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Raytheon ship-defense missile passes Navy testing The Navy has completed the first series of developmental and operational testing of a ship-defense missile system made by Tucson-based Raytheon Missile Systems. In at-sea testing of Raytheon’s Rolling Airframe Missile Block 2, the system's missiles engaged two targets in “tactical dual-salvo scenarios” designed to demonstrate the advanced missile's defensive capabilities. The missiles “successfully engaged high-speed, maneuvering and sub-sonic, maneuvering targets,” with all four missiles meeting test objectives, Raytheon said in a news release. Raytheon and its manufacturing partner, RAMSYS of Germany, were awarded the second U.S. Navy RAM Block 2 low-rate production contract...

Widely held as the Holy Grail of weapons design, the Electromagnetic Rail Gun has been in development for more than a century. Now, thanks to the extraordinary efforts of the U.S. Navy, it will soon be part of our arsenal. Unconventional, Multifunctional and Motivating The rail gun is marvel of modern warfare. Unlike conventional weapons, which are reliant upon an assortment of chemical propellants, the EMRG does not require rocket fuel, gunpowder, or gas. Instead, electromagnetic energy is used to fire shells. To produce this surge of energy, electricity is poured though a pair of parallel rails and the current...

The creation of the new medal honoring unmanned vehicle pilots and cyber troops, “is a telling and sad commentary on the judgment of those who are responsible for the creation and approval of this award,” Jack Jacobs, Medal of Honor recipient and Vietnam veteran, told USNI News on Wednesday.

The Greatest Investment Opportunity Since 1984 Companies / Sector AnalysisMarch 12, 2013 - 06:03 PM GMT By: Investment U Andrew Snyder writes: There are three reasons investors absolutely must have their eye on the world’s booming unmanned aircraft market. Not one of them involves a 13-hour rant by Rand Paul or Obama’s ability to kill American citizens on American soil. But the recent political brouhaha is proof that you need to move. If you’ve followed the press, you’ve undoubtedly heard today’s drone market compared to the computer industry in the early 1980s. In fact, on January 25, Yahoo!ran a headline...

Tuesday was a banner day for Gulf Coast industry as the U.S. Navy announced it awarded Northrop Grumman Corp. a $71.6 million contract to produce the next generation of Fire Scout unmanned helicopters, assembled in Moss Point. In addition, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal announced Lockheed Martin Corp. will invest $3 million and create 166 new jobs to build tanks for liquefied natural gas at the Michoud Assembly plant in New Orleans, where the space shuttle tanks were built. The initial 88-foot-long tanks will be used to fuel ships and transport fuel. And at Chevron's 2013 Security Analyst Meeting on...

The U.S. Air Force is developing tiny unmanned drones that will fly in swarms, hover like bees, crawl like spiders and even sneak up on unsuspecting targets and execute them with lethal precision. The Air Vehicles Directorate, a research arm of the Air Force, has released a computer-animated video outlining the the future capabilities of Micro Air Vehicles (MAVs). The project promises to revolutionize war by down-sizing the combatants.

'It is extraordinary that doctors were able to do anything for Todd Nelson. The former US Army master sergeant's injuries were so bad the medics thought he would not survive. "I was on my 300th-plus convoy across Kabul, Afghanistan," he recalls. "We were headed home for the night when we passed next to a typical yellow and white sedan. When they saw us getting ready to pass, they flipped the switch. "The blast came in my side of the truck; I was on the passenger side. "It flipped the truck through a brick wall and put shrapnel through my right...

Bell Helicopters' upgraded H-1 generates foreign interest (Reuters) - As U.S. budget pressures mount, the U.S. Marine Corps says growing foreign demand could help drive down the unit cost of its new upgraded H-1 utility and attack helicopters built by Bell Helicopter, a unit of Textron Inc (TXT.N). Major General John Croley, assistant deputy commandant for aviation, said the new helicopters had greater range and capabilities that would enhance the Marines' ability to work with allies across the Asia-Pacific region. He said increased interest from countries in Asia and the Middle East could help lower the cost of the new...

