ft.
SENIOR BOWL [D-21]	hr.	lbs.	ft.
VT-UAV	hr.	lbs.	ft.
VT-UAV Dragonfly	hr.	lbs.	ft.
VT-UAV Vigilante	hr.	lbs.	ft.
VT-UAV Guardian	hr.	lbs.	ft.
MQ-8B Army Fire Scout	hr.	lbs.	ft.
MQ-8B Navy Fire Scout	hr.	lbs.	ft.

Tags: UAV

Link

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Active Protection System (APS)

2008-12-08T12:25:00.001-08:00

The U.S. Army is developing Active Protection System (APS) as part of its Future Combat Systems ground-force modernization program. FCS is designed to bring Soldiers into the 21st century by equipping them with state-of-the-art vehicles, communication capabilities, sensors and protective systems. The system has been named one of the best inventions of 2008 by Time magazine.
Tags: APS, FCS, Active Protection System

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Thai Trawler sunk by INS Ship

2008-11-26T08:12:00.000-08:00

The Indian navy error in sinking a Thai trawler in the last week shows the problem that exists with information, either too much or too little of it, in dealing with non-state actors like pirates.

The ship seems to be under pirate control and to have attacked the frigate that sank it. The issue is the death of the hostages on the ship. In former centuries, their deaths would not be well know and the removal of the pirate force on the ship would have been positive for stopping piracy. In these times, the ideal use of force must be more surgical. So, our multi-billion dollar navies are tied up by bandits with RPG's.

Link

Blackwater beats the Navy or maybe it is Democracy

2008-11-19T09:49:00.001-08:00

Blackwater is offering the MV MacArthur, a 183-foot vessel with a crew of 14 and a helicopter pad, as an escort for ships through the Gulf of Aden.
“We have the capability to assist” shipping companies, said Bill Mathews, Blackwater executive vice president. He and other company leaders are former Navy SEALs. Ship security “is kind of what we did for a living” before joining Blackwater, he said.
link

The company isn’t seeking new U.S. security contracts in Iraq, where a Blackwater team was involved in the killing of 17 Iraqi civilians while guarding a State Department convoy in September 2007. The deaths are being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The State Department paid Blackwater more than $832 million to provide security between 2004 and 2006, about half of the money under a no-bid contract awarded in June 2004.

According to Coast Guard records, the McArthur was decommissioned by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in 2003 after nearly 40 years as a research vessel. Built in 1966 by Norfolk Shipbuilding & Drydock Co., now BAE Systems Norfolk Ship

Link

Tags: MV MacArthur

Tags: Blackwater, US Navy, Samilia, Pirates

Isn't it amazing that in the picture above this ship is flying the American flag. It is another example of some American citizens having the right to wage war outside of government channels. Blackwater is a private army with land, sea and air forces operating out of the United States. That should not be allowed.

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Russians to have Six New Aircraft Carriers by 2025

2008-11-12T15:21:00.001-08:00

NLOS-C is the lead prototype in the Army's family of eight FCS Manned Ground Vehicles (MGVs). The new cannon implements automated ammunition loading system and improved accuracy through on-board projectile tracking coupled with the power of the FCS network and sensors. It is operated by a crew of two soldiers. "This marks the first 155mm round fired from a fully automated howitzer mounted on an FCS hybrid-electric chassis and remotely commanded through its on-board computers and controls," stated Lieutenant Colonel Robert McVay, Army Product Manager for NLOS-C.

It will be one of nine vehicles to be produced under the system development phase. As the system is approved for operational testing, more vehicles will be produced for the testing, overall, the Army's Evaluation Task Force (AETF) will receive 18 NLOS-C platforms starting in 2010. The AETF will put the NLOS-C through combat scenarios to provide lessons learned that will be used to enhance and finalize the design for the final production NLOS-Cs and the rest of the MGV family.

August 08, 2008: Speaking to journalists on the occasion of the Russian Navy Day celebrations, the commander of the Russian Navy, Admiral Vladimir Visotskiy confirmed the the Russian Navy is planning to deploy six aircraft-carrier groups with its Northern and Pacific fleets. They will be operated within a new, network-centric task groups, closely integrated with Russian air force and air-defense assets via Russia’s military-satellite network. (more...)
Tags: Russian Carriers

Adm. Visotskiy indicated that six new aircraft carriers and all the necessary support ships will be built to sustain this momentum. Construction of the first aircraft carrier is expected to begin in 2012. The six groups could be fully deployed by 2025.

At present, the Russians operate only a single aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov with the Northern Fleet. Moscow have yet to decide where to build these vessels, as the only facility capable of such scale of work is located in the Nikolayev Shipyard on the Black Sea in the Ukraine.

In the mid 1980s the Russian Navy launched three Type 1143.5 carriers, Admiral Kuznetsov, and Varyag which was delivered as scrap to China. The third carrier, Admiral Gorshkov is being refurbished for the Indian Navy, to be fielded by 2013. Only one aircraft carrier remained in Russian service - the Admiral Kuznetsov. The vessel, carries 12 fixed wing aircraft, including Su-33 fighters and Su-25 attack aircraft as well as various types of Ka-27 special mission helicopters (AEW, ASW, SAR).

Addressing the construction of Borei class nuclear-powered missile carrying submarines, the Admiral said the Navy plans to modernize at least one Borei-class strategic nuclear submarine which is considered to be the mainstay of the naval component of Russia’s strategic nuclear forces until 2040. Three vessels of this class are currently in construction at the Sevmash shipyard in Severodvinsk, in the Arkhangelsk region. However, but their completion has been delayed by test failures of the Bulava ballistic missile, its main weapon. Adm. Visotskiy said the first three submarines would be commissioned without significant changes to the initial design, but the fourth will undergo upgrades.

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NLOS-C Fires First Round

2008-11-12T15:02:00.001-08:00

Tags: NLOS, FCS

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Battle of the Wabash - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

2008-08-21T13:07:00.001-07:00

Battle of the Wabash

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

The 1811 Battle of Tippecanoe was also once known as the Battle of the Wabash.

Battle of the Wabash

Part of the Northwest Indian War

Date
November 4, 1791

Location
near present-day Fort Recovery, Ohio

Result
Overwhelming Native American victory

Belligerents

Western Confederacy
United States

Commanders

Little Turtle,
Blue Jacket,
Buckongahelas
Arthur St. Clair,
Richard Butler †

Strength

1000
1000

Casualties and losses

21 killed and 40 wounded
total: 61
623 soldiers killed or captured
258 soldiers wounded
24 workers killed,
14 wounded
33 women killed
total:952

[hide]

v • d • e

Northwest Indian War

Logan's Raid – Hardin's Defeat – Harmar's Defeat – Big Bottom – Dunlap's Station – St. Clair's Defeat – Fort Recovery – Fallen Timbers

The Battle of the Wabash, also known as St. Clair's Defeat and the Battle of Wabash River, was fought on November 4, 1791, in the Northwest Territory between the United States and the Western Confederacy of American Indians, as part of the Northwest Indian War. It was a major Native American victory.

The American Indians were led by Little Turtle of the Miamis, Blue Jacket of the Shawnees, and Buckongahelas of the Delawares (Lenape), who led his 480 men to join the 700 warriors of Little Turtle and Blue Jacket. In comparison, the opposing force of about 1000 Americans were led by General Arthur St. Clair who had proved to be an able commander during the American Revolutionary War. However, the Indian confederacy eventually was victorious. The battle was the most severe defeat ever suffered by the United States at the hands of American Indians; indeed, in proportional terms of losses to strength it was the worst defeat that United States forces have ever suffered in battle. As a result, President George Washington forced St. Clair to resign his post, and Congress initiated its first investigation of the executive branch. Of the 1,000 troops that Saint Clair led into battle, only 48 escaped.

Contents
[show]

1 Background

2 The campaign

3 Aftermath

4 References

5 External links

[edit] Background

The Treaty of Paris of 1783, which ended the War of American Independence, recognized United States sovereignty of all the land east of the Mississippi River and south of the Great Lakes. The Indian tribes in the Old Northwest, however, were not parties to this treaty, and many of them, especially leaders such as Little Turtle and Blue Jacket, refused to recognize American claims to the area northwest of the Ohio River. During the mid- and late 1780s, white settlers in Kentucky and travelers on and north of the river suffered approximately 1500 deaths during the ongoing hostilities, in which white settlers often retaliated against Indians. As a result of the continual violence, President Washington and his Secretary of War, Henry Knox, decided to use military force to pacify the region.

A force of 1,453 men (320 Regular U.S. Troops and 1,133 militia) under Brigadier General Josiah Harmar marched northwards from Fort Washington on the Ohio River at 10:00 a.m. on October 7, 1790. On October 22, near present-day Fort Wayne, Indiana, Harmar committed only 400 of his men under Col. John Hardin to attack an Indian force of some 1,100 warriors. When a courier informed Harmar (rumored to be drunk) of the size of the enemy force, out of fear he refused to come to Hardin's aid. Had he supported Colonel Hardin with the other 800-900 men, the Indian force might have been defeated. Instead, Harmar formed his portion of the army into a hollow defensive square, and did not move. Hardin, expecting reinforcements, put up a valiant fight for over three hours, then fell back to the main army's encampment and Harmar ordered a retreat back to Ft. Washington. (See main article: Hardin's Defeat).

At least 129 of Hardin's troops (14 officers, 115 enlisted) were killed in action and another 94 wounded, for a total of 223 casualties. Estimates of total Indian casualties, killed and wounded, range from 120 to 150. George Washington then ordered St. Clair, who served both as governor of the Northwest Territory and as a major general in the army, to mount a more vigorous effort by summer 1791. Congress agreed to fund the expedition as well as to authorize the raising of an additional U.S. Army regiment for the purpose, bringing the total number of army regiments in existence to just two (the 1st and 2nd American Regiments). St. Clair augmented this force with Kentucky militia as well as five battalions of six-month levies.

[edit] The campaign

While Washington was adamant that St. Clair move north in the summer months, various logistics and supply problems greatly slowed his preparations in Fort Washington (present-day Cincinnati, Ohio). The new recruits were poorly trained and disciplined, the food supplies substandard, and the horses, low in number, were of poor quality. The expedition thus failed to set out until October 1791. Building supply posts as it advanced, the army's objective was the town of Kekionga, the capital of the Miami tribe, near present-day Fort Wayne, Indiana.

When it did get underway, the force, including some 200-250 camp followers (wives, children, laundresses, and prostitutes) numbered around 1,486. Going was slow and discipline problems were severe; St. Clair, suffering from gout, had difficulty maintaining order, especially among the militia and the new levies. The force was constantly shadowed by Indians, and skirmishes occasionally erupted.

