Military tech

Unmanned aerial vehicles are becoming a big deal for the armed forces, even when they're really small.

AeroVironment said Tuesday that it has gotten the go-ahead, in the form of a Phase II contract, to design and build a teeny-tiny prototype for the Nano Air Vehicle program at DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. How teeny? The defense R&D agency stipulates that a NAV must be smaller than 7.5 centimeters (2.9 inches) and, at no more than 10 grams (one-third of an ounce), "ultralightweight."

A key eventual mission for NAVs would be … Read more

An Israeli company has conducted the first in a series of test flights on the Panda, a new ducted-fan, unmanned aerial vehicle prototype that looks kind of like a flying stretcher, bringing us closer to what could be the ultimate medivac.

The company, Urban Aeronautics, already produces the Mule UAV and the X-Hawk, larger versions that can be configured for front-line resupply, medical evacuation, utility maintenance, taxi, high-rise rescue, and probably window cleaning. (See video)

The technology is based on the "classic ducted designed pioneered in the early 1960s," as the company Web site points out. This model … Read more

Since very early on in the war in Iraq, U.S. troops have been finding new ways to protect themselves against explosions from roadside bombs: up-armored Humvees, heavy-duty MRAP vehicles, and a wide array of add-on gear.

For good reason, the U.S. Army has seen fit to honor some of those creations and adaptations among its annual list of top inventions. This year, the 2007 Army Greatest Invention winners include a mechanism called SPARK, designed to detonate roadside bombs--also known as improvised explosive devices, or IEDs--before they can do too much damage to a vehicle, and HEAT, a training … Read more

A disparate pair of aviation R&D projects at Boeing have hit milestones recently.

The A160T Hummingbird, a helicopter-style unmanned aerial vehicle, last week flew for 18.7 hours without refueling, an accomplishment that Boeing described Wednesday as an "unofficial world endurance record" for UAVs between 500 and 2,500 kilograms (about 1,100 to 5,500 pounds)--a record that's pending certification by a key aeronautical sanctioning body.

But the record books aside, the flight also helps to show the Hummingbird's mettle as a potential aircraft for military use. During the flight, the turbine-powered … Read more

SRI International has announced the development of a wall-climbing robot that uses a new electrical adhesive technology called "compliant electroadhesion" that can stick to anything from brick to glass--even damp, dirty glass.

Electroadhesion, or electrically controlled electrostatic attraction, is an electrically controlled adhesion technology that induces an electrostatic charge using a power supply connected to pads placed on the robot allowing it to scale walls, even those covered with dust or moisture, SRI says.

"Recent events such as natural disasters, military actions, and public safety threats have led to an increased need for robust robots--especially ones that … Read more

With names like Predator, Dragon Eye, and Darkstar, they sound downright intimidating. And it's true that in the hands of the Air Force, unmanned aerial vehicles like the Predator (and its grimly named younger sibling, the Reaper) can put you in a world of hurt via laser-guided Hellfire missiles.

But in a lot of ways still, UAVs aren't so far removed from the realm of the model airplane. The main reason: by and large, they're not autonomous, but rather fly under the control of a very human pilot on the ground--sometimes nearby, sometimes very far away. And … Read more

A village in England will host a robot hide-and-seek exercise next month, when 11 teams drawn from private companies and universities compete to sniff out snipers, roadside bombs, and other hidden dangers while relaying real-time images to a command post.

The MOD Grand Challenge, as it's called, is billed as the U.K. Ministry of Defense's counterpart to the U.S. DARPA Challenges, except it's military robots that compete against one another instead of robotic cars.

The purpose is to boost development of small robot teams capable of scouting out and alerting troops to potentially dangerous surprises on the urban battlefield. The robots must autonomously negotiate complex, unfamiliar terrain and urban clutter to locate the threats. Points are earned based on the number of threats uncovered in one hour. Points are lost if a team resorts to remote control to maneuver its bots at any stage.… Read more

Ninjas, John Locke, and Bear Grylls take note: your active lifestyle have nothing on the LaCie Rugged Hard Disk. But even if you're not trekking through the trenches and sinister islands, you'll still appreciate LaCie's latest version of their rugged hard disk with an impressive 500GB capacity.

We loved the previous models so much that we gave them our much coveted Editors' Choice back in '06, and we're happy to see that LaCie stepped it up to an improved Hitachi Travelstar 5K500 2.5 inch internal hard drive. Like previous models, this also connects via USB … Read more

It took 20 years, but here it is--again: the new and improved flash-bang grenade.

Sandia National Laboratories, which created the original Mk 141 flash-bang two decades ago, is having a second go at marketing a "fuel air" version of an old SWAT standby that it says is far safer for law enforcement and the military.

Traditional flash-bangs are basically big fire crackers--the "flash powder," a mixture of aluminum and potassium perchlorate dust, explodes quickly when ignited and produces an intensely bright light along with its huge bang. The body or canister is generally a steel tube … Read more