US aircraft carriers and the naval ships of other nations have long been vulnerable to enemy submarines and missiles. French Exocet missiles destroyed British ships in the Falklands War. * Air Independent Propulsion submarines are cheaper and quieter and deadlier * New faster and longer range missiles make ships more vulnerable * the key is …
China main tank and armored vehicle maker Norinco has shown several new armored vehicles for the export market. China has a new GL-5 hard-kill active protection system (APS), which destroyed a guided missile attacking a tank in a live fire exercise. The GL-5 system consists of four radars and fixed projectile launchers, which are attached …
Duke Robotics announces, TIKAD, a dramatic step forward in protecting our troops by developing the resources needed to fight terrorism effectively today. Tikad is a quadcopter drone with a sniper rifle, grenade launcher and other small arms. Tikad can have a SR-25 marksman rifle made by Knight’s Armament Co.; an M321A grenade launcher; and an …
Clinical trials of CRISPR gene editing, when they start this year (2017), will edit existing cells in adults using an injection of a viral vector. It seems likely that CRISPR, or some improved version of it, will be established to be both safe and effective in the near future. Professor Stephen Hsu provides an analysis …
Lockheed revealed the first images from an experimental, ultra-thin optical instrument, showing it could be possible to shrink space telescopes to a sliver of the size of today’s systems while maintaining equivalent resolution. Weighing 90 percent less than a typical telescope, the Segmented Planar Imaging Detector for Electro-Optical Reconnaissance (SPIDER) opens a path for extremely …
Lockheed Martin will unveil its next generation air and missile defense radar demonstrator at the annual Space & Missile Defense Symposium this week in Huntsville, Alabama. The active electronically scanned array (AESA) Radar for Engagement and Surveillance (ARES) is a representative full-scale prototype of the technology to support a modern, 360-degree capable sensor that the …
Lockheed Martin has received a $12.9 million U.S. Defense Department contract for the Squad X Experimentation program for dismounted infantry combat systems. The contract will go toward design and testing for prototypes of equipment for combined-arms squads. Work will be conducted in Grand Prairie, Texas and other locations throughout the U.S. and should finish by …
Mach 3 hypervelocity projectiles can be fired from regular 5 inch and 155 mm guns on land and sea. They can revolutionize defense against ballistic missiles because small, smart projectiles can be inexpensive. It takes 300 seconds to pick up such a launched missile’s signature, the missile must be tracked and a vector calculated for …
The US Navy has been testing railguns at 20 megajoules and at 5 shots per minute. They will be increasing to 20 megajoules and 10 shots per minutes by the end of this year and then at 32 megajoules next year. These will be 35 pound metal projectiles moving at Mach 5.8. In May 2017, …
DARPA’s Towed Airborne Lift of Naval Systems (TALONS) research effort recently demonstrated its prototype of a low-cost, elevated sensor mast aboard a commissioned U.S. Navy vessel for the first time. The crew of USS Zephyr, a 174-foot (53-meter) Cyclone-class patrol coastal ship, evaluated the technology demonstration system over three days near Naval Station Mayport, Florida. …
DARPA announced the first programs under its new Disruptioneering effort, which pushes for faster identification and exploration of bold and risky ideas with the goal of accelerating scientific discovery. Under the new concept, DSO program managers intend to develop small programs of $5 million or less in total funding on an expedited timeline, with an …