By the end of November 2, through desertion and illness, St. Clair's force had been whittled down to around 1,120, including the camp followers. He had 52 officers and 868 enlisted and militia present for duty on November 3. At dawn on November 4, St. Clair's force was camped near the present-day location of Fort Recovery, Ohio. An Indian force consisting of around 1,000 warriors, led by Little Turtle, Blue Jacket, and Tecumseh, struck quickly and, surprising the Americans, soon overran their perimeter. The Americans almost immediately collapsed into disorder. St. Clair had three horses shot out from under him as he tried in vain to rally his troops, many of whom hid beneath wagons and behind trees despite goading from their commander (who at one point moved among them chanting "Cowards, cowards, cowards,") and from female camp followers.

The casualty rate was the highest percentage ever suffered by a United States Army, and included St. Clair's second in command. Of the 52 officers engaged, 39 were killed and 7 wounded, around 88% of all officers became casualties. After two hours, St. Clair ordered a retreat, which quickly turned into a rout. "It was, in fact, a flight," St. Clair described a few days later in a letter to the Secretary of War. The American casualty rate, among the soldiers, was 97.4 percent, including 632 of 920 killed (69%), and 264 wounded. Nearly all of the 200 camp followers were slaughtered, for a total of 832 Americans killed. Approximately one-quarter of the entire standing United States Army had been wiped out. Only 24 of the 920 troops engaged came out of it unscathed. Indian casualties were about 61, with at least 21 killed. The number of soldiers killed alone was more than three times the number the Sioux would kill 85 years later at Custer's last stand at the Little Big Horn. The next day the remnants of the force arrived at the nearest U.S. outpost, Fort Jefferson (then Fort Hamilton) and from there returned to Fort Washington.

Casualty statistics from "That Dark and Bloody River", by Allan W. Eckert, Bantam Books, December 1995.

[edit] Aftermath

St. Clair himself soon traveled to the national capital at Philadelphia to report on what had happened. Blaming the quartermaster as well as the War Department, the general asked for a court-martial in order to gain exoneration and planned to resign his commission after winning it. Washington, however, denied him the court-martial and forced St. Clair's immediate resignation.

The House of Representatives, meanwhile, began its own investigation into the disaster. This was the first investigation that Congress had ever undertaken, as well as the first investigation of the executive branch, and as part of the proceedings, the House committee in charge of the investigation sought certain documents from the War Department. Knox brought this matter to Washington's attention, and because of the major separation of powers issues involved, the president summoned a meeting of all of his department heads (Knox, Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton, and Attorney General Edmund Randolph). This was one of the first meetings of all of these officials together, and some scholars consider this occasion the beginning of the Cabinet.

At this and subsequent meetings, the president and his advisers established, in theory, the concept that the executive branch should refuse to hand over any papers or materials that the public good required them to keep secret, and that at any rate they not hand over any originals. This is the earliest appearance of the doctrine of executive privilege, which later became a major separation of powers issue in matters such as Aaron Burr's treason trial, Watergate, the Iran-Contra affair, and the impeachment of President Bill Clinton. In the end, though, Washington authorized the release of copies of the materials that the committee sought.

The final committee report sided largely with St. Clair, finding that Knox and other War Department officials had done a poor job of raising, equipping, and supplying St. Clair's expedition. Other than issuing these findings, however, neither the committee nor the House of representatives took any further steps, such as recommending impeachment.

In 1794, a new U.S. force under Major General "Mad Anthony" Wayne achieved what St. Clair had not when he decisively defeated the Indians of the Old Northwest at the Battle of Fallen Timbers

[edit] References

Sugden, John, Blue Jacket: Warrior of the Shawnees. Lincoln and London: University of Nebraska Press, 2000. ISBN 0-8032-4288-3.

Sword, Wiley, President Washington's Indian War: The Struggle for the Old Northwest, 1790-1795. Norman and London: University of Oklahoma Press, 1985. ISBN 0-8061-1864-4 (hardcover); ISBN 0-8061-2488-1 (paperback).

Guthman, William H., March to Massacre: A History of the First Seven Years of the United States Army. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1970. ISBN 0-07-025297-1.

[edit] External links

Officers killed at St. Clair's Defeat

Wilbur Edel, Kekionga!: The Worst Defeat in the History of the U.S. Army

St. Clair's Defeat folk song

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Wabash"

Battle of the Wabash - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Russian Military Equipment Quality

2008-08-17T10:18:00.001-07:00

Algeria plans to return 15 fighter jets to Russia: report

MOSCOW (AFP) - Algeria wants to return 15 fighter jets it bought from Russia because of their poor quality, the Kommersant daily reported on Monday, citing an official from Russia’s state United Aerospace Corporation.

The official said Russia was proposing to take back the MiG-29 jets, which were delivered to Algeria in 2006 and 2007, but only if Algeria bought more modern and expensive planes such as the MiG-29M2 or the MiG-35.

Tags: Mig-29, Russia

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Mig-35 a fifth genereation aircraft

2008-08-07T15:31:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=laDmDOr6YoA

Guardium Autonomous Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV)

2008-08-07T14:34:00.001-07:00

The Guardium UGV uses the TomCar chassis. The vehicle is equipped with an automated tactical positioning system and can operate autonomously on and off road, at speeds up to 80 km/h. The vehicle can carry a payload of up to 300 kg, including light armor shield to protect vital systems. The UGV can carry a wide variety of sensors, including video and thermal cameras, with auto-target acquisition and capture, sensitive microphone, powerful loudspeakers and two way radio. The vehicle can also be equipped with lethal or less than lethal weapons which can be directed and operated from the Main Control Center (MCC). A fleet of Guardium vehicles can be used as sentries, controlled from the MCC, from where they are launched on routine patrols, ambushes or operating in response to events received from an early warning or perimeter defense system. The MCC is also provided with automatic tactical area definition, by terrain, doctrine and intelligence, which assist in preparation of the operational planning and programming for USVs. Each USV can also be manually controlled by remote control.

Following a successful evaluation in 2005 Guardium was selected by the Israel Defense Forces to operate as part of the border security operations. By May 2008 the IDF received the first batch of Guardium UGVs scheduled to enter fully operational service along the countrie's borders by the year's end. In 2008 Israel's Airport Authority conducted an evaluation of the system as part of possible integration of an autonomous UGV as part of its airport security system.

Guardium Autonomous Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV)

Technorati Tags: UGV

MQ-9 Reaper Hunter/Killer UAV

2008-08-07T14:27:00.001-07:00

MQ-9 Reaper Hunter/Killer UAV

Developer & Producer: General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI)

Recent news / Predator users

Reaper, (also known as Predator B) an outgrowth of the combat proven Predator A UAS, became operational in 2007 and as it began flying combat missions over Afghanistan. This Medium Altitude Long Endurance UAV overcomes most of the difficulties encountered with previous UAVs that commonly must compromise between conflicting demands for payload, speed, altitude, speed and persistence. With an operational ceiling of 50,000ft, and higher cruising speed, Reaper can cover a larger area, under all weather conditions carrying payloads of more than 1.5 tons. The aircraft is powered by a single Honeywell TP331-10 engine, producing 950 shp, provides a maximum airspeed of 260 kts and a cruise speed for maximum endurance of 150-170 kts.

The Reaper is capable of carrying maximum internal payload of 800 lbs, it will carry more advanced sensors at weight almost twice as the MQ-1. Furthermore, The Reaper can carry much more external stores, up to 3,000 pounds total – 1,500 on each of its two inboard weapons stations, or 500-600 lb. on the two middle stations and 150-200 lbs. on the outboard stations. In total, the aircraft can carry up to 14 Hellfire missiles, compared with two carried on the Predator. The Reaper can stay airborne for up to 14 hours fully loaded.

Trading off some of the missiles, Predator B can carry laser guided bombs, such as the GBU-12. MQ-9 is equipped with both Lynx II SAR and the MTS-B 20" gimbal, an improved, extended range version of the MQ-9's EO payload. The availability of high performance sensors and large capacity of precision guided weapons enable the new Predator to operate as an efficient "Hunter-Killer" platform, seeking and engaging targets at high probability of success. It is equipped with an L-3 Communications Tactical Common Datalink (TCDL).

The Air Force is deploying the Reaper with the 42nd attack squadron based in Nevada and operating from forward locations in Afghanistan. By 2009 the service is scheduled to decide whether it wants a full production run. The USAF plans to equip three unmanned attack squadrons in the next decade.

The MQ-9 Reaper will employ robust sensors to automatically find, fix, track and target critical emerging time sensitive targets. In the MQ-9 the SAR was replaced with the AN/APY-8 Lynx II radar, replacing the TESAR with more advanced high resolution radar-imaging system. The ground control segment of the Predator B is common with all previous Predator systems. The USAF is developing the ability to operate multiple aircraft from a single ground station, in effect, multiplying the overall combat effectiveness over the battlefield.

Britain ordered three MQ-9 systems. Their configuration is be similar to that of the USAF operated MQ-9 Reaper, and includes Ground Control Station, Multi-Spectral Targeting Systems, Mobile Ground Control Station, Lynx Synthetic Aperture Radar (airborne), Ku-Band Communications link etc. Although the RAF did not plan to employ its Reapers in armed configuration, such capabilities are integral with the aircraft. According to British MOD sources, during combat operations in Afghanistan on early June 2008 British Reapers did get their chance to drop ordnance on targets, in support of ground forces.

Recent News:

March 2007: The first MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aircraft arrived at Creech Air Force Base, NV this week after completing flight tests in California. This is the first of 18 aircraft to be operated by the 42 attack squadron from this base.

July 2007: The US Air Force is planning to accelerate the fielding of Combat Air Patrols (CAP) maintained by MQ-1 armed Predator Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, from 12 orbits currently operating in Iraq and Southwest Asia to 21 Predator combat air patrols by December 2009.

October 2007: First combat mission of the MQ-9 Reaper in Afghanistan. The RAF Announce the deployment of the first MQ-9 to Afghanistan.

MQ-9 Reaper (Predator B) Users

Reaper/Predator B UAVs are currently fielded with the USAF, US Navy and the Royal Air Force. Non military users of the Predator B include: NASA and the US Customs and Border Protection.

MQ-9 Reaper Hunter/Killer UAV

YouTube - Unmanned Surface Vessel (USV)

2008-08-01T18:09:00.001-07:00

This is the first time I have seen this USV

YouTube - USAF MQ-9 Reaper deploys to Afghanistan

2008-08-01T17:55:00.001-07:00

This video shows the operation of the Reaper. It is much larger than the Predator and newer.

American Policy

2008-07-14T09:15:00.001-07:00

Donald Rumsfeld: The Change Agent

2008-07-11T07:32:00.001-07:00

These videos give an excellent summary of the Rumsfeld tenure as Secretary of Defense and its future effects.

Donald Rumsfeld: The Change Agent

Technorati Tags: Rumsfeld,Iraq,military Transformation,Sanchez

Argghhh! The Home Of Two Of Jonah's Military Guys..

2008-06-16T15:55:00.001-07:00

Old guns, new guns. A little gunner zen.

First up, something new... just because I like the pic.