HILL AIR FORCE BASE, Utah (CBS St. Louis) — Boeing successfully tests a new missile that can take out electronic targets with little collateral damage. The aerospace company tested the microwave missile last week on a two-story building on the Utah Test and Training Range where computers and electronic systems were turned on to gauge the effects of the missile’s radio waves, according to a Boeing press release. The missile, known as CHAMP (Counter-electronics High-powered Advanced Missile Project), fired a burst of High Powered Microwaves at the building, successfully knocking out the electronic systems and computers, and even taking out...

A number of robots in development for the military are being given increasing amounts of autonomy. The question is now how they will be used. But, despite widespread press about armed drones hunting down terrorists and insurgents in Afghanistan and Pakistan and the increasing use of ground robots to fight roadside bombs, the truth is that most military robots are still pretty dumb. In fact, almost all unmanned systems involve humans in almost every aspect of their operations—it’s just that instead of sitting in a cockpit or behind the wheel of a vehicle, humans are operating the systems from a...

U.S. Army officials announced the winners of its greatest inventions competition Sept. 19.A team of combat veteran non-commissioned officers, as well as U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command field-grade officers, reviewed and voted for the Army Greatest Inventions of 2011. Dale Ormond, director of the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command, commended the scientists and engineers for their efforts to empower, unburden and protect Soldiers. “The contributions made by these teams promise to improve the well-being of Soldiers and the Army’s capability to contribute to quality of life and our national security,” Ormond said. “All of the nominated inventions...

Contrary to legend, it wasn't the federal government, and the Internet had nothing to do with maintaining communications during a war. A telling moment in the presidential race came recently when Barack Obama said: "If you've got a business, you didn't build that. Somebody else made that happen." He justified elevating bureaucrats over entrepreneurs by referring to bridges and roads, adding: "The Internet didn't get invented on its own. Government research created the Internet so that all companies could make money off the Internet." It's an urban legend that the government launched the Internet. The myth is that the Pentagon...

-- Kodak -- the company known for decades for its cameras and film -- this week confirmed it used weapons-grade uranium in an underground lab in upstate New York for upwards of 30 years. A company spokesman and a former scientist for the firm say there was not enough material to sustain a nuclear chain reaction. Former Kodak researcher Albert Filo said the uranium was alloyed with aluminum in plates sealed in sleeves that were not moved for three decades. The amount of fuel was about 3½ pounds, which experts say is less than one-tenth of the amount necessary to...

Boeing shows off new Super Hornet display Boeing is showing off some of the advanced features it is proposing for the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet. Some of these include conformal fuel tanks, an external weapons pod to reduce the jet's radar cross-section, better engines, and a new missile warning system among other improvements. Inside the cockpit (both cockpits in the case of the F-model) is a new single-screen color LCD display. But what is truly impressive is a new 3D situational awareness display mode--it overlays various threats and displays them in an easy to understand graphic. Terrain can be overlaid on...

The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter will be the new multirole fast jet for the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force. It will serve as the strike capability for the new Queen Elizabeth Aircraft Carrier and will partner the Typhoon to form the future fast jet fleet for the RAF. It is a multinational acquisition programme led by the United States in partnership with eight other nations, including the UK. There are three variants of the F-35: F-35A Conventional Takeoff and Landing (CTOL) F-35B Short Takeoff/Vertical Landing (STOVL) F-35C Carrier Variant (CV) The UK selected the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) in...

Under contract to the U.S. Air Force, Northrop Grumman's B-2 Spirit stealth bomber has completed its first 18.5-hour sortie over the North Pole to validate new flight management software. The computer upgrade system, which is the cornerstone for all future B-2 upgrades, is now ready to enter low-rate initial production. The Extremely High Frequency (EHF) Increment 1 system verification review demonstrated the computer upgrade program successfully satisfied the government's requirements. The sortie also included air-refueling to and from the North Pole from Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. The verification reviews and flight test were the culmination of over two years...

Rose Gottemoeller said the next generation will change how cyber defense is handled A U.S. government official said that cyber defense has been slow-moving due to the current generation of policymaker's lack of technological understanding. Rose Gottemoeller, U.S. Acting Undersecretary for Arms Control and International Security, recently visited the Estonian IT College in Tallinn to deliver a speech about cyber attacks and defense. In this lecture, she noted that a major issue with current cyber defense is the fact that many policymakers around the world don't fully understand technology used today. "The truth is there are a lot of senior...

