No Dark Knight's Flying "Bat" For The U.S. Military

'Dark Knight Rises' crew members lifted up what is allegedly a flying bat mobile in the Financial District to shoot a scene for the Batman movie on Sunday. John Taggart for New York Daily News

US Military Shoots Down Dark Knight's Flying "Bat" Idea -- Live Science

When the Dark Knight rises to defend Gotham once more, he literally takes to the skies in a flying vehicle known simply as the Bat. The new nonlethal weapon in Batman's arsenal can hover like a helicopter and pull off aerial maneuvers worthy of "Top Gun" fighter jets — a combination that may seem almost too good to be true.

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My Comment: I understand .... it's just too far fetch.

A Future Military Plane?

Batman’s Got A Brand New Plane -- Popular Mechanics

Batman’s fleet of incredible vehicles gets a new addition in The Dark Knight Rises: A plane called the Bat. Production designer Nathan Crowley and special effects coordinator Chris Corbould talk about using real-life military vehicles as inspiration and how they made the Bat fly.

Christopher Nolan’s Batman movies begin in the director’s garage. "We always get into a film by designing the vehicle," production designer Nathan Crowley says. For The Dark Knight Rises, out July 20, Nolan wanted Batman to add an aircraft to his fleet. "I like jump jets and Chris likes the Osprey," Crowley says. "So we said, okay, let’s try and mix the two and make the craft look like the Batmobile."

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My Comment: A future military plane .... no .... just in our dreams.

Making Chain Guns Even More Deadlier

Dial-a-Bullet Tech Could Make Chain Guns Even Scarier -- The Danger Room

In sci-fi books like Old Man’s War, troops lay waste to their alien foes by effortlessly switching between incendiary rounds and grenades and smart bullets that steer themselves to the target. All of which sounds like a pretty hot idea to researchers at the U.S. Army — even if the plans to conquer other planets are temporarily on hold.

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My Comment: I still think the development of the "smart bullet" will be the big game-changer on the battlefield. To be able to direct a bullet at great distances to your target will have a huge impact on the battlefield .... making it next to impossible for any target to properly take cover when needed. Putting such a bullet onto a chain gun .... well .... that will only make such a "bullet'" even more effective.

DARPA's Iron Curtain Active Protection System

My Comment: Impressive.

How "Seeing Around Corners" May Become The Next 'Superpower'

Why Seeing Around Corners May Become Next 'Superpower' -- Live Science

Superman had X-ray vision, but a pair of scientists has gone one better: seeing around corners.

Ordinarily, the only way to see something outside your line of sight is to stand in front of a mirror or similarly highly reflective surface. Anything behind you or to the side of you reflects light that then bounces off the mirror to your eyes.

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My Comment: There are multiple military applications for this technology.

The 2012 Marine West Exposition

High-Tech Military Gear Makes Its Way From Drawing Board To Battlefield -- FOX News

Technology has become more important than ever in the defense of our country. From drone aircraft to something as small as a smartphone, new technology encompasses nearly every part of military life.

Recently, Camp Pendleton in Southern California hosted the 2012 Marine West Exposition, where servicemen and servicewomen along with a number of corporations showed off some of their newest weapons, special ops systems, communications equipment and other modernization assets, all focused on making life easier and safer for men and women in combat.

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My Comment: Getting the servicemen and servicewomen also involved is an excellent idea.

5 Technology Tools Of The Special Forces

Photo from US Navy

US Navy Seals: 5 Technology Tools Of The Special Forces -- The Telegraph

The secret US Navy Seals unit that killed Osama bin Laden has access to some of the world's most advanced military technology. Some information about their equipment is public, however.

Customised Blackhawk helicopter

One of the helicopters that carried Seal Team Six to Abbottabad crash landed inside the Bin Laden compound. Though the troops blew up the stricken craft to preserve the secrecy of the technology on board, part of the tail landed outside the walls and survived to show this was no ordinary Blackhawk.

