Military tech

Another member joins the anti-terrorism team: working bees.

Bees--or rather, bee tongues--are the olfactory key to the new "Vapor Detection Instrumentation" developed by a company called Inscentinel. The "instrument" detects explosives, cancer, drugs and pretty much anything else that stinks, according to the U.K. company.

Inscentinel uses Pavlovian principles to train the bees, the same way it's done with canines. For every successful sniff of contraband, the little guys are rewarded with food. The bees are taped to the "measurement device," and a camera alerts the operator when they stick their … Read more

Does the right to bear arms also apply to robots?

That's no longer a question for idle speculation. And the answer appears to be a quiet but distinct yes.

These aren't autonomous robots, of course (so begone, you Terminator nightmares, at least for now). They're standard-issue remote-controlled machines like Foster-Miller's low-to-the-ground Talon, which has been put to good use in dangerous places for less-aggressive duties such as finding and neutralizing roadside bombs. That means a human operator well versed in the rules of engagement would make the actual decision on whether to shoot.

But their use … Read more

The heat rays go marching one by one by...well, that's about it for now.

Raytheon said Tuesday that its Active Denial System 2 is now in the hands of the customer, the U.S. Air Force. Should it ever get beyond the evaluation stage, the ADS technology could be one of the very first directed-energy weapons fielded by the military. It looks like a satellite dish, works something like a microwave, and isn't supposed to cause any lasting harm.

What it's intended to do is beam short bursts of millimeter waves (which are smaller than the … Read more

Camp Pendleton, home of push-ups and pugil sticks, will now offer a three-dimensional, virtual-reality immersion training course complete with smoke, explosions and the wail of the Muezzin to give U.S. Marines a taste of what they're in for.

Known as "FlatWorld," the course is an in-depth blend of stagecraft and high tech created by the University of Southern California's Institute for Creative Technologies. Choosing the bureaucratic vernacular of the Pentagon, the Marines call it the "Infantry Immersive Trainer." Whatever the name, it's designed to replicate the chaos and confusion of close-quarter battle … Read more

This is not your father's remote-controlled boat.

Qinetiq's Sentry is a unmanned surveillance and reconnaissance craft that the company says "boasts an advanced stealth design" and can hit speeds of up to 50 knots. Only now it's just a little less stealthy as it gets its first public demonstration at DSEi, the Defence Systems and Equipment International Exhibition, taking place this week in London.

We're not exactly sure how Qinetiq will perform the demonstration. The Sentry is much bigger than a rubber ducky, or dinghy even. It's 11.5 feet from stem to … Read more

It looks like a giant version of the $2 styrofoam airplane toys you buy at the hobby shop, put together in two minutes, and render utterly useless after just a pair of overzealous throws. But this bird can soar.

So says its maker, the British defense contractor Qinetiq, which is crowing about the 54-hour flight turned in by its Zephyr High Altitude Long Endurance flyer. That's a record and then some for an unmanned aircraft, the company says, though it acknowledges the official word will still have to be delivered by the Federation Aeronautique Internationale.

And did we mention … Read more

There's a silver lining in the war on terror. The need for beefy, bulletproof buggies to patrol the Afghan and Iraqi outback has translated into factory jobs on the home front for at least one NATO ally.

Described as "a Land Rover on steroids," the new MWMIK (Mobility Weapon Mounted Installation Kit) 4x4 looks more like an armored forklift chassis. But with a top speed of 80 mph and wide range of armaments, it won't be pulling pallet duty anytime soon.

The U.K. Ministry of Defence has ordered 130 of the new vehicles from Plymouth-based … Read more

Microsoft made a splash earlier this year with a tabletop PC called Milan. Designers and developers there might have been spared building their 85 early prototypes, however, if they'd just gone shopping at defense contractor Northrop Grumman instead of Ikea.

As it turns out, Northrop Grumman--best known for missile systems and other military gear--for several years has been hawking the similar TouchTable as part of what it calls an "integrated collaboration environment." It'll be showing off the technologies next week at a defense conference in London, and last month delivered a TouchTable to the Federal Aviation … Read more

Iran has kicked off production of its new GBU-78/A Qassed (Messenger), a 2,000-pound "smart" bomb, that will be used "against our enemies at the adequate time," Iranian Minister of Defense and Logistics Mostafa Mohammad Najjar announced on state television.

Najjar pointed out that research and design for the Qassed were carried out exclusively by his ministry, which had also provided 75 percent of the material for the bomb's production, as reported by Jane's Defense Weekly.

The minister said that this proves U.S.-led economic sanctions on Iran have been ineffective and … Read more