The Pentagon is focused on resolving complex software issues on the new Lockheed Martin Corp F-35 fighter jet, even as it struggles to drive down costs, a top Pentagon official said on Friday, noting that software failures could "bring us to our knees." Air Force Major General John Thompson, the No. 2 official in charge of the huge multi-nation warplane development program, said the latest restructuring of the program had given officials enough resources and time to address future challenges. "Both the hardware and the software issues that we're addressing are all within the realm of being resolved," Thompson told...

Functional laser weapons are just five years away. Advocates hope that won’t always be the case. The Air Force has been working on airborne laser weapons for more than 40 years, but a fielded system remains elusive. Experts also warn that the US does not enjoy a commanding lead in laser research. And the Air Force’s flagship laser weapon program, the Airborne Laser (later called the Airborne Laser Testbed) was terminated late last year and is now being dismantled. Still, service and industry experts predict there is plenty of reason for realistic optimism. Operational laser systems that can perform a...

The first night refueling in the history of the Lockheed Martin F-35 program was completed Thursday at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. Piloted by U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Peter Vitt, AF-4, an F-35A conventional takeoff and landing variant, rendezvoused with an Air Force KC-135 tanker and successfully received fuel through the F-35’s boom receptacle. Vitt’s sortie lasted more than three hours. In addition to qualifying with the KC-135, the F-35 Integrated Test Force at Edwards AFB will also conduct night refueling tests with the KC-10.

There have been a number of articles lately about the U.S. developing a new unmanned aerial vehicle in secret. Dave Majumdar, at Air Force Times, recently had an article about how the U.S. Air Force’s decision to postpone development of a next generation unmanned combat aircraft suggests that service might be developing something else in the “black world.” The article quoted USAF intelligence chief Lt.-Gen. Larry James who said that there is no immediate need for a next generation replacement for the General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper. And the Predator-C Avenger UAV the USAF is buying will be used only as...

European researchers said Thursday they have created a device invisible to a static magnetic field that could have practical military and medical applications. Fedor Gomory and colleagues in Slovakia and Spain designed a cloak for a direct current, or dc, magnetic field that is static and produced by a permanent magnet or coil carrying a direct current. DC magnetic fields are used in MRI imaging devices, in hospitals and in security systems, such as those in airports. The researchers' device, described in a study in Friday's edition of the journal Science, features a cylinder with two concentric layers. While the...

The F-35 Lightning II joint strike fighter program -- the centerpiece of future tactical aviation and a key to implementing new military strategic guidance -- made strong progress in its development last year, a defense official said today. Frank Kendall, acting undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, told the House Armed Services Committee that the fighter aircraft is essential to the Defense Department, and that it made "strong progress" in 2011. "Last fall, the department engaged in a strategy and budget review, where everything -- and I do mean everything -- was on the table," Kendall said. "After...

Brain research and associated advances such as brain-machine interfaces that are funded by the U.S. military and intelligence communities raise profound ethical concerns, caution researchers who cite the potentially lethal applications of such work and other consequences. Rapid advances in neuroscience made over the last decade have many dual-use applications of both military and civilian interest. Researchers who receive military funding — with the U.S. Department of Defense spending more than $350 million on neuroscience in 2011 — may not fully realize how dangerous their work might be, say scientists in an essay published online today (March 20) in the...

Ubiquitous in science fiction, rail guns are a hot area of military research in real life too. But will we ever really get to use them the way people in science fiction do? And could rail guns be used for a non-violent reason — inexpensively launching payload into space? Halo Reach ends with your Spartan taking up a mounted rail gun to destroy an incoming Covenant ship. Rail guns are the basis for a funny aside in Mass Effect 2. They're used in Babylon 5 and Stargate Atlantis and The Last Starfighter. And they're a devastating hand-held weapon in the...

Sandia National Laboratories is seeking a partnership with a private company to commercialize a new guided bullet that its engineers have invented, according to the U.S. government lab, which is managed by Lockheed Martin. The Sandia researchers, Red Jones and Brian Kast and their colleagues, created a dart-like self-guided bullet for small-caliber firearms that uses laser guidance to hit targets more than a mile away. "We have a very promising technology to guide small projectiles that could be fully developed inexpensively and rapidly," Jones said. The prototype was built using commercially available components and the initial testing in computer simulations...

