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Category: military – Page 222

Hypersonic Missiles Are Unstoppable. And They’re Starting a New Global Arms Race

The arrival of such fast weaponry will dangerously compress the time during which military officials and their political leaders — in any country — can figure out the nature of an attack and make reasoned decisions about the wisdom and scope of defensive steps or retaliation. And the threat that hypersonics pose to retaliatory weapons creates what scholars call “use it or lose it” pressures on countries to strike first during a crisis. Experts say that the missiles could upend the grim psychology of Mutual Assured Destruction, the bedrock military doctrine of the nuclear age that argued globe-altering wars would be deterred if the potential combatants always felt certain of their opponents’ devastating response.

At War

The new weapons — which could travel at more than 15 times the speed of sound with terrifying accuracy — threaten to change the nature of warfare.

A Mach 14 Waverider glide vehicle, which takes its name from its ability to generate high lift and ride on its own shock waves. This shape is representative of the type of systems the United States is developing today. Credit Credit Dan Winters for The New York Times.

SpaceX launches hefty rocket with 24 satellites

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — SpaceX launched its heftiest rocket with 24 research satellites Tuesday, a middle-of-the-night rideshare featuring a deep space atomic clock, solar sail, a clean and green rocket fuel testbed, and even human ashes.

It was the third flight of a Falcon Heavy rocket, but the first ordered up by the military.

The Defense Department mission, dubbed STP-2 for Space Test Program, is expected to provide data to certify the Falcon Heavy — and reused boosters — for future national security launches. It marked the military’s first ride on a recycled rocket.

Navy Patents Sound Weapon

Imagine a day when a submarine could blast a target to smithereens using nothing more than acoustic energy. That’s the idea behind a recently granted U.S. Navy patent for a cavitation weapon. The powerful weapon would use sonar to generate “acoustic remote cavitation,” i.e. a big pressure bubble, that would destroy everything from torpedoes to mines. As the patent describes:

*A method is disclosed of generating a predetermined field of cavitation around a remote target in an underwater environment. The method includes the steps of identifying a remote target location, generating at least two acoustic beams, each at a high power output, from an underwater acoustic source, and controlling the generated acoustic beams to intersect with each other at the remote target location and thereby create a destructive cavitation field at the intersection of the beams. The acoustic source and target can be located in unconfined underwater space and at a distance of at least 100 m apart. *

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Adam Savage Made Real Life Flying Iron Man Armor

Adam Savage has made bullet-proof Iron Man Armor using 3D printed titanium and a flying jet suit from Gravity.

It is more precisely a real-life Titanium Man (comic book enemy of Iron Man).

The US military (Special Ops) recently canceled an attempt to make real-life iron man exoskeleton armor with strength enhancement. They are looking to use components of the system to help boost the strength of joints and to increase light-weight armor protection for many soldiers.

Smart Steel and Flesh: Real-time Narrative/News Clips/After Action Assessments of the Otso/Donovia Conflict of 2030/03

Joel Aud

The Mad Scientist team executed its 2019 Science Fiction Writing Contest to glean insights about the future fight with a near-peer competitor in 2030. We received 77 submissions from both within and outside of the DoD. This story was one of our semi-finalists and features a futuristic look at warfare and its featured technologies.

How a United Technologies-Raytheon tie-up could make a ‘monster supplier’ and reshape the industry

The combined company, with big footprints in both the fast-growing commercial aerospace business and an increase in military spending, may be emboldened to push back on big customers like Boeing, Airbus and Lockheed Martin in terms of pricing, aftermarket work and intellectual property.

United Technologies has struck a deal to combine its booming aerospace business with defense contractor Raytheon, a surprise twist capable of rattling customers and competitors alike.

The deal would create a giant, one-stop shop with products that range from Tomahawk missiles and radar systems to jet engines that power passenger planes and the seats that fill them.

Under one roof, the companies could put more pressure on suppliers and encourage their industrial conglomerate competitors to seek deals of their own.

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