U.S. Navy To Deploy Rail Guns And Lasers

Navy Set To Deploy Rail Guns, Laser Prototypes -- DoD Buzz

The U.S. Navy’s Science and Technology community is deploying prototypes of electromagnetic rail guns, solid-state laser weapons and underwater unmanned vehicles in operational units with sailors and Marines, senior service leaders said April.

“These prototypes are shifting the game in our favor. We can no longer spend huge dollars on systems — they must be very reliable, very affordable and very effective. It is about developing disruptive technologies that can be hugely effective and hugely affordable,” Rear Adm. Matthew L. Klunder, Chief of Naval Research, Office of Naval Research (ONR), said at the National Defense Industrial Association’s 14th Annual Science & Engineering Technology Conference/Defense Tech Exposition, National Harbor, Md.

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My Comment: The above two videos describe both U.S. Navy weapon systems.

Flame Thrower History (Video)

WNU Editor: He gives a great lecture .... but he does not use the flame thrower in this video clip. If you want to see the flame thrower in operation .... go here.

Ultimate Weapons- Gatling Gun (Video)

Kamikaze' Drones To Be Included In The US Army's Arsenal

Designed as a tube launched weapon, the Switchblade system comprises a miniature air vehicle that launches from a small tube that can be carried in a backpack and operated by a single soldier. Flying quietly at high speed the Switchblade delivers its onboard explosive payload with precision while minimizing collateral damage. Photo: Aerovironment

US Army To Fly 'Kamikaze' Drones' -- Breitbart/AFP

A miniature "kamikaze" drone designed to quietly hover in the sky before dive-bombing and slamming into a human target will soon be part of the US Army's arsenal, officials say.

Dubbed the "Switchblade," the robotic aircraft represents the latest attempt by the United States to refine how it takes out suspected militants.

Weighing less than two kilos, the drone is small enough to fit into a soldier's backpack and is launched from a tube, with wings quickly folding out as it soars into the air, according to manufacturer AeroVironment.

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My Comment: This is actually old news. Go here for more info.

The Growing Popularity Of Small Airborne Weapon Systems

Designed as a tube launched weapon, the Switchblade system comprises a miniature air vehicle that launches from a small tube that can be carried in a backpack and operated by a single soldier. Flying quietly at high speed the Switchblade delivers its onboard explosive payload with precision while minimizing collateral damage. Photo: Aerovironment

U.S. Army Buys Switchblade Small Loitering Weapons -- Defense Update

The U.S. Army has awarded AeroVironment a contract worth almost $5 million for the first deliveries of Switchblade agile munition, the company announced today. The contract was awarded two month ago, on June 29, 2011, culminating a selection process for a loitering light weight munition.



The procurement is part of the Army’s rapid fielding initiative. The U.S. Army Close Combat Weapons Systems (CCWS), Program Executive Office Missiles and Space (PEO MS) is the awarding office. The prototype Switchblade system previously received Safety Confirmation and underwent Military Utility Assessment with the U.S. Army in the fall of 2010.



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More News On The Switchblade Agile Munition System

US Army Brings a Switchblade to A Gun Fight -- Defense Industry Daily

AeroVironment wins $4.9 million U.S. Army contract to provide Switchblade agile munition operational systems, engineering services -- Avionics

AeroVironment wins $4.9m US Army contract -- Shephard

U.S. Army Awards AeroVironment $4.9 Million Contract for Switchblade Agile Munition Systems and Services -- Market Watch

AeroVironment Gets Order For Lethal Backpack UAV -- Ares/Aviation Week

"Terminator" Machine-Gun Robots Deployed On DMZ

A set of SGR-1 armed robots have been set up near the southern boundary of Korea's Demilitarized Zone on an experimental basis to see how well they complement the soldiers that keep an eye on the heavily fortified border between the North and South. The robot, using heat and motion detectors, can identify and shoot a potential target more than two miles away. Photo courtesy of Samsung Techwi

Machine-Gun-Toting Robots Deployed On DMZ -- Stars And Stripes

DEMILITARIZED ZONE, Korea — Security along the DMZ has gone high-tech, as South Korea has quietly installed a number of machine-gun-armed robots to serve as the first line of defense against the potential advance of North Korean soldiers.