Russia is reportedly close to finalizing a major sale of advanced fighter aircraft to China worth $4 billion. Such a sale, newsworthy in itself, would have been hard to imagine as recently as a few years ago considering the history of previous agreements. The anticipated deal, first reported by Kommersant, sees the two sides “practically agreed on the delivery of 48 Su-35 multirole fighters, worth $4 billion, to China.” Some reports suggest that Chinese officials have dismissed talk of such a deal. But if true, an agreement like this would certainly make sense for Beijing, giving China access to an...

DARPA is unveiling a portable laser weapons system, HELLADS, which seems like something out of a sci-fi movie. The new laser application, created by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems with a custom power system from Saft Batteries, will help change the way the American military fights future wars. Current military laser systems are bulky contraptions which are mainly the size of a passenger jet, while the proposed DARPA weapon can fit on the back of a flatbed truck. The 150-kilowatt, solid state laser weapon is strong enough to take down drones or other aerial targets; a prototype is expected to be...

The program executive officer for the problem-plagued F-35 said Thursday he has "great confidence" the multi-service fighter can deliver the oft-promised stealth and the sophisticated package of sensors. Vice Adm. David Venlet said he has "measured data" to show that. In a late afternoon address to an audience of defense and financial industry representatives, Venlet said all the current problems with the Lockheed Martin-built aircraft that have been highlighted in the media and congressional hearings "are in the normal range of fighter aircraft development." The problems Venlet cited included the sophisticated helmet that should allow the pilot to see on...

During a recent trip to Yuma Proving Ground, in Arizona, I passed a unique looking artillery piece in a remote area of the installation. It has an extremely long barrel and appeared to be anchored in a concrete abutment. Having more than a passing interest in ordnance I made some inquiries as to origins and purpose of the gun. What I had stumbled across, on that hot desert day, was one of three unique guns that had been part of a very ambitious undertaking called the “High Altitude Research Project,” or HARP. The brainchild of Jerry Bull (of “Iranian Super...

Over the past decade, the Air Force has poured more than $80 billion into space technologies, including new satellites, launch services and information systems. The plan for the coming years is to spend considerably less as pressure grows to reduce the U.S. defense budget. The Air Force still intends to modernize key satellite constellations and provide space-based communications and surveillance services for the military and intelligence community. But program costs are going to be scrutinized at an unprecedented level of detail, Air Force officials said. Every major space program is now the subject of “should-cost” reviews, which is the Pentagon’s...

The U.S. Air Force's second X-37B space plane marked one year in orbit Monday, continuing its clandestine mission more than 200 miles above Earth. The robotic spacecraft's purpose is secret, but Air Force officials acknowledge the vehicle is performing well one year after it blasted off on a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket on March 5, 2011. "We are very pleased with the results of the on-going X-37B experiments," said Lt. Col. Tom McIntyre, X-37B program director in the Air Force's Rapid Capabilities Office. "The X-37B program is setting the standard for a reusable space plane and, on this...

The Pentagon has mothballed a laser-equipped jumbo jet after 15 years and $5 billion worth of research to develop an airborne missile defense system. Budget cuts shot down the Airborne Laser Test Bed but some research into anti-missile lasers will continue, according to the U.S. Missile Defense Agency. "We didn't have the funding to continue flying the aircraft," agency spokeswoman Debra Christman told the Los Angeles Times (http://lat.ms/xEnw3z ). The plane, a Boeing 747 mounted with a high-energy chemical laser, has been sent into storage at Davis Monthan Air Force Base, the agency said. The base near Tucson, Ariz., serves...

China usually holds its military hand very close to the vest--that, or things “mysteriously” leak that it doesn’t (does) want the world to know about--so we’re left to wonder why the People’s Republic has decided to publish this in the journal Advanced Materials Research. Nonetheless, it’s pretty interesting. Chinese navy researchers have plans for a new submarine hunting scheme that uses ship-launched UAVs running genetic algorithms. Genetic algorithms narrow down a range of possibilities to an optimal solution much the way evolution does (at least in a simplified sense)--by weeding out the weaker offspring and mating the best with the...