U.S. Marine 1st Lt. Kathryne B. Schilling coaches a woman as she prepares to shoot a pistol during her training to become a Sister of Ferris, June 4, 2008, Ferris, Iraq. The Sisters of Ferris will inspect women for weapons, suicide vests, large amounts of cash and contraband at entry control points. Schilling is assigned to Combat Logistics Battalion 1, 1st Marine Logistics Group. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Cindy G. Alejandrez

Next, something old. John S. an ~~enabler who feeds my habit~~ gun dealer sent me a link to some fascinating pictures taken at Fort Brown, Texas, during the Punitive Expedition/WWI era.

Long time readers of this space will know that the Donovan family isn't very adventurous. I'm a third generation Gunner. Over those three generations, Donovan Redlegs have served, or been involved in the development of, an amazing transformation of the art. My grandfather was there as we were first mastering the art of indirect fire, doing all the basic math as needed for trajectory calculation, etc, where you might spend a day or more doing all the needed math to mass the fires of massed guns on multiple targets. My father bridged the era from the ultimate refinement of manual data computation through to the birth of artillery digital computers. And I span from the end of manual data through the era of the guns as roving independents, capable of massing fires on multiple targets without being massed themselves, and done on the fly.

My grandfather served on guns like these 4.7 inch guns at Fort Brown, Brownsville Texas, in 1916. Where the object of artillery was to get as many guns shooting simultaneously at a target as you could.

A slightly larger version can be had by clicking here. Or get the full size version here.

The Robert Runyon Photograph Collection, image #486, courtesy of The Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin.

My Dad, served guns like this M109 howitzer - brand new when he was commanding a battalion of them in Germany in 1969 (this particular gun is Israeli)... Still trying to mass as many guns as you could, while building them to keep up with the tanks and mechanized infantry, and able to survive on a very lethal battlefield. This is the era I started in.

Heck, we've put the firepower of a battalion of cannon on the back of a single truck.

Now, at the twilight of my time doing things militant, I've been involved in the development of the tactics and doctrine for guns like the NLOS-C, in an era where we're reducing the number of guns, making them capable of being virtual snipers (even the rockets are point weapons now - and shooting artillery at "point targets" was a way to get your knuckles wrapped when I was a Lieutenant), and the guns rove around independently, and are capable of massing fires on their own - in that they can shoot multiple rounds in succession, all timed to arrive at the same time on the target - and be moving before those rounds hit. That's some serious change in less than 100 years, and the lives of three soldiers.

Argghhh! The Home Of Two Of Jonah's Military Guys..

This is an interesting short piece on where artillery has been going in the last 100 years.

Technorati Tags: NLOS-C,artillery

Networking your way to a new military

2008-06-16T15:36:00.001-07:00

Mini-helicopters, flying saucers and robot buggies are all fighting it out for a new war games prize. 'It's a bit like Wacky Races,' says one challenger as defence chiefs seek to bring hi-tech science to the frontline.

"We call it boys' toys for warfare," bellows Chris Burgess

Burgess belongs to one of 11 teams unveiled as finalists in the UK Ministry of Defence's (MoD) most ambitious - and unusual - attempt to bring hi-tech science to the frontline. Called the Grand Challenge, the GBP4m project calls on engineers to design a robot that can scour an urban area for enemy combatants and explosives and report back, preferably without human intervention.

Among the finalists are a swarm of tiny helicopters that can peer into windows, a flying saucer, and what looks like a scaled-down version of a mechanical diggger. By August this year the teams, a hotch-potch of defence companies, universities and sixth form colleges, will go head-to-head over three weeks to decide on a winner. The battle will be played out on the streets of Copehill Down, a mock-up of an East German village built in the English countryside during the cold war.

The competition will test each robot's ability to go into the village and spot different threats, including snipers, groups of gunmen, armed vehicles and improvised explosive devices or IEDs. Teams will be docked points for missing threats, being slow and targeting harmless civilians lurking among the buildings.

"It's a very tough challenge," said Andy Wallace at the MoD. "They have to deploy, move around by themselves and avoid obstacles, while locating and identifying things that pose a threat before reporting back." The challenge is a tacit admission that the large defence companies which provide the British military's frontline technology rarely come up with the most imaginative ideas.

By throwing open the challenge to all comers the British government aims to tap the brainpower of smaller companies and individual researchers. The idea was pioneered by the Pentagon, whose own Grand Challenge was set up to encourage new technology for driverless vehicles.

The winner will receive the RJ Mitchell trophy.

Tags: RJ Mitchell, IED, Robot

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World History and Science

2008-06-16T10:55:00.001-07:00

Nova presents the story of intelligent design and the Dover School system. This points out the dishonesty of the proponents of intelligent design and the strange view of moral practice they can support.

World History and Science

Pentagon OKs 'brainwave binoculars' | NEWS.com.au

2008-06-16T10:14:00.001-07:00

THE Pentagon has approved $US6.7 million ($7m) to develop binoculars that would tap a user's brainwaves to home in on threats.

Northrop Grumman Corporation said today it was leading an academic and industry consortium for the project, known as the Cognitive Technology Threat Warning System program, or CT2WS.

The plan featured a custom helmet equipped with electrodes placed on the scalp to record neural responses to the presence or absence of potential threats, Northrop said.

Pentagon OKs 'brainwave binoculars' | NEWS.com.au

Technorati Tags: brainwaves,binoculars,warfighter

Boeing Fires New Thin-Disk Laser, Achieving Solid-State Laser Milestone

2008-06-04T10:08:00.001-07:00

Source

ST. LOUIS, June 03, 2008 — The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] fired its new thin-disk laser system repeatedly in recent tests, achieving the highest known simultaneous power, beam quality and run time for any solid-state laser to date.

In each laser firing at Boeing's facility in West Hills, Calif., the high-energy laser achieved power levels of over 25 kilowatts for multi-second durations, with a measured beam quality suitable for a tactical weapon system. The Boeing laser integrates multiple thin-disk lasers into a single system. Through these successful tests, the Boeing team has proven the concept of scalability to a 100-kilowatt-class system based on the same architecture and technology.

"Solid-state lasers will revolutionize the battlefield by giving the warfighter an ultra-precision engagement capability that can dramatically reduce collateral damage," said Scott Fancher, vice president and general manager of Boeing Missile Defense Systems. "These successful tests show that Boeing has made solid progress toward making this revolutionary capability a reality."

The thin-disk laser is an initiative to demonstrate that solid-state laser technologies are now ready to move out of the laboratory and into full development as weapon systems. Solid-state lasers are powered by electricity, making them highly mobile and supportable on the battlefield. The Boeing laser represents the most electrically efficient solid-state laser technology known. The system is designed to meet the rapid-fire, rapid-retargeting requirements of area-defense, anti-missile and anti-mortar tactical high-energy laser systems. It is also ideal for non-lethal, ultra-precision strike missions urgently needed by warfighters in war zones.

Tags: Laser, Boeing

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Military dishes millions for UNM's weapons research - Opinion

2008-03-31T17:29:00.001-07:00

UNM receives millions of dollars in funding for research from all branches of the U.S. military, Department of Defense and the weapons industry while maintaining close ties to the federal defense establishment.
The most recent example of this occurred just last week. According to the Tuesday edition of UNM Today, UNM President David Schmidly recently signed a new memorandum of understanding with Sandia National Laboratories. The article states that the purpose of this MOU is to "enhance the opportunities for top students at UNM to find placement at Sandia" and "help secure external funding for research projects" in areas including "computing and information infrastructure," "homeland defense" and "national security."
According to its Web site, Sandia National Laboratories is heavily involved in military planning and weapons research and other research with war applications, including C3ISR (Command, Control, Communication, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance) Integrated Military Systems for Missile Defense and Strike Systems, complex adaptive systems and Homeland Defense and Force Protection.

C3ISR is a new term to me. It points the way for further research to see what is being done in that field.

Military dishes millions for UNM's weapons research - Opinion

Technorati Tags: C3ISR,Military Transformation,Sandia National Laboratories

DARPA spends $13 million more for fast language translation software | NetworkWorld.com Community

2008-03-14T09:05:00.001-07:00

Success in this endeavor would have an immediate affect on the speed of knowledge transfer. It would be a basic enabling device.

DARPA in December awarded BBN Technologies a $5.6 million contract to develop an automated translation system for handheld, laptop or desktop computers.And last January DARPA awarded BBN a $16 million contract extension of its Global Autonomous Language Exploitation (GALE) program. GALE is intended to develop and apply software technologies to transcribe speech, translate both speech and text, and distill large volumes of speech and text in multiple languages, with over 90% accuracy by the end of the program. Such a capability would help U.S. analysts recognize critical information in foreign languages quickly so they could act on it in a timely fashion.

With this latest contract award, BBN will continue to work in Arabic from both speech and text sources to meet increasingly steep accuracy goals, BBN said.For DARPA the goal is to build a prototype system that quickly provides relevant, distilled, actionable information to military commands and personnel by converting foreign language text images into English transcripts automatically (without the use of linguists and analysts) and with high accuracy, the agency said in a release.

DARPA spends $13 million more for fast language translation software | NetworkWorld.com Community

Technorati Tags: language,translation,culture

Airplane Stays Aloft for Five Years

2008-03-12T12:54:00.001-07:00

Essentially, the Vulture is an aircraft that operates like a satellite, but is not regulated by orbital mechanics. "It could be positioned over the battle, at 65,000ft versus 260 miles," says Pulliam. Operating as a pseudo-satellite in the stratosphere and not low Earth orbit would provide a 65dB improvement in communications capability, he says, and significantly increase onboard sensor resolution.

There are three architecture options, says Newman: a single ultra-reliable system equivalent to a satellite a modular vehicle where pieces can fly home to be repaired and replaced and an aircraft that can be serviced and replenished while remaining on station.

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How Future

2008-03-12T12:48:00.001-07:00

My colleague Alec Klein has been showing just why there's such concern. For starters, the project, with Boeing as the main contractor, is expected to cost some $200 billion. Boeing has been having some troubles on government contracts lately, as some of you know.

Sadly, based on the past performance of technology contractors, the actual price tag could end up at $400 billion, maybe more. Who knows?

Here's what Alec wrote in The Washington Post in December. "In the Army's vision, the war of the future is increasingly combat by mouse clicks. It's as networked as the Internet, as mobile as a cellphone, as intuitive as a video game. The Army has a name for this vision: Future Combat Systems, or FCS. The project involves creating a family of 14 weapons, drones, robots, sensors and hybrid-electric combat vehicles connected by a wireless network. It has turned into the most ambitious modernization of the Army since World War II and the most expensive Army weapons program ever, military officials say.

"It's also one of the most controversial. Even as some early versions of these weapons make their way onto the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan, members of Congress, government investigators and military observers question whether the Defense Department has set the stage for one of its biggest and costliest failures. At risk, they say, are billions of taxpayer dollars spent on exotic technology that may never come to fruition, leaving the Army little time and few resources to prepare for new threats

Tags: FCS, future combat system

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YouTube - Flyborgs

2008-02-27T12:19:00.001-08:00

Noel Sharkey Professor of computer science is demonstrating autonomous behavior, evolution and swarming. His work might be more interesting from the point of view of evolution than it is for robotics.