The tail rotor had extra blades, which would have made it much quieter than the standard design. Similar modifications to the main rotor would have further silenced the approach.

And according to Aviation Week, the "silver loaded" paint job would have also made it difficult for infra-red sensors to detect the helicopter. This would have been particularly useful if Bin Laden had been armed with heat-seeking anti-aircraft missiles.

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Update #1: 5 State of the Art Military Technologies That Helped Take Out Bin Laden -- FOX News
Update #2: 9 Tools That Probably Helped the U.S. Military Take Down bin Laden -- Gizmodo

My Comment: I like the section on flying cars.

Acoustic, Underwater Cloak Makes Objects Invisible To Sonar

Photo: Nicholas Fang (Source: L. Brian Stauffer)

From Daily Tech:

The cloak is used to control sound waves underwater

University of Illinois researchers have developed a cloak that can be used underwater to hide objects from sonar and other ultrasound waves.

Nicholas Fang, study leader and mechanical science and engineering professor at the University of Illinois, along with fellow researchers at the university, have created an acoustic, underwater cloak as a way of controlling sound waves.

Up until this point, scientists have been trying to push the use of materials that wrap sound around objects instead of absorbing or reflecting it. But turning the concept into a reality has been difficult.

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The Army Wants To Smell Your Fear

Smelling Threats from a Distance Using people's unique scents to identify them before they get too close to troops could save soldiers' lives.

The Army Wants Olfactory Sensors That Can Smell Potential Perps At A Distance -- Popular Science

If something doesn’t smell right, the Army wants to know about it. But while the Pentagon has been angling for a biosensors that can smell fear or nervousness in a person’s bodily emanations for some years now, the Army wants something more: The ability to “uniquely identify an individual based on scent” from a distance or even days after the person has left the scene.

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Update: Army Wants Sensors to Nab Sweaty, Smelly Security Threats -- The Danger Room

My Comment: I guess this is an extension from .... you can run but you cannot hide .... to .... you can run but we can smell you.

Does Using ICBM Missiles With Non-Nuclear Explosives A Good Idea?

ICBMs Without Nukes: USA's Best New Weapon? -- Newsweek

How might the United States ratchet up pressure on foreign enemies and threats, wherever they are on the globe, while reducing the need to station warships, planes, and troops within striking distance? A new type of weapon might do the trick--and even facilitate President Barack Obama's efforts to reduce the U.S. arsenal of nuclear warheads, which are of limited use against terrorists anyway.

THE IDEA: The Department of Defense is designing nonnuclear intercontinental ballistic missiles, which could be operational in less than two years. Packed with conventional explosives, they would be able to strike pretty much anywhere on the planet within one hour. ICBMs travel above the atmosphere, so they avoid most radar systems and the airspace of countries en route. For this capability, the U.S. is "willing to pay a great deal," says Mark Lewis, the Air Force's top technology official until his retirement this year.

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My Comment: There are certain positives with using ICBM's as a non-nuclear weapon system. They can (1) quickly reach its target, (2) very accurate, (3) carry a large payload, (4) they can hit any place in the world if the proper coordinates are programmed in.

The negatives are obvious. (1) Terribly expensive. (2) A nuclear country may think that it is under attack by the U.S. (3) A limited inventory because of the expense.

For me, negative #1 and negative #2 are the reasons why this program is not going to fly .... because these negatives are BIG, and cannot be ignored.

The US’s Second Highest-Ranking Military Officer Is Dreaming

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, left, and Marine Gen. James E. Cartwright, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, answer reporters' questions during a press briefing at the Pentagon, Sept. 17, 2009. Photo credit Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Molly A. Burgess.

Future Weapons Need to be Adaptable, Cost Less -- U.S. Department of Defense

WASHINGTON, Oct. 7, 2009 – Future U.S. military weapons are going to have to be relevant, adaptable and affordable, the nation’s second highest-ranking military officer told defense contractors here today.