Researchers believe that new "thinking caps", could help provide super-human strength, highly enhanced concentration or thought-controlled weaponry. A British ethics group is investigating the ethical dilemmas posed by inventions that interfere with the brain's inner workings. The Nuffield Council on Bioethics (NCB) has launched a consultation on the risks posed by such new technologies, the global market for which it says is worth $8bn (£5bn) and "growing fast. With the prospect of future conflicts between armies controlling weapons with their minds, the Council, an independent body, is wanting to identify what issues that come with blurring the lines between humans...

Boeing has announced that it has completed delivery of 257 F/A-18E/F Super Hornet strike fighters and EA-18G Growler electronic attack aircraft to the U.S. Navy. Each aircraft was delivered ahead of schedule and within the contract budget. The aircraft were delivered to the Navy from 2007 through 2011 under a multi-year procurement (MYP) contract awarded to Boeing on Dec. 29, 2003. The Navy purchased the aircraft during fiscal years 2005-2009. Multi-year procurement contracts provide a stable production environment that enables manufacturers and suppliers to reduce cost through bulk purchasing and productivity enhancements. "Super Hornets and Growlers provide unmatched, proven and...

Lockheed Martin has unveiled a new version of the F-16 at the Singapore Airshow. The F-16V will feature enhancements including an active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, an upgraded mission computer and architecture, and improvements to the cockpit - all capabilities identified by the U.S. Air Force and several international customers for future improvements. With nearly 4,500 F-16s delivered, this is a natural step in the evolution of the world's most successful 4th generation fighter. The Fighting Falcon program has continually evolved as it began with the F-16 A/B as the lightweight fighter then transitioned to F-16 C/D and Block...

America's new long-range bomber program is "underway," will involve somewhere between 80 and 100 planes and will be delivered sometime in the mid-2020's. "And that's about all we're saying," Air Force Secretary Mike Donley told reporters. It's been known for some time that the bombers will not fly alone but will be part of a family of systems that may include UAVs and other systems. The really interesting part of all this is the secrecy and why it's so dark. It would seem to indicate several things: that the U.S. does not want potential competitors such as China or Russia...

We made two stops for this Cool Schools report: Leesburg, Va. and the White House. A team of fifth graders came up with an invention so impressive, the President of the United States even noticed! Learning about the war in Afghanistan could be pretty daunting and the graphic scenes can be scary, but for these 11 year olds, it was a motivation to do something positive. Jack Dudley, a student at Stone Hill Middle School in Ashburn, Va. told us, "Our inspiration for the project...Specialist Robert Warren lost part of his skull in an IED blast in Afghanistan." Virginia 5th...

New version of the fighter gets radar improvements and more The Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon has been around for over three decades and so far there have been nearly 4,500 delivered. The F-16 will continue for many years to come and Lockheed Martin has today unveiled a new version called F-16V. The new version of the fighter jet was unveiled at the Singapore Airshow and has new feature enhancements to make the aircraft more formidable. The F-16 V gets new active electronically scanned array radar (AESA), an upgraded mission computer and architecture, along with improvements inside the cockpit. Lockheed...

One afternoon last fall at Fort Benning, Ga., two model-size planes took off, climbed to 800 and 1,000 feet, and began criss-crossing the military base in search of an orange, green and blue tarp. The automated, unpiloted planes worked on their own, with no human guidance, no hand on any control. After 20 minutes, one of the aircraft, carrying a computer that processed images from an onboard camera, zeroed in on the tarp and contacted the second plane, which flew nearby and used its own sensors to examine the colorful object. Then one of the aircraft signaled to an unmanned...

Older railgun projectiles tumbled through the air; this one flies with what can only be called grace. This amazing video, created by Defense Tech, shows the latest test of General Atomics' high-speed railgun. Where earlier attempts have fired ungainly missiles that tumbled end-over-end through the air like "hypersonic bricks," this one uses a sabot round, which flies straight and smoothly for a distance of seven kilometers, AFTER punching through a solid steel plate.