The stationary robots — which look like a cross between a traffic signal and a tourist-trap telescope — are more drone than Terminator in concept, operated remotely just outside the southern boundary of the DMZ by humans in a nearby command center.

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Update: South Korea deploys robot capable of killing intruders along border with North -- The Telegraph

My Comment: What was once science fiction .... is now nothing new.

10 Sci-Fi Weapons That Actually Exist

Behold the Laser Avenger, a cannon that could be used to take down incoming aircraft. Boeing was able to shoot a drone out of the sky with the hummer-mounted laser, even though it’s not particularly high-powered. It cooked the remote-controlled aircraft using a somewhat feeble 1-kilowatt beam. More recently, the company shot down another UAV using a low-power laser paired with its Mobile Active Targeting Resource for Integrated eXperiments, or Matrix, system during a test in White Sands, New Mexico.

From The Danger Room:

Sure, the gear may look like it came straight out of Avatar or Battlestar Galactica. But all of the laser weapons, robots, sonic blasters and puke rays pictured here are real. Some of these weapons have already found their way onto the battlefield. If the rest of this sci-fi arsenal follows, war may soon be unrecognizable.

Read on for a look at some of these futuristic weapons being tested today.

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Apple’s New Weapon

From Newsweek:

To help soldiers make sense of data from drones, satellites and ground sensors, the U.S. military now issues the iPod Touch.

Tying the hands of a person who is speaking, the Arab proverb goes, is akin to "tying his tongue." Western soldiers in Iraq know how important gestures can be when communicating with locals. To close, open and close a fist means "light," but just opening a fist means "bomb." One soldier recently home from Iraq once tried to order an Iraqi man to lie down. To get his point across, the soldier had to demonstrate by stretching out in the dirt. Translation software could help, but what's the best way to make it available in the field?

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97 Percent Fewer Bombs Being Dropped

GBU-31 JDAM (Photo from WorldWide-Military.com)

From Strategy Page:

Smart bombs have led to far fewer bombs being dropped. This has led to many changes in the way wars are fought. Keep in mind that during the peak six years of the Vietnam war, 6.7 million tons of bombs were dropped. That was the same rate they were dropped during the major bombing campaigns of World War II. But in eight years of fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq, only 42,000 tons have been dropped. Thus, while in the past, a million tons were dropped a year, for the war on terror, less than 6,000 tons a year were dropped. That means a reduction of over 99 percent. Even when you adjust for the different number of U.S. troops involved, that's still over 97 percent fewer bombs dropped.

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My Comment: These stats are surprising .... and that is an understatement.

'Terrorists Could Bring Down Jumbo Jet Using Microwave Cannon Built Over Internet'

Deadly: Terrorists with the canon could cause a disaster like Lockerbie, above

From The Daily Mail:

A deadly 'microwave cannon' capable of bringing down aircraft can be built using information and parts available on the internet, a terrorism expert has warned.

The device would fire a high-energy electromagnetic pulse, frying the electronics of a plane as it comes in to land.

It raises the chilling prospect of attacks at transport hubs like Heathrow, capable of killing hundreds of people living in the flight paths.

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What's Wrong With Weapons Acquisitions?

Stealthy and Steep: The US $137 million F-22, officially fielded in 2005, has yet to fly a mission in Iraq or Afghanistan. PHOTO: Wesley T. Kitten/Photoshelter

From IEEE Spectrum:

The Pentagon now spends about $21.6 million every hour to procure new military systems. As the cost and complexity of defense acquisitions programs continue to spiral out of control, many defense experts believe runaway military spending is unsustainable. Meanwhile, soldiers in the field are being denied much-need equipment, while civilian programs go unfunded. In this special report, IEEE Spectrum contributing editor Robert N. Charette examines the root causes of the current crisis in weapons acquisitions and what can be done to reform the system.

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My Comment: An article that I slowly recommend everyone to read. I would not be surprised if this is a sign of things to come in the incoming Obama administration