Gone are the days of spending millions of dollars on technology and equipment that is all but obsolete by the time it is fielded to troops, Marine Gen. James E. Cartwright, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at the annual Association of the United States Army.

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My Comment: Every defense R&D project (and its procurement) never met its budgetary guidelines. R&D by its nature can never guarantee that real and applicable products will be produced, under budget, and on time.

As I said ... someone is dreaming.

Sikorsky 'Progressing' With X2 Helicopter Effort

Photo: The X2 in olive drab.
(Credit: PRNewsFoto/Sikorsky Aircraft)

From CNET News:

Sikorsky Aircraft is offering a bit of a look at its X2 helicopter concept.

The X2 Technology design is intended to showcase a range of possibilities for advancing what a helicopter can do--most notably, how fast it can fly. Sikorsky aims eventually to use its X2 demonstrator to push helicopter cruising speed to 250 knots, or nearly twice as fast as today's machines, such as its Blackhawk.

Sikorsky said Monday that it is "progressing" toward that high-speed milestone. It is showing off the Light Tactical Helicopter design at this week's Army Aviation Association of America annual convention in Nashville, Tenn.

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The Soldier Of The Future

Army Dreams: Super-Strong, Laser-Proof, Genius G.I.s -- The Danger Room

Today’s G.I.s are lucky if they get radios when they go on patrol in Iraq. But by 2030, their uniforms will be packed with nano-antenna arrays, capable of communicating with everything from drones to satellites. The soldiers will all be Hulk-strong, and Spiderman-agile, thanks to their nanotech-based exoskeletons. “Neural prosthetics” and “smart drugs” will make them battlefield geniuses. On-board computers will let them understand every language — and every cultural reference — as if they were natives. Naturally, their flexible, nanofiber uniforms will be all-but-impervious to bullets, flame, and lasers, too.

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My Comment: What?!?!?! No robots?

The Future Warship

The UXV Combatant: Drones launch from the UXV’s next-gen flight deck—and heavy firepower provides cover Nick Kaloterakis / PopSci

Boeing: Raygun Dreadnoughts Will Rule The Oceans By 2019 -- The Register

Missiles, laser sharks simply nowhere

US aerospace mammoth Boeing has made a bold announcement, saying that it will "transform naval warfare in the next decade" by developing powerful warship raygun turrets able to blast enemy missiles and aircraft out of the sky from afar.

The arms globocorp said yesterday that it has been awarded an initial $6.9m contract in a deal potentially worth as much as $169m, to develop a prototype Free Electron Laser (FEL) beam cannon.

Boeing say that this will provide an "ultra-precise, speed-of-light capability and unlimited magazine depth to defend ships against new, challenging threats, such as hyper-velocity cruise missiles", and that "FELs are capable of achieving the megawatt power the Navy requires for ship defense".

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My Comment: So much for missile defense being put on the back burner. This article's look at the future is probably right .... but we are probably decades away from such a weapon system being deployed.

Weapon Systems For Tomorrow

Tiny Weapons, Jet Engines in Killer Drone Upgrades -- The Danger Room

Today's killer drone is a slow-flying, easy-to-spot turboprop plane that drops relatively-crude munitions on its targets. Tomorrow's killer drone could be a stealthy jet, firing off missiles "the size of a loaf of French bread."

Researchers at the Naval Air Warfare Center at China Lake, California are expected in the next month to test out a five-pound missile, designed for use with unmanned aircraft. The two-foot-long Spike is about a "quarter of the size of the next smallest on the planet," Steve Felix, the missile project's manager, tells the Los Angeles Times.

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Weapons Get Smaller, Deadlier At China Lake

Project manager Steve Felix inspects a 5-pound Spike missile under development at the China Lake Naval Air Warfare Center. The missile will soon be test-fired from a remote-controlled helicopter at a moving pickup truck. Al Seib / Los Angeles Times

From L.A. Times:

Engineers at the Mojave Desert base are developing a miniature missile that can be launched from a robotic plane against terrorist targets.