YouTube - Flyborgs

Technorati Tags: Noel Sharkey,Flyborgs

Killer robots pose latest militant threat: expert | Reuters

2008-02-27T12:02:00.001-08:00

LONDON (Reuters) - Killer robots could become the weapon of choice for militants, a British expert said on Wednesday.

Noel Sharkey, professor of artificial intelligence and robotics at the University of Sheffield said he believed falling costs would soon make robots a realistic option

Killer robots pose latest militant threat: expert | Reuters

Technorati Tags: Robots,Killer Robots,Noel Sharkey,Artificial Intelligence

Air Force Technology - Neuron - Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle Demonstrator

2008-02-20T16:53:00.001-08:00

Neuron is the European Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle (UCAV) demonstrator for the development, integration and validation of UCAV technologies and is not for military operational deployment. Dassault unveiled a life-size model of Neuron at the 2005 Paris Air Show. The operational UCAV is expected to be a larger design than the Neuron demonstrator.

Air Force Technology - Neuron - Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle Demonstrator

Technorati Tags: Neuron,UCAV

Dying Satellite's Toxic Danger: Way, Way Low | Danger Room from Wired.com

2008-02-20T16:43:00.001-08:00

This note backs my suspicion that this is a military maneuver.

I continue to maintain that the Bush Administration should make public the real calculations of the risk. NASA published such estimates, by the way, for the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory — placing the probability that someone would be killed in an uncontrolled deorbit at 1 in 1,000. (Thanks to Yousaf Butt at the Union of Concerned Scientists for pointing this out.)

Dying Satellite's Toxic Danger: Way, Way Low | Danger Room from Wired.com

US: Satellite Shoot-Down Not Offensive - washingtonpost.com

2008-02-20T12:53:00.001-08:00

In a cable sent to all U.S. embassies abroad, diplomats were told to draw a clear distinction between the upcoming attempt and last year's test by China of a missile specifically designed to take out satellites, which was criticized by the United States and other countries.

"This particular action is different than any actions that, for example, the Chinese may have taken in testing an anti-satellite weapon," McCormack told reporters. "The missions are quite different and the technical aspects of the missions are quite different."

Other than intent, he said the key difference is that the Pentagon's planned shoot-down will be done at a much lower altitude than that of the Chinese, whose 2007 destruction of a satellite left a large debris field in orbit. The U.S. plan, it is hoped, will leave little in the way of debris that could complicate efforts to place future satellites in orbit.

U.S. officials said the satellite is carrying fuel called hydrazine that could injure or even kill people who are near it when it hits the ground. That reason alone, they said, persuaded President Bush to order the shoot-down.

For my own part, I believe this is an anti-satellite test in retaliation for the test by the Chinese. It is amazing that this hydrazine fuel that has been used many, many times comes up as an issue in this situation, and that we have no other solution than blowing the satellite to pieces.

US: Satellite Shoot-Down Not Offensive - washingtonpost.com

Live Search Videos: uss lake Erie

2008-02-20T12:32:00.001-08:00

Live Search Videos: uss lake Erie

Technorati Tags: 5 inch gun,uss lake erie

ABC News: New Weapon in U.S. Arsenal: 'Small' Bomb

2008-02-17T12:08:00.001-08:00

The latest weapon in the arsenal of the U.S. Air Force is the Small Diameter Bomb, or SDB. As its names suggests, it is a very small bomb, carrying less than 40 pounds of explosives.

This is a reflection of a more information specific warfare.

ABC News: New Weapon in U.S. Arsenal: 'Small' Bomb

Technorati Tags: SDB,small diameter bomb,weapon

US to Try to Shoot Down Spy Satellite - washingtonpost.com

2008-02-15T05:28:00.001-08:00

This is a test of the US ability to shoot down satellites, a key ability in war with any peer competitor. Words to the contrary are just that. No one can seriously believe that the presence of hydrazine, which according to wikipedia has been used in rockets since World War II is the reason for this shoot down. It is a step in the direction of war capabilities in near space.

Military and administration officials said the satellite is carrying fuel called hydrazine that could injure or even kill people who are near it when it hits the ground. That reason alone, they said, persuaded President Bush to order the shoot-down.

US to Try to Shoot Down Spy Satellite - washingtonpost.com

Technorati Tags: hydrazine,satellite,shoot down

NewsDaily: TopNews -- Russian bomber buzzes Nimitz

2008-02-12T04:55:00.001-08:00

The Russian Tupolev 95 propeller bomber flew over the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier twice early Saturday, the Daily Mail reported Monday. The British newspaper noted the incident came amidst diplomatic salvos Russia has tossed regarding U.S. plans to install a missile defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic that Moscow considers inflammatory.

This must be music to the ears of the military/industrial complex. Our old predictable enemy is back. Extremely expensive military toys that have the advantage of never really being used can be justified again. The language of the old, cold war soldiers is being spoken.

NewsDaily: TopNews -- Russian bomber buzzes Nimitz

VIDEO: Israel Aerospace Industries Heron UAV in flight-29/06/2007-London-Flightglobal.com

2008-02-11T17:08:00.001-08:00

VIDEO: Israel Aerospace Industries Heron UAV in flight-29/06/2007-London-Flightglobal.com

UAVs SubscribeYou are in: Home › UAVs › News Article DATE:11/02/08 SOURCE:Flight International Israel special - Israel broadens UAV use with advanced designs By Arie Egozi Future manned aircraft procurement programmes will have to be adjusted based on the capabilities of advanced unmanned aircraft vehicles now under development, the Israeli air force admits. Most of the UAVs under development in Israel and in use with the IAF are highly classified, and will stay that way for years to come. "The UAVs that the Israeli armed forces are using on a daily basis are a super force multiplier," says a senior source at the Israeli ministry of defense, adding that some of the programmes make UAVs "not just a substitute for manned aircraft, but a tool with dramatically enhanced capabilities". Investment In addition to programmes funded by the MoD, Israel's two main manufacturers, Elbit Systems and the Malat division of Israel Aerospace Industries, are investing their own research and development money in advanced UAV systems. One partially unclassified project is IAI's Heron 2 or Heron TP. The IAF is test flying this large UAV, which it has dubbed "Eitan". According to an IAF source, the test flights will continue through 2008 "before series production begins". Industry and air force sources frequently refer to UAVs as a satellite substitute, and when the prototype Eitan was unveiled in late 2007 at Tel-Nof air force base it was fitted with what appeared to be the housing for an advanced multi-sensor payload. Powered by a Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6 turboprop, and 13m (43ft) long with a wing span of 26m, the Eitan has a maximum take-off weight of 4t. The aircraft is designed for autonomous take-off and landing, a feature of most UAVs developed in Israel. Sources estimate the Eitan has an endurance of over 70h and a ceiling of 45,000ft. Its composite fuselage is designed to carry large-volume payloads, and the new UAV will perform some long-range missions now accomplished by manned IAF aircraft.

Welcome to www.dailyrecord.com - Morris County - Soldiers using anti-armor weapon developed at Picatinny

2008-02-11T08:38:00.001-08:00

The M72A7 is a lightweight, shoulder-launched, disposable munition meant to defeat lightly armored vehicles and other hard targets at close ranges. It fires a 66mm high-explosive, anti-tank rocket. With a weight of approximately 8 pounds and a length of about 30 inches, it allows rapid engagement of stationary and moving targets to a maximum range of 350 meters, according to Gary Barber, team leader and project officer for Shoulder-Launched Munitions at Picatinny.

Welcome to www.dailyrecord.com - Morris County - Soldiers using anti-armor weapon developed at Picatinny

WSMR says unmanned vehicles ready for frontlines

2008-02-04T09:10:00.001-08:00

Unmanned vehicles will be seen on the frontlines sooner then expected with the acceleration of unmanned systems evaluation at White Sands Missile Range.

The U.S. Army Program Manager of the Future Combat Systems announced

Jan. 17 that the Future Combat Systems Brigade Combat Team will start evaluating and training Soldiers to use the Small Unmanned Ground Vehicle and the Class I Unmanned Aerial Vehicle. Originally these systems weren't scheduled for evaluation until 2011, but under the accelerated program evaluations will begin early this year.

The Small Unmanned Ground Vehicle, nicknamed the packbot, is a compact remote vehicle that can enter confined spaces and buildings and transmit video back to provide soldiers with tactical intelligence. The Class I Unmanned Aerial Vehicle is a compact man-portable air vehicle that can provide video feeds to soldiers, providing them with a bird's-eye view of the battlefield. Both vehicles have had a lot of positive reviews from soldiers using preproduction versions in Iraq and Afghanistan.

While both unmanned systems have preproduction variants already seeing combat in Iraq, these new versions will have increased functionality that will provide

The Class I UAV will be upgraded with an early version of the Army's Joint Tactical Radio System. The JTRS is an advanced radio system that according to Boeing, which is developing the system, will allow the Army to establish an ad-hoc wireless network anywhere in theater. Unlike normal radios, this new system will be able to transmit virtually any kind of data, allowing even the smallest tactical unit to share information with nearly any other unit in the Army network. Mounting this system on the Class I UAV means that the UAV will be able to transmit real time video and fly above obstructions to extend the range of a unit's communications.

In total 25 Small Unmanned Ground Vehicles and 11 Class 1 UAVs will be evaluated on their abilities and effectiveness in the field. "Part of the evaluations will be leader training, where the Army will seek opportunities on how to use the UAV for such operations as route clearance and base security," said Richard Fisher, deputy product manager future force unmanned aircraft systems.

Army leaders will begin to learn how to fight with these weapons.

Tags: UAV, UGV

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Electromagnetic Railgun: An Innovative Naval Program

2008-01-31T15:33:00.001-08:00

When fully operational, the electromagnetic railgun (EMRG) will:

Deliver hypervelocity projectiles at Mach 5 on impact in support of Marines and ground forces.

Strike within 5 meters of a pinpointed target from distances in excess of 200 nautical miles.

Maximize damage through kinetic energy from longer range while minimizing risks to crews and ships.

Because of its design, EMRG uses electrical energy to deliver a time-critical strike rather than the chemical agents in warheads and propellants that can place crews and ships in jeopardy. EMRG represents significant advances in Navy and Marine Corps capabilities, extends the range of Marine Corps combat capability and distributed operations, and improves safety aboard sea vessels. The electromagnetic railgun is just one more leap-ahead technology catapulted by scientists at the Office of Naval Research.

Electromagnetic Railgun: An Innovative Naval Program

Technorati Tags: railgun,office of naval research

Challenging Military Transformation

2008-01-25T10:03:00.001-08:00

But in Desportes’ view, future wars will be against an enemy that seeks to outflank the Western technical and industrial armory. That undercuts the effectiveness of the transformation effort, which assumes a state enemy with a hierarchy of decision-makers and physical assets suitable for precision bombing.