A futuristic laser mounted on a speeding cruiser successfully blasted a bobbing, weaving boat from the waters of the Pacific Ocean -- the first test at sea of such a gun and a fresh milestone in the Navy's quest to reoutfit the fleet with a host of laser weapons, the Navy announced Friday. "We were able to have a destructive effect on a high-speed cruising target," chief of Naval research Rear Adm. Nevin Carr told FoxNews.com. The test occurred Wednesday near San Nicholas Island, off the coast of Central California in the Pacific Ocean test range, from a laser gun...

New product from Bourque Industries is far stronger than current standard, first to protect against rifle fire, joins other revolutionary Bourque Industries products TUCSON, Ariz.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Bourque Industries, Inc. (OTC:BORK) will unveil its new Kryronized aluminum alloy ballistic helmet at a live-fire demonstration in Mesa, Ariz. This new technology will bring unprecedented ballistic protection – the ability to withstand rifle fire – to military and law enforcement personnel in a package that meets all other required specifications (not an April Fool's joke, Ed.). To the best knowledge of Bourque Industries, no other available technology can provide a similar level of protection...

F-35C maiden flight (Source: Lockheed Martin) Maiden flight lasted about an hour The F-35 Lightning II is one of the most ambitious and most expensive aircraft platforms that has ever entered development by the U.S. military. To help offset some of the costs to develop and build the F-35, the U.S. entered into agreements with partner nations that would allow the nations to buy the aircraft and share some of the costs of the program. There have been some significant issues with the program that have put the F-35 behind schedule in some instances and run costs up. However, Lockheed...

How Australia Is Networking Its Forces By David A. Fulghum Canberra and Washington Australia is integrating three new operational elements into its advanced, network-centric military—a squadron of Wedge­tail aircraft, the first two squadrons of F/A-18F Super Hornets and the Vigi­lare theater surveillance integration system. All are designed as the backbone of a small, highly responsive force. The country is refashioning its armed services as the core of an international force—integrating a variety of foreign participants—that will be capable of responding to military emergencies or natural disasters. However, this cutting-edge organization was envisioned somewhat differently only five years ago. The Boeing...

Joint High Speed Vessel: Great Potential, But Questions Remain March 2011 By Grace V. Jean The Defense Department this decade will build a fleet of new high-speed aluminum ships specifically designed to shuttle hundreds of troops and tons of cargo around a theater of operations. These shallow-draft logistics ships, analysts say, will become valuable vehicles for executing “soft power” missions — responding to natural disasters, providing humanitarian assistance, conducting port visits and training partner military forces, among others. The Defense Department currently accomplishes this role using traditional warships such as the Navy’s “big deck” amphibious vessels. Analysts say the joint...

The Navy has passed a major milestone in its quest to build an incredibly powerful new anti-aircraft gun. Scientists with the Navy's Office of Naval Research have demonstrated a prototype system capable of producing from thin air the electrons needed to generate ultrapowerful, "megawatt-class" laser beams for the agency's next-generation system. (snip)Navy ships have become vulnerable in modern times to supersonic missiles because of their slower defense systems, the agency worries. "The FEL is expected to provide future U.S. Naval forces with a near-instantaneous laser ship defense in any maritime environment throughout the world,” Saulter said.

Five landings are the first of 42 needed to move to at-sea trialsOf all the F-35 Lightning II variants currently in testing, the most troubled has been the F-35B STOVL fighter. The aircraft has had recurring issues with sub-components that are failing at higher than expected rates leading to problems and delays in the flight program. The F-35B fighter was also dealt a blow when the program was recently put on a 2-year probationary period. Lockheed is still hard at work on the F-35B and the aircraft has shown some progress recently. Defense News reports that the aircraft has had a series of five...

Rolls-Royce to Power Ten Littoral Combat Ships for the U.S Navy (Source: Rolls-Royce plc; issued January 16, 2011) Rolls-Royce, the global power systems company, will supply gas turbines and waterjets for ten of the U.S. Navy’s Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) – the Group’s largest ever marine naval surface ship contract. Designed to operate in combat zones close to the shore (littoral waters), each LCS will be equipped with two Rolls-Royce MT30 gas turbines powering four large waterjets, enabling the vessels to reach speeds in excess of 40 knots. At 36 megawatts, the MT30 is the world’s most powerful marine gas...