army

Rubicon has done it again with Great Big War Game, the sequel to the wildly successful Great Little War Game. In this newest installment of the turn-based strategy game, you are again the bird's-eye-view commander of a comical, yet brutal military.

If you aren't familiar with this particular style of game play, you get one turn to move your units and wage attacks before passing off to your opponent to do the same. The strategy comes in as you attempt to attack your enemy, while still maintaining a safe enough distance to avoid being attacked yourself. As you … Read more

If patience is not one of your strongest traits, then perhaps a turn-based strategy game is not for you. Otherwise, sit back, and get ready to be consumed for hours by the chesslike pace of this Great Little War Game.

In GLWG, you are the bird's-eye-view commander of a comical yet brutal military force. You get one turn to move your units and wage attacks, then it's your opponent's turn to do the same. The strategy comes in as you attempt to attack your enemy, while still maintaining a safe-enough distance that you avoid being attacked yourself. … Read more

U.S. Army, welcome to the future.

If you happen to be in Farnborough, London, this week, you'll be able to see a demo of an Army pilot geared in the latest in wearable military technology -- a portable computing device that fits in a pocket and a display panel that can be strapped to a soldier's wrist.

The entire Aviation Warrior (yes, that's what it is called) system -- which includes a helmet equipped with a flip-down viewing monocle and taps into the cockpit's digital display -- may seem like something that belongs in Battlestar … Read more

FORT IRWIN, Calif.--The shoulder-launched rocket-propelled grenade was aimed at several U.S. Army soldiers trying to work their way through the chaos of an Afghan insurgent attack. This was not looking like a good day for the members of the 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division.

Fortunately for those soldiers, the RPG wasn't real, and they weren't even in Afghanistan -- yet. They will be soon, though. But before deploying to the combat zone, the entire 4th Brigade from Fort Lewis, Wash., spent four weeks in the June heat of the Mojave Desert at the Army's National Training Center … Read more

MONTEREY, Calif.--It never stops. One after another, Army soldiers and Marines walk through the doors in search of lunch -- or an early dinner -- and before they can even get to the food, they get a huge and hearty welcome, usually by name.

This is Compagno's Deli, just about the only shop in an otherwise residential neighborhood high on a hill overlooking this coastal town about two-and-a-half hours south of San Francisco. But a block away is an entrance to Monterey's Presidio, home to the world-famous Defense Language Institute, and that means a lot of very … Read more

Earlier this spring, the U.S. Army revealed the existence of a project underway to build a device that could shoot lightning bolts down laser beams to take out a target. Now the military's boffins report success in their first tests.

The technology -- known as laser-induced plasma channel -- is designed to seek out targets that conduct electricity better than the air or ground that surrounds them.

Although scientists and engineers working on the weapon's development expressed confidence in the physics behind their work, George Fischer, who is the lead scientist on the project, nonetheless cautioned about the technical challenges still ahead. … Read more

BROOKLYN, N.Y.--Given that Maker Faire is being held next month at a Northern California fairgrounds, it's appropriate that one of the attractions will be a petting zoo.

But this will be unlike any you've seen before. There won't be "animals" on display, and there won't be any fur.

Welcome to the Robot Petting Zoo.

The brainchild of the geeks at MakerBot Industries, the zoo will feature a collection of 3D printed robots, each of which will do something unique. Take "Button bot," for example, a happy-looking android with a head … Read more

Boston Dynamics, creator of the very awesome BigDog and a menagerie of other bots, is sending two small reconnaissance robots to the U.S. Army for testing.

Sand Flea and RHex, developed with funding from the Army's Rapid Equipping Force, are off to the Army Test and Evaluation Command (ATEC) to pass safety and reliability assessments.

Three RHex units have already been delivered to ATEC and Sand Fleas will join them later this year, Boston Dynamics said in a release. The machines could improve soldiers' awareness of threats in war zones.

RHex is a six-legged, 30-pound crawling bot inspired … Read more

Google's Android operating system may soon receive the U.S. government's seal of security approval, according to a report from CNN.

Citing a source close to the project, CNN says that developers in a government program are working on smartphones that run a customized version of the OS with security improvements. Though the first batch of test devices is authorized only for storing confidential documents, phones and tablets capable of transmitting such documents over wireless networks could arrive in the next few months.

Michael McCarthy, a director for the Army's Brigade Modernization Command, told CNN that the … Read more