“This typically American approach focuses on the destruction of the enemy rather than the search for better paths to obtain the political result,” Desportes writes. “It is about conducting technically perfect strike operations rather than transforming these operations into strategic success.”

Transformation has been ineffective against nonstate entities like the Taliban, now fighting from caves, insurgents triggering roadside bombs in Iraq and suicide bombers. In Afghanistan, small groups of combatants avoid attacking in open ground.

One of the book’s central messages: Military planners’ focus on mobility, strike and communications, if devoid of political awareness, may win battles but end up losing wars. Thus, while precision-strike weapons are necessary, they are insufficient to winning the war, because stand-off weapons destroy but cannot occupy territory and control population.

Technology is useful, but troops must be able to fight without sophisticated networks, because such systems are vulnerable to cyber attacks.

A network-enabled approach is valuable because it allows troops to be more cost-efficient, but a network-centric Army is one that is geared to destruction, and therefore counterproductive in the strategic sense, in Desportes’ opinion.

Tags: Military Transformation, Net-centric warfare

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Bomb-laden 'Reaper' drones bound for Iraq - USATODAY.com

2008-01-25T08:36:00.001-08:00

The MQ-9 Reaper, when compared with the 1995-vintage Predator, represents a major evolution of the unmanned aerial vehicle, or UAV.
At five tons gross weight, the Reaper is four times heavier than the Predator. Its size — 36 feet long, with a 66-foot wingspan — is comparable to the profile of the Air Force's workhorse A-10 attack plane. It can fly twice as fast and twice as high as the Predator. Most significantly, it carries many more weapons.
UNDER THE RADAR: Air Force ramps up in Iraq
While the Predator is armed with two Hellfire missiles, the Reaper can carry 14 of the air-to-ground weapons — or four Hellfires and two 500-pound bombs.
"It's not a recon squadron," Col. Joe Guasella, operations chief for the Central Command's air component, said of the Reapers. "It's an attack squadron, with a lot more kinetic ability."
"Kinetic" — Pentagon argot for destructive power — is what the Air Force had in mind when it christened its newest robot plane with a name associated with death.
"The name Reaper captures the lethal nature of this new weapon system," Gen. T. Michael Moseley, Air Force chief of staff, said in announcing the name last September.
General Atomics of San Diego has built at least nine of the MQ-9s thus far, at a cost of $69 million per set of four aircraft, with ground equipment.
The Air Force's 432nd Wing, a UAV unit formally established on May 1, is to eventually fly 60 Reapers and 160 Predators. The numbers to be assigned to Iraq and Afghanistan will be classified.
The Reaper is expected to be flown as the Predator is — by a two-member team of pilot and sensor operator who work at computer control stations and video screens that display what the UAV "sees." Teams at Balad, housed in a hangar beside the runways, perform the takeoffs and landings, and similar teams at Nevada's Creech Air Force Base, linked to the aircraft via satellite, take over for the long hours of overflying the Iraqi landscape.
American ground troops, equipped with laptops that can download real-time video from UAVs overhead, "want more and more of it," said Maj. Chris Snodgrass, the Predator squadron commander here.
The Reaper's speed will help. "Our problem is speed," Snodgrass said of the 140-mph Predator. "If there are troops in contact, we may not get there fast enough. The Reaper will be faster and fly farther."

Bomb-laden 'Reaper' drones bound for Iraq - USATODAY.com

YouTube - Mi-28N 'Night Hunter' - mobile killer on land and air

2008-01-25T08:03:00.001-08:00

YouTube - Mi-28N 'Night Hunter' - mobile killer on land and air

.. REAPER UAV ARMED SPY DRONE ..

2008-01-23T10:51:00.001-08:00

.. REAPER UAV ARMED SPY DRONE ..

I've reported on the Reaper before but this is a more in-depth view of what it does.

Merlin helicopter

2008-01-23T10:47:00.001-08:00

Merlin helicopter

This is the digital age with another view of data links and robust engineering design.

USN VESSELS

2008-01-23T10:36:00.001-08:00

USN VESSELS

It's amazing how much these ships have changed since the Vietnam era. Watch the video and see a new world.

Alamo

2008-01-23T09:58:00.001-08:00

Alamo

This this is a view of day to day life in a military camp. So much is like WWII but so much plastic and electronics. They didn't have either in 1942. No automatic washers either.

A-10 Target Practice, Ft. Polk, LA

2008-01-23T09:17:00.001-08:00

A-10 Target Practice, Ft. Polk, LA

Notice the sound of the gun is not what we grew up with. .. No more rat-a-tat-tat. Now, just a bip and its over.

A plane you can print - tech - 21 July 2006 - New Scientist Tech

2008-01-03T17:48:00.001-08:00

The Skunk Works thinks a technique called 3D rapid prototyping, or "3D printing", is the best way to lower costs.

Finely focused lasers

In rapid prototyping, a three-dimensional design for a part - a wing strut, say - is fed from a computer-aided design (CAD) system to a microwave-oven-sized chamber dubbed a 3D printer. Inside the chamber, a computer steers two finely focused, powerful laser beams at a polymer or metal powder, sintering it and fusing it layer by layer to form complex, solid 3D shapes.

The technique is widely used in industry to make prototype parts - to see if, for instance, they are the right shape and thickness for the job in hand. Now the strength of parts printed this way has improved so much that they can be used as working components.

About 90% of Polecat is made of composite materials with much of that material made by rapid prototyping.

"The entire Polecat airframe was constructed using low-cost rapid prototyping materials and methods," says Frank Mauro, director of UAV systems at the Skunk Works. "The big advantage over conventional, large-scale aircraft production programmes is the cost saving in tooling as well as the order-of-magnitude reductions in fabrication and assembly time."

By mixing composite polymers with radar-absorbing metals, it is thought that the aircraft can be built with a certain amount of stealth characteristics already built in.

A plane you can print - tech - 21 July 2006 - New Scientist Tech

Technorati Tags: UAV,polecate,rapid prototyping,3D printing

Polecat UAV

2008-01-03T17:19:00.001-08:00

Lockheed Martin has pulled the lid off of a secret, stealthy, high-flying drone. Built and flown by its famous "Skunk Works" division, the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) could serve as a model for a new generation of robotic aircraft that hits targets halfway around the world.
With a 90-foot wingspan and a tailless design, the "Polecat" UAV looks like a smaller version of the B-2 stealth bomber. And like the B-2, the drone has been built to be stealthy and sneaky. But the twin-engine Polecat is "90 percent composite materials, rather than metal," the L.A. Daily News notes. "The vehicle is also made from less than 200 parts," adds Aviation Week. "Adhesives are used rather than rivets, decreasing the amount of labor needed to construct it -- that approach also contributed to a lower radar cross section inherent in the design."

from user225937.vodpod.co

Predator Drones

2008-01-03T11:41:00.001-08:00

The future of warfare lies within what looks like an overgrown toy airplane. Watch as we dissect the Predator system, from the Ground Control Station in Las Vegas to a Ku Band satellite in orbit, then back down to the Predator in-flight over the battlefield.

Find more at www.geospatial21.org

from user225937.vodpod.co

ABC News: Drones Rule Iraqi Skies

2008-01-02T11:51:00.001-08:00

Technorati Tags: Preditor,UAV,Iraq,Ravenk,Global Hawk

AP Exclusive: Military's Use of Unmanned Drones That Can Watch, Hunt Insurgents Surges in Iraq

In this undated image provided by the US Air Force Ben Roserug and Jim Dooley unload an AGM-114 Hellfire missile from an MQ-1 Predator unmanned aerial vehicle after a mission in May at Balad Air Base, Iraq. The military's reliance on unmanned aircraft that can watch, hunt and sometimes kill insurgents has soared to more than 500,000 hours in the air, largely in Iraq, The Associated Press has learned. Pentagon officials said that even as troops begin to slowly come home this year, the use of Predators, Global Hawks, Shadows and Ravens will not likely slow. (AP Photo/U.S. Air Force photo/Airman 1st Class Jonathan Steffen, HO)

ABC News: Drones Rule Iraqi Skies

US espionage enters the 'un-Rumsfeld' era

2007-12-10T10:32:00.001-08:00

Since taking over from Donald Rumsfeld as secretary of defense in the winter of 2006, Robert Gates has greatly scaled down the Pentagon's footprint on national security policy and intelligence.

Those are significant actions. Under Rumsfeld, the Pentagon had become the dominant force in US intelligence, with vast new powers in human intelligence and counter-terrorism, both at home and abroad. By 2005, it was deploying secret commando units on clandestine missions in countries as far afield as the Philippines and Ecuador, sometimes without consulting with the local US ambassadors and CIA station chiefs.

But these efforts by Gates and McConnell to demilitarize US Intelligence will never succeed until Congress, with the support of the next administration, removes the three national collection agencies - the National Security Agency (NSA), the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) and the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) - from the Pentagon's command-and-control system and places them directly, like the CIA, under the control of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI).

The NSA,
monitors billions of phone calls, e-mails and Internet messages
The NGA was formally inaugurated as a combat support agency of the Pentagon in 2003, and is therefore less known to the American public. It supplies imagery and mapping products
The NRO, meanwhile, builds and maintains the spy satellites that feed the NSA and NGA and operates ground stations, both at home and abroad, where imagery and signals data is translated, analyzed, and sometimes combined.

These three agencies probably supply about 75% of the information that appears every morning in the presidential daily brief, which intelligence officials say has evolved into a multi-media presentation in which NSA phone intercepts compete with NGA imagery and live video streams for the president's attention.
By combining intercepts of cell phone calls with overhead imagery gathered by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), intelligence analysts can track suspected terrorists or insurgents in Iraq in real time. As these tools become available for use by domestic policing agencies, a possibility created by a new intelligence institution known as the National Applications Office, the power of the military to conduct both foreign and domestic intelligence will increase.

One of the only voices to press the case for civilianized intelligence is Melvin Goodman, a former CIA officer at the Center for International Policy.
"The collection of strategic intelligence is being given short shrift because of the military's emphasis on tactical intelligence and support for the warfighter," Goodman told me in an interview. While the nation can't deny intelligence support to warfighters in places like Iraq, "if you don't get the job of strategic intelligence done correctly, you will blunder in your larger national security policies," he says.

"Rumsfeld's view was that the CIA was frequently too rigid or too timid - or maybe both," Michael Isikoff and David Corn wrote in Hubris, their book about the administration's misuse of intelligence. In a 2001 meeting with Republican lobbyists described in the book, Rumsfeld "used the occasion to rail at the CIA" and declared: "I'm going to create my own intelligence agency."

Rumsfeld's first move in that direction was the creation of a new office within the Pentagon: under secretary for intelligence. Created by an act of Congress in 2002, the position was taken by Stephen Cambone, a neo-conservative who had worked closely with Rumsfeld during the 1990s as staff director of the Rumsfeld commission on ballistic missiles. The new position gave enormous powers to Cambone.