Reporting from China Lake, Calif. -- A 5-pound missile the size of a loaf of French bread is being quietly tested in the Mojave Desert north of Los Angeles as the military searches for more deadly and far more precise robotic weapons for modern warfare.

In the next month or so, researchers at the Naval Air Warfare Center at China Lake expect to test a 2-foot-long Spike missile that is about a "quarter of the size of the next smallest on the planet," said Steve Felix, the missile project's manager.

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My Comment: Another vital weapon system for UAVs and unmanned weapon systems.

DND Presents Revolutionary New Weapon System

Triple-mode: Against fortifications, vehicles or in air-burst mode.

From Defpro:

13:22 GMT, March 18, 2009 German weapons manufacturer Dynamit Nobel Defence GmbH (DND) recently displayed a revolutionary new shoulder-launched, multi-purpose infantry weapon called the Wirkmittel 90. The new weapon will have an impressive effective range of 1200 meters - doubling the range of the Panzerfaust 3-IT - and will offer three firing modes to users.

Based on a 90mm caliber, the anti-structure weapon comes with a triple-mode warhead with a selective switch and can thus act effectively against fortifications of all kind, including bunkers, brick walls, strong buildings as well as light-armored vehicles. For this purpose, the selection option will allow the user to decide if the warhead will either detonate on impact as soon as it hits a target or, for example, inside a building after having penetrated the structure. The third mode will allow soldiers to let the weapon detonate in an air burst mode above a target.

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How Robots Will Assist Soldiers In The Field By Carrying Supplies

More on Battle Space Weight -- Captain's Journal

Continuing with our compulsive interest in battle space weight, we learn some interesting things about the potential future use of technology to help reduce battle space injuries and carry more weight.

Assistant Commandant Gen. James F. Amos told a House committee Wednesday about “Big Dog,” a robotic quadruped that can carry 300 to 500 pounds of gear.

Gen. Peter W. Chiarelli, the Army’s vice chief of staff, joined Amos to testify before the House Appropriations subcommittee on defense. He said Big Dog and other alternatives might reduce injuries that have contributed to an increase in “non-deployable” men and women.

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Diamonds: A Fighter Pilot's Best Friend?

Future Air Force jets like this one could be equipped with diamond-based windows designed to protect the jets from the weapons on board. istockphoto

From MSNBC:

Diamond windows offer thermal conductivity, transparency range, strength.

The U.S. Air Force may soon be adding some serious bling to its aircraft, in the form of windows made from 80-carat diamonds.

In theory, the windows would protect jets from high-powered microwaves (HPMs) they would themselves produce. The Air Force is vague on the details, but HPM devices aboard a jet could be used to disrupt or destroy enemy electrical systems. The problem is, they could also disrupt systems on board the jet itself.

That's where the diamond comes in.

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Real Soldier Offensive Capability Will Exceed Science Fiction

From The Next Big Future:

Science Fiction had the Armored Personnel Units of the Matrix.

Reality has the Auto Assault-12 (AA-12) shotgun (originally designed and known as the Atchisson Assault Shotgun). The AA-12 can fire in semi-automatic or fully automatic mode at 300 rounds per minute (5 every second) and has a magazine of 32 rounds. The AA-12 can fire 120 grenade rounds per minute with 9 foot blast radius. Having one AA-12 in each hand doubles the rate of fire.

New electromagnetic pulse (EMP) grenades could be adapted to the AA-12 as well, that would emit hundreds of megawatts of EMP for microseconds. A small e-bomb will be qualitatively different than larger versions. Radiated power falls off with the square of distance, so a target 3 meters (10 ft.) away receives 100 times the effect of one 30 meters away. An EMP grenade would probably only be effective for a 10-30 foot radius.

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My Comment: For a long time I have always preferred the "terminator" version of the future .... rather than the "matrix" model. But the more I think about it .... a combination of the two is very conceivable.