Lifeboat Foundation

It appears the Pentagon is prepared to see how deep the rabbit hole goes.

Report by Georgetown University says PLA spending may be higher than America’s and adds that many of its suppliers could gain access to US technology.

A scientist who wrote a leading textbook on artificial intelligence has said experts are “spooked” by their own success in the field, comparing the advance of AI to the development of the atom bomb.

Prof Stuart Russell, the founder of the Center for Human-Compatible Artificial Intelligence at the University of California, Berkeley, said most experts believed that machines more intelligent than humans would be developed this century, and he called for international treaties to regulate the development of the technology.

If China — and then Russia and other nuclear powers — get gliders, however, these defensive systems will be obsolete. Nuclear payloads could then zip around the South Pole instead, for instance. They’d never even exit the atmosphere. And they could change their trajectory, being controlled all along by a Chinese operator with a joystick.

All this makes China sound menacing and aggressive. In that sense, the news seems to rhyme with revelations that China is also building a couple of hundred silos for more conventional intercontinental missiles that could carry nukes.

In reality, China probably appears so aggressive only because it feels incredibly insecure. The greatest fear in Beijing is that in an escalating conflict — over Taiwan or whatever else — the U.S. might be tempted one day to launch preemptive nuclear strikes to take out all or most of China’s arsenal. The Americans would only contemplate such a drastic step, of course, if they thought that their own defenses could parry any remaining missiles coming from China in retaliation.

The contract is aimed at design demonstration, says the awardee.

The U.S. Army has moved a step closer to a future where it uses directed energy weapons to counter its adversaries. The Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office (RCCTO) of the U.S. Army has awarded a contract to General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems (GA-EMS) and Boeing to develop a prototype of a 300kW-class laser weapon system, a press release said.

In its efforts to strengthen its Short-Range Air Defense (SHORAD), the U.S. military is using multiple approaches. Earlier this week, we reported that General Dynamics was teaming up with Epirus Inc., to deliver a directed energy weapon using high-power microwave technology. The weapon developed through this collaboration will find its way on the Stryker combat vehicles that General Dynamics makes for the U.S. Army.

Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense (MND) has unveiled its new “Army Iron Man” powered exoskeleton system for troops to use on the battlefield and during disaster relief. The first-generation suit was reportedly designed by Taiwan military’s top research body, the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCIST)
The unveiling of what is dubbed as the ‘ironman’ suit comes in the backdrop of rising tensions between Taipei and Beijing.
#Taiwan #IronManSuit #China.
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Continue reading “Battle Of The Exoskeletons I Taiwan Builds ‘Iron Man’ Suit For Soldiers Amid Tensions With China” »

To keep up with China and Russia. The future of warfare builds on previous successes. And throughout conflicts in Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan, the U.S. military possessed an unrivaled advantage in air superiority. But all things change, and to face the possibility of conflict with new and advanced weapons and aircraft from Russia or China, the Special Operations Command (SOCOM) wants to upgrade some of its largest aircraft with cruise missiles, according to a recent solicitation shared on a government website. Specifically, SOCOM’s plans call for equipping AC-130s with cruise missiles, in addition to transforming the MC-130 into a \.

Equipping AC-130s with cruise missiles could prove superfluous.

Continue reading “The US Wants to Upgrade Its Biggest Planes With Cruise Missiles” »

Taiwan has made a battery-powered exoskeleton suit that will allow its soldiers to run faster and carry heavy objects.

This is the first-generation suit made by the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology, according to The South China Morning Post. The suit is a part of a four-year project called the “Taiwan Ironman program.” It has a budget of $5.74 million and the goal of providing Taiwan’s soldiers with a lower-body exoskeleton to increase their strength and endurance.

“To reduce fatigue of soldiers in carrying heavy facilities… we started developing the powered suit for the military in 2020,” Jen Kuo-Kuang, head developer of the project, said in comments at a news conference obtained by the SCMP.

In service since 2,002 the Stryker combat vehicles have been constantly upgraded in light of changing warfare techniques. When deployed in Iraq, these combat vehicles had to be protected from the rocket-propelled grenades but were recently found to be lacking against unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in Europe. As warfare moves at lightning speed from drones to drone swarms, General Dynamics, the manufacturer of Stryker vehicles, is looking to arm the vehicle with a directed energy weapon.

To accelerate the pace of this upgrade, the defense manufacturer has teamed up with Los Angeles-based Epirus Inc., which has developed a counter-electronics system, Leonidas, capable of handling single as well as multiple threats.