By 2005, special forces units under control of the Pentagon were routinely entering countries like Somalia and Iran to launch covert military operations. The NSA, NGA and NRO were enlisted to play key roles in Rumsfeld's "transformation" of the military through network-centric warfare: NSA signals and NGA imagery intelligence are now cornerstones of this 21st-century military doctrine.

Military power in intelligence was also concentrated at home. In 2002, deputy secretary of defense Paul Wolfowitz created the Counterintelligence Field Activity office, ostensibly to provide security at US military bases. By 2004, however, it was spending millions of dollars each year to monitor the activities of American citizens, including thousands of people who were simply exercising their rights to protest US foreign policy.

In a direct slap at Rumsfeld, Gates brought Clapper back into the Pentagon as under secretary of defense for intelligence, replacing the neo-con Cambone. Since then, Clapper has moved to dismantle some of Rumsfeld's pet programs, including the infamous TALON database created to spy on American citizens.

But bureaucratic maneuvers can only go so far in ending the Pentagon's direction of intelligence. Only a change in law, taking the NSA, NGA and NRO out of the department's hands and putting them under the direct control of the ODNI and the White House, will ensure that these agencies are under true civilian control.

Link

This is another example of the changes since Rumsfeld left the pentagon.

Tags: NSA, NGA, NRO ODNI, Rumsfeld, Clapper, Cambone, TALON

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Defense, Security & Tech: NREC receives $14.4 Million AGV contract

2007-12-10T09:48:00.001-08:00

TARDEC plans to add to the contract, on a work directive basis, additional effort for NREC Engineers to develop an Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV) end-to-end control architecture and demonstrate the viability of autonomous UGV operations in a relevant environment as part of the Robotic Vehicle Control Architecture (RVCA) program

Defense, Security & Tech: NREC receives $14.4 Million AGV contract

I am interested in what autonomous UGV operations means. The project gates for this program could be very interesting as could the specific goals for each gate.

Will these vehicles drive themselves? Will they be armed? Will they have artificial intelligence? Finally, the all important When.. When will we see them.

Technorati Tags: UGV,RCVA

HAL(Hybrid Assistive Limb) from Cyberdine

2007-12-10T08:37:00.001-08:00

This is the beginning of a new infantry capability. Armor and weapon weights and sizes change. Physical endurance does as well.

NREC News & Updates

2007-12-04T06:32:00.001-08:00

The Crusher was introduced last year. This article speaks of a new generation that will allow testers to learn more about autonomous operations and when weapons of this type would fit into future combat systems.

Technorati Tags: crusher,FCS,UGV,Carniegie Mellon,Tardec,APD,Robotic Vehicle Control Architecture.RVCA

NREC News & Updates

The Japanese do have a sense of humor

2007-12-02T17:19:00.001-08:00

This might do better in the woods

Home - Windows Live Spaces

2007-12-02T17:10:00.001-08:00

I am getting better with the technical items in my life all the time. The cell phone has to be the big change this fall. I have a blue tooth device. Now, I walk around the house doing my tasks while I tie up my children unmercifully. It is great. The same thing is true for long trips in the car. No more setting there watching the white line. Now I can talk for hours on any subject with anyone who picks up the phone,. I do learn lots this way. I also keep up with my children better.

<p> Today, I had a deep desire to have a camera on the phone as I was walking around though. Then people could see what I was looking at. Wow, that would be great. </p><p>cnn had an article

Home - Windows Live Spaces

Link to CNN Video

The video shows that this thing is arriving. The uses are endless. Apparently, the awkward movements are eliminated.

Lazaro Cardenas and North American Trade

2007-11-01T09:39:00.001-07:00

Port

Lázaro Cárdenas is home to a deep-water seaport that handles container, dry bulk, and liquid cargo. The port handled 160,000 TEU in 2005 but is expanding to a capacity of 2.2 million TEU annually. Cargo is moved to and from the port by road and rail equally, with rail service provided exclusively by Kansas City Southern Railway. The port is expected to become a major container facility due to congestion at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach and its relative proximity to major cities such as Chicago, Kansas City, and Houston. However, if a proposed port with the backing of the Mexican president at Punta Colonet is built, goods coming to fast growing Arizona and Nevada could bypass the congested Los Angeles region.

Link

Tags: Lazaro Cardenas, Nafta Highway, NAU, Kansas City Southern Railway

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Net Centric Warfare as a Guiding Theory is Over

2007-10-31T08:55:00.001-07:00

America's military policy is in disarray, but not for the reason most people think. For the first time since around 1950, there is no coherent theoretical framework for thinking about how to shape our armed forces for current and future threats. This fact presents both a danger and an opportunity. The danger is that we will either fail to develop one and therefore drift aimlessly at a troubled time, or that we will reach back to some of the tattered remnants of the theories that guided military policy until 2007. But we now have the opportunity for a serious discussion about the shape of the world today and its likely shape tomorrow.

Kegan writes what may be the death knell of 'Military Transformation' and Net-centric Warfare.
Link

Tags: Net-centric Warfare, Military Transformation, Rumsfeld, Gates

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Blackwater evades taxes

2007-10-31T06:35:00.001-07:00

Blackwater, like Hitler’s Brown Shirts, is an alternate army. We should all pay attention and be aware that now more of our tax dollars are paid out to private armies (by the state department,) with tax breaks and no oversight while representing our country, than to our own soldiers.

We now have private armies that are beholden to their companies before being beholden to the good of the people. They also are experiencing being above the law. The worst thing that happens to them for murdering innocent people is that they get fired after earning six figures a year.

Link

I believe that private militaries are a great danger to this country. They train people to operate outside of the law and enable anyone with enough money to carryout military operations and kill people.

Tags: Blackwater, private military

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Robert Pastors View of NAFTA's Next Step

2007-10-24T07:20:00.001-07:00

NAFTA’s setbacks have been due partly to failures of compliance - related to sugar, softwood lumber, trucking - but mostly to what it omitted. The income gap between Mexico and its northern neighbors has not narrowed. Illegal migration has increased. Bureaucratic duplication on the border, combined with inadequate infrastructure and divergent regulatory policies, has raised transaction costs above the level of the tariffs that were eliminated. If Europe built too many institutions, NAFTA made the opposite mistake. It lacks institutions to anticipate or respond to crises or take advantage of opportunities. We also lack a vision of an inclusive identity that would inspire citizens of all three countries to think of themselves also as North Americans. Indeed, NAFTA is little more than two bilateral relationships that rely on old habits and too often an unproductive paternalism by the United States.

The US Federal government's denial of the NAU proposal is amazing after reading several of these pronouncements from people who are authorized to attend conferences held without media presence but with high rankings government officials like George Schultz. Read more and decide for yourself what is happening.

Link

Tags: NAFTA, Robert Pastor, CFR. NAU, North American Union

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G.I. Joe as Anthropologist

2007-10-19T04:07:00.001-07:00

“The military mission is not as easily defined as it used to be,” said George A. Pruitt, president of Thomas Edison State College, which, along with Burlington County College, is providing the courses at McGuire. “Today, the military is actually engaged with the civilian population where they are stationed. They need philosophy, religion, history to have a greater understanding of where they are.”

Soon after the United States toppled the Taliban in Afghanistan and invaded Iraq, military leaders began acknowledging the need for troops to become better educated in foreign cultures. The first major effort came in 2005, when a Defense Department report recommended adding a regional language component to professional military education.

The Air Force decided to take the recommendation a step further, seeing a need for troops not only to speak foreign languages but to understand foreign cultures as well. Last year, the Air University in Montgomery, Ala., which provides professional military education to the Air Force, added a new Culture and Language Center to its campus.

“Language is useful, but we want people to build relations across cultural barriers,” said Dan Henk, the director of the center. “We asked ourselves, ‘Is it possible to give people the skills to go anywhere, quickly see patterns and be able to respond?’ The answer was yes.”

To build what Dr. Henk, an anthropologist, called “cross-cultural competency,” the center has been developing courses and programs intended to help acclimate soldiers to foreign cultures.

As word of the effort spread, the Edison and Burlington college presidents collaborated with Representative H. James Saxton of New Jersey and Col. Rick Martin, the base commander at the time, on the idea of offering cultural classes to the 5,000 airmen and women at McGuire.

“It started off with language — Farsi, conversational Arabic,” said Robert C. Messina Jr., Burlington’s president, speaking of his meetings with Colonel Martin. “Then he said, ‘Could you get someone to talk about the culture of the Middle East? How you don’t go up and hug someone, and no bikini wearing?’ So we did that.”

McGuire’s program was rolled out at the end of last year; other bases around the country are also offering similar classes. At McGuire, about 60 enlisted men and women and two officers are participating.

With classes in Arabic, Islam, comparative religions and East Asian history, among others, McGuire hopes to provide active-duty troops with tools to help them during battle but also beyond, said Linda Richardson, director of education and training at the base.

“It’s been eye-opening,” said Staff Sgt. Adam Crepeau, an aircraft maintenance instructor and a student in the Eastern philosophy course who is pursuing a degree in human resources. “The more knowledge I have about different cultures, the better.”

While learning the difference between Taoism and Confucianism, the subject of a recent evening’s lecture, may seem of little practical use in war, Sergeant Crepeau said he could have used some of what he was learning in the course, which is provided by Burlington, during his four-month tour in Iraq last year.

“We had no briefings except on a need-to-know basis,” Sergeant Crepeau said, referring to cultural briefings. “You might tune in to the radio and hear prayers and wonder, ‘What is that?’ You know they have prayers and customs, but you don’t understand them.”

The classes can count toward an associate’s or bachelor’s degree; students receive “wing recognition” — bars on their uniforms — as an added incentive. Officers can also earn a pay raise, as much as $12,000 more for foreign language proficiency

Link

Tags: Anthropology, Iraq, Cultural Training

This is an intriguing idea that will have some positive effects. The question would be how many dollars for what effect in this very expensive war. The second question is "what can you learn about a culture in a few weeks of class"? I keep feeling that these young people are being asked to do jobs that would be nearly impossible for a PHD in anthropology. If they are changing the minds of the people there as well as the officials are convincing the people here that we should be in this war at all, I look for less than remarkable results.

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PAK-FA is the answer to the F22 Raptor

2007-10-14T03:12:00.001-07:00

New Delhi: It is expected that India and Russia will very likely sign a pact to jointly develop an advanced fifth generation fighter aircraft during defence minister AK Antony's visit to Moscow in the coming week. Antony is visiting Moscow to attend the Indo-Russia inter-governmental commission on military technical cooperation.

India and Russia both are looking for a next generation stealth fighter which would adequately match, if not exceed the capabilities of the US Air Force's F22 Raptor, which is already in service, as well as the F35 Joint Strike Fighter, Lightning, being jointly developed by the US and the UK.

The PAK-FA is expected to have advanced stealth features, an active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, thrust vectoring for increased manoeuvrability and a supercruise mode to fly at supersonic speed without using afterburners.

