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

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

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

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.

 

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

Was Rummy Really Wrong? | The LA Progressive

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

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

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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