According to Russian sources, a prototype of the PAK-FA would make its first flight in early 2009.

link

Tags: F-22, joint strike fighter, PAK-FA, india

Other reports on Defence

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RoboBugs

2007-10-09T18:58:00.001-07:00

All told, the nation’s fleet of flying robots logged more than 160,000 flight hours last year — a more than fourfold increase since 2003. A recent report by the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College warned that if traffic rules are not clarified soon, the glut of unmanned vehicles “could render military airspace chaotic and potentially dangerous.”

Link

Tags: robots, roboinsects

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Army speeding up efforts to add more soldiers

2007-10-09T18:18:00.001-07:00

WASHINGTON (AP) - Top Army leaders said Tuesday they plan to add 74,000 soldiers to the Army by 2010, two years sooner than originally planned, in order to relieve the strain on forces already stretched by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan

Plans are to increase the number of the active duty Army, Army Guard and Army Reserve by 74,000 overall. It would bring the total number of soldiers in the active Army to 547,000.

Originally, the growth was to take place over five years - now it would be done in three.

The increase, Gates said in his memo, will cost $2.63 billion.

Officials have been working to make the Army bigger in order to sustain a long-term commitment in Iraq and Afghanistan without wearing out the troops and alienating their families.

Tags: Army, Gates, Afghanistan

Link

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Army Enlists Anthropology in War Zones

2007-10-05T09:49:00.001-07:00

SHABAK VALLEY, Afghanistan — In this isolated Taliban stronghold in eastern Afghanistan, American paratroopers are fielding what they consider a crucial new weapon in counterinsurgency operations here: a soft-spoken civilian anthropologist named Tracy.

This is an example of the can do anything approach now being advocated for winning wars. It seems to be a correct approach in theory. In practice, It should be much more difficult since it requires people who have immense skills to implement it. It also has the downside of teaching part of the military how to develop programs and plans to control a civilian population.. One could presume that this skill would work well either for or against any group of citizens. If I know how to control Afganistan, do it would work well in Detroit as well. Anything or practice that has a powerful impact will be used in war. Anthropologists who do not understand that miss the point.

Tags: anthropologist

:Link

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IBM's BlueGene L supercomputer simulates half a mouse brain

2007-10-03T06:31:00.001-07:00

Efforts to model the human brain (on IBM's Blue Gene, ironically) haven't reached the point of finality just yet, but it looks like the supercomputer has already tackled a smaller, albeit similar task at the University of Nevada. The research team, which collaborated with gurus from the IBM Almaden Research Lab, have ran a "cortical simulator that was as big and as complex as half of a mouse's brain on the BlueGene L," and considering that it took about 8,000 neurons and 6,3000 synapses into consideration without totally crashing, it remains a fairly impressive achievement. Notably, the process was so intensive that it was only ran for ten seconds at a speed "ten times slower than real-time," and while the team is already looking forward to speeding things up and taking the whole mind into account, it was noted that the simulation (expectedly) "lacked some structures seen in an actual brain." Now, if only these guys could figure out how to mimic the brain and offer up external storage to aid our failing memories.

The Singularity is nearer it seems.

Tags: Blue Gene, mouse brain, supercomputer

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The Great Plains International Trade Corridor

2007-09-27T07:15:00.001-07:00

The Great Plains International Trade Corridor is strategically located
to increase economic efficiency by connecting regional trade centers
through the Great Plains from Canada to Mexico.
Ports-to-Plains, Heartland Expressway and Theodore Roosevelt
Expressway, designated United States High Priority Transportation
Corridors, form the infrastructure of growing domestic and international
trade, energy and travel opportunities.
These connections are taking advantage of new opportunities created
by the expanding significance of north/south trade in relation to the
historical east/west patterns. The Great Plains International Conference
is bringing together both the business and government sectors to
increase awareness of the corridor and increase economic activity

The Ports to Plains Trade Corridor reflects the growing need for a north-south axes of communication and commerce for the North American Continent. Planning for this conduit says a great deal about what some of the movers and shakers of the continent believe will be the future of our culture.
Tags: The Great Plains International Trade Corridor

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Security Contractors in Iraq

2007-09-25T05:47:00.001-07:00

A PROFILE OF CONTRACTORS

Private security firms in Iraq: More than 100, including about 30 domestic companies.

Employees: From 30,000 to 48,000. About 10 per cent come from the US and other Western countries, about 30 per cent from non-Western countries and the rest from Iraq.

Serving: Diplomats, aid workers, journalists, reconstruction workers and others of the estimated 160,000 foreign civilians working in Iraq.

Origin: Most American security contractors come from the US military and are often former special operations forces with specialised skills in intelligence gathering, communications, evasive manoeuvres and small-arms combat operations.

Pay: Iraqis with basic skills are paid several hundred US dollars a month; highly capable employees from countries such as India and Nepal earn between $US2000 ($2300) and $US3000 a month. Former special operations forces from the US, Britain, Australia and other Western countries can earn as much as $US18,000 a month.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/beware-of-the-protectors/2007/09/21/1189881777362.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap4

Tags: Iraq, Blackwater, Private Security

I find private security forces such as Blackwater one of the most distasteful elements of the Iraqi War. The fact that they operate completely outside the confines of the law makes their existance even more intolerable. The money that these firms receive is part of the excessive cost of this war. Ken Burns said that WWII cost the US 3 trillion dollars in current money. At that rate, Iraq has cost 25 pct as much. Where did all the money go?

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New Energy Source Found

2007-08-28T07:58:00.001-07:00

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Engineers perfecting hydrogen-generating technology from PhysOrg.com
Researchers at Purdue University have further developed a technology that could represent a pollution-free energy source for a range of potential applications, from golf carts to submarines and cars to emergency portable generators. [...]

This has the potential to change a great deal in military applications. It can generate electricity for energy based weapons and power for the various types of motors and engines used since the beginning of the age of mechanized warfare to enhance the power of the soldier.

Tags: hydrogen, Purdue, internal combustion engines, fuel cell

Russian Military Developments

2007-08-21T19:28:00.001-07:00

These include a new S-400 missile and aircraft interceptor system, similar but better than the US Patriot, and a lethal new supersonic cruise missile, the Meteorit-A. Its latest generation of jet fighters includes an upgraded Sukhoi jet, the SU-35, which has a new engines and a new radar system, and a revamped "vector thrust" MIG, the MIG 29-OVT. "They are good aircraft.

Link

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Russia Steps Up Military Expansion

2007-08-21T19:24:00.001-07:00

Vladimir Putin announced ambitious plans to revive Russia's military power and restore its role as the world's leading producer of military aircraft yesterday.

Speaking at the opening of the largest airshow in Russia's post-Soviet history, the president said he was determined to make aircraft manufacture a national priority after decades of lagging behind the west.

The remarks follow his decision last week to resume long-range missions by strategic bomber aircraft capable of hitting the US with nuclear weapons. Patrols over the Atlantic, Pacific and Arctic began last week for the first time since 1992.

Link

Tags: Russia, military expansion, aircraft

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New Age Warfare

2007-08-09T16:40:00.001-07:00

Online Videos by Veoh.com

New Age Warfare

2007-08-09T16:40:00.000-07:00

Online Videos by Veoh.com

CVN 21 / CVN-X / CVX

2007-08-03T08:55:00.000-07:00

CVN 21 / CVN-X / CVX

This article presents new aircraft carrier capabilities and plans for the future. It is one of the last mentions of the word 'transformation' which seems to be going out of vogue.
At any rate, change in military operations is not so this article is worth review and further study to see what is happening.

Iran orders 250 Russian Fighters

2007-07-27T11:54:00.001-07:00

http://www.airforce-technology.com/projects/su_30mk/index.html#su_30mk12
Iran has ordered 250 Su 30MK fighters from Russia. This plane is roughly equal to the F-15E.

Tags: SU 30MK, Russian Fighter Plane, Iran

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US Air Force B-2 Stealth bombers will soon be fitted with newly-developed 15-tonne Massive Ordnance Penetrator bombs

2007-07-27T11:37:00.001-07:00

American military sources say the gigantic new bunker-blaster is designed to hit fortified underground targets such as Iran’s uranium-enrichment facility at Natanz.

It will be capable of drilling through many meters of earth or concrete. When it falls from a high altitude, the MOP – composed of 20% explosives, 80% hardened metal - will punch a hole in the toughest protective casing before exploding in depth. It is GPS guided.

Link

It appears that the US is expressing a capability to hit hardened targets in previously unavailable ways.

Tags: B-2. penetrator bombs, Iran, GPS

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Tanks from WWI to Dunkirk

2007-07-25T04:32:00.000-07:00

Online Videos by Veoh.com

Russia bans human tissue export in bioweapon alert

2007-06-27T07:47:00.001-07:00

Russia has banned the shipment of medical specimens abroad, threatening hundreds of patients and complicating drug trials by major companies, the national Kommersant newspaper reported on Wednesday.

Kommersant attributed the ban to fears in the secret service that Russian genetic material could be used abroad to make biochemical weapons targeting Russians. The quality daily cited anonymous sources in the medical community

Link

Tags: Bioterrorism, bioweapon

This article might be more interesting because it shows what the Russians believe to be possible.

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Alan Lightman, 'Science and the Human Spirit'

2007-06-26T05:27:00.001-07:00

Poet and scientist Alan Lightman joins us to talk about the intersection of art and science.
Listen

Alan Lightman is a great explainer. He can give a common person a good idea of what a complex notion is about. He also works at the intersection of art and science.

Tags: Alan Lightman, Science, Art, Essays

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OLS-Optical Locator System on MIG-35

2007-05-10T09:03:00.001-07:00

OLS, as well as radar, allows to detect targets and aim weapon systems. But, unlike the radar, OLS has no emission which means - can’t be detected. OLS works like a human eye - it gets picture and analyzes it. Usually it’s been said radars are the eyes of the plane. But to be exact, it’s more locator device, like whales has. But OLS is really the eyes of the plane and they are very sharp.

OLS works not only in visible bands. Very important part of “plane vision” is IR picture. NII PP engineers has chosen more short-wave bands for the matrix, which has increased sensitivity of the complex in several times and has increased detection range greatly.

MiG-35 OLS may see USAF stealth planes very nicely as well. Today it’s impossible to hide the plane from the complex of powerful optics with IR vision.

This optical system can distinguish targets and aim weapons as well. Since, it has no emmissions, it is very silent

Tags: OLS, MIG, Mig35, MIG-35, Russia, Stealth

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Military Transformation and the Role of the Press in War

2007-05-04T07:03:00.001-07:00

Bill Moyers has once again given us a deep and well reasoned account of the information made available to the American Public in the ramp up to the war in Iraq. Specific sources and examples are given along with evaluations of how the press works in this era.

Certainly, one role of the transformed military is to understand power of information systems and use them to achieve goals as well as understand what the average citizen and soldier will believe to be true. It certainly would help to know that even though your government is stating that WMD will likely exist, you will not encounter them.

How did the mainstream press get it so wrong? How did the evidence disputing the existence of weapons of mass destruction and the link between Saddam Hussein to 9-11 continue to go largely unreported? "What the conservative media did was easy to fathom; they had been cheerleaders for the White House from the beginning and were simply continuing to rally the public behind the President — no questions asked. How mainstream journalists suspended skepticism and scrutiny remains an issue of significance that the media has not satisfactorily explored," says Moyers. "How the administration marketed the war to the American people has been well covered, but critical questions remain: How and why did the press buy it, and what does it say about the role of journalists in helping the public sort out fact from propaganda?"
"Buying the War" includes interviews with Dan Rather, formerly of CBS; Tim Russert of MEET THE PRESS; Bob Simon of 60 MINUTES; Walter Isaacson, former president of CNN; and John Walcott, Jonathan Landay and Warren Strobel of Knight Ridder newspapers, which was acquired by The McClatchy Company in 2006.

In "Buying the War" Bill Moyers and producer Kathleen Hughes document the reporting of Walcott, Landay and Strobel, the Knight Ridder team that burrowed deep into the intelligence agencies to try and determine whether there was any evidence for the Bush Administration's case for war. "Many of the things that were said about Iraq didn't make sense," says Walcott. "And that really prompts you to ask, 'Wait a minute. Is this true? Does everyone agree that this is true? Does anyone think this is not true?'"

In the run-up to war, skepticism was a rarity among journalists inside the Beltway. Journalist Bob Simon of 60 Minutes, who was based in the Middle East, questioned the reporting he was seeing and reading. "I mean we knew things or suspected things that perhaps the Washington press corps could not suspect. For example, the absurdity of putting up a connection between Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda," he tells Moyers. "Saddam…was a total control freak. To introduce a wild card like Al Qaeda in any sense was just something he would not do. So I just didn't believe it for an instant." The program analyzes the stream of unchecked information from administration sources and Iraqi defectors to the mainstream print and broadcast press, which was then seized upon and amplified by an army of pundits. While almost all the claims would eventually prove to be false, the drumbeat of misinformation about WMDs went virtually unchallenged by the media. THE NEW YORK TIMES reported on Iraq's "worldwide hunt for materials to make an atomic bomb," but according to Landay, claims by the administration about the possibility of nuclear weapons were highly questionable. Yet, his story citing the "lack of hard evidence of Iraqi weapons" got little play. In fact, throughout the media landscape, stories challenging the official view were often pushed aside while the administration's claims were given prominence. "From August 2002 until the war was launched in March of 2003 there were about 140 front page pieces in THE WASHINGTON POST making the administration's case for war," says Howard Kurtz, the POST's media critic. "But there was only a handful of stories that ran on the front page that made the opposite case. Or, if not making the opposite case, raised questions

From Bill Moyers "Buying the War"

A military that relies on information as a key to focused and correct action is left in a strange state with the realization that a small group of Neo-cons were able to take over the employment of that military and assign it tasks that were probably not appropriate to the mission of that force. In fact, the inappropriate spending of over one trillion dollars on Iraq, has been a great determent to finding resourses for military transformation and possibly the defense of the United States

Tags: Bill Moyers, War in Iraq, Iraq, Al Qaeda, Neo Cons, Bob Simon, Washington Post, New York Times, Knight-Ridder, Journalism, Buying the War, Phil Donahue, Bob Simon, Bush Administration, Chaney, Colin Powell

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Private Military Contractors and Military Transformation

2007-05-03T07:27:00.001-07:00

Contractors have provided the White House with political cover, allowing for a back-door near doubling of U.S. forces in Iraq through the private sector, while masking the full extent of the human costs of the occupation. Although contractor deaths are not effectively tallied, at least 770 contractors have been killed in Iraq and at least another 7,700 injured. These numbers are not included in any official (or media) toll of the war. More significantly, there is absolutely no effective system of oversight or accountability governing contractors and their operations, nor is there any effective law — military or civilian — being applied to their activities. They have not been subjected to military courts martial (despite a recent Congressional attempt to place them under the Uniform Code of Military Justice), nor have they been prosecuted in U.S. civilian courts – and, no matter what their acts in Iraq, they cannot be prosecuted in Iraqi courts. Before Paul Bremer, Bush’s viceroy in Baghdad, left Iraq in 2004 he issued an edict, known as Order 17. It immunized contractors from prosecution in Iraq which, today, is like the wild West, full of roaming Iraqi death squads and scores of unaccountable, heavily-armed mercenaries, ex-military men from around the world, working for the occupation. For the community of contractors in Iraq, immunity and impunity are welded together.

More on Private Contractors

Mercenaries have a long and dark history. It is a history that our government should read. These individuals are not under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. They operate in our name and we have no knowledge of what they are doing. They run a shadow war that is seldom discussed. Their goal is monetary. Their ethics are those of a pirate.

Tags: KBR, Blackwater, Private militaries, Iraq, Iran, Congressional oversight

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Halliburton, now citizen of the world, will be defended by ---Whom !

2007-05-03T06:35:00.001-07:00

Oil services giant Halliburton Co. will soon shift its corporate headquarters from Houston to the Mideast financial powerhouse of Dubai, chief executive Dave Lesar announced

More than 38 percent of Halliburton's $13 billion oil field services revenue last year stemmed from sources in the eastern hemisphere, where the firm has 16,000 of its 45,000 employees.

Federal investigators last month alleged Halliburton was responsible for $2.7 billion of the $10 billion in contractor waste and overcharging in Iraq.

So Halliburton is off to the land of no taxes, what army, and excess luxury. What plans do they have from this new base? Surely, they have no necessary reason to be allied with the United States in many things.

My question for the transformation of power is:

"Does the movement of economic powerhouses such as Halliburton hollow out American power?"

My second question is:

"Will American taxes pay for much of the defense of Halliburton interests while the company no longer contributes to American society in the same way?"

Tags: Halliburton, Dubai, Taxas, Houston, Texas, Chaney, Contractor Waste

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The Problem with Modern Chemistry

2007-05-02T08:06:00.001-07:00

Ever wonder what a thirteen-hundred pound fertilizer bomb can do? Here is an example . The materials for this bomb can be found in any agricultural area. They arn't controlled and probably cannot be. Part of the required military transformation is to learn how to deal with these weapons more effectively.

Obvious answers include more and better intelligence, remove grounds for grievances, new and better sensors etc. What ideas do you have about this threat?

Tags: Fertilizer bombs, IED, intelligence

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Link to 'The Army Hoora Guide to Transformation"

2007-04-20T11:07:00.001-07:00

The Army Hoora Guide to Transformation gives a summary of Army plans for transformation and links for more information about those plans affecting a time frame from the present until 2031. Many terms are defined as well as overall doctrine.

Tags: military transformation, asymetrical warfare, IBCT, Initial Brigade Combat Team, Interum Brigade Combat Team

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Military Transformation and sysadmin with comments by Fred Kaplan

2007-04-20T10:59:00.001-07:00

Fred Kaplin writes

If your guide to this future is the first 30 days of the war in Iraq, then the vision of transformation that underlies FCS might seem appropriate. However, if your guide is the subsequent two years of combat, then the vision seems out of whack.As retired Maj. Gen. Robert Scales, the president of the Army War College, testified before the House Armed Services Committee:

Technology is useful in unconventional warfare. But machines alone will never be decisive. … The tools most useful in this new war are low-tech and manpower-intensive … night raids, ambushes, roving patrols mounted and dismounted, as well as reconstruction, civic action, and medial contact teams. The enemy will be located not by satellites and [drones] but by patient intelligence work, back alley payoffs, collected information from captured documents, and threats of one-way vacations to Cuba. … Buried in an avalanche of information, commanders still confront the problem of trying to understand the enemy's intention and his will to fight.

The Army ise writing new doctrinal manuals and conducting new training exercises on how to secure and stabilize a country after the battlefield phase of war—a focus that emphasizes boots on the ground, cultural awareness, language skills, and intelligence-gathering based on eye-to-eye contact with the population.

This article brings up the huge amount development needed to understand the requirements of Barnett's sysadmin force. We have the Laviathan portion down but sysadmin is in tatters.

Tags: sysadmin, laviathan, barnett, kaplan, fred kaplan, fcs, future combat systems

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2007-04-20T10:48:00.001-07:00

Fred Kaplin writes

Technology is useful in unconventional warfare. But machines alone will never be decisive. … The tools most useful in this new war are low-tech and manpower-intensive … night raids, ambushes, roving patrols mounted and dismounted, as well as reconstruction, civic action, and medial contact teams. The enemy will be located not by satellites and [drones] but by patient intelligence work, back alley payoffs, collected information from captured documents, and threats of one-way vacations to Cuba. … Buried in an avalanche of information, commanders still confront the problem of trying to understand the enemy's intention and his will to fight.

This article brings up the huge amount development needed to understand the requirements of Barnett's sysadmin force. We have the Laviathan portion down but sysadmin is in tatters.

Tags: sysadmin, laviathan, barnett, kaplan, fred kaplan, fcs, future combat systems

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Mekatronix makes a Robobug Kit

2007-04-12T14:18:00.001-07:00

Robobug^TM is one of the most sophisticated programmable, autonomous, six-legged walking robots available at this price. Robobug^TM uses a Mekatronix MSCC11 microcontroller with 2Kbytes of EEROM for leg motion control. A proprietary leg walking algorithm allows you to develop different gaits on the robot.

This little gem is less than $600 but smart kids in any country will learn how to hack them and send them on their way. What can this platform be used for? Can it carry weapons? How about surveilance? Tags: robobugs, robots

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Wall Climbing Robobugs

2007-04-12T12:32:00.001-07:00

The resulting shoebox-size robot doesn't resemble a lizard or a bug, but it can easily scurry up and down a tree or concrete wall. Arrays of tiny spines on the robot's feet catch on to microscopic rough spots on the wall. Those spines combined with the carefully choreographed motion of the feet and limbs inspired by Full's animal studies enable the robot to get a good foothold without sacrificing speed.

Full and his students have been helping Stanford University professor Mark Cutkosky and University of Pennsylvania professor Daniel Koditschek build robots that can climb walls. In the future, these mobile robots might seek out survivors in buildings submerged during a flood or search for hidden explosives in the rubble of war zones.

Tags: Robobugs, rescue, University of Michigan, wall-climbing

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2007-04-12T12:29:00.001-07:00

Tags: Robobugs, rescue, University of Michigan, wall-climbing

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Robot Insects

2007-04-12T12:16:00.001-07:00

The aim is for the bugs to carry tiny spy cameras. The bugs should be far more manoeuvrable than micro-sized conventional aircraft.

But mimicking an insect's figure-of-eight wing beat – to give optimum mid-air agility – is proving tough, New Scientist reports.

Tags: robobugs, Spy camera, robobug, new scientist, micro-aircraft

http://img.metro.co.uk/i/pix/2006/09/craneflyL_175x125.jpg