US military commander: Russian military ‘far more capable’ than Soviet Union’s

 

A top U.S. military commander warned that Russia’s modern military is now “far more capable” than that of the Soviet Union, saying Moscow is “messaging” the United States that “they’re a global power.” The warning over Russia’s military might from Adm. William Gortney, head of U.S. Northern Command, is the second in as many months. Gortney disclosed to Congress in March that Russian heavy bombers flew more "out-of-area patrols" last year than in any year "since the Cold War." On Tuesday, he affirmed that Russia’s “long-range” flights are rising – and occurring in places they haven’t before, like near Canada, Alaska and the English Channel. He also confirmed there are two Russian Navy ships off the shores of the United States, reportedly near Cuba and Venezuela. The comments are the latest sign of military and other tensions rising between the U.S. and Russia, which is accused of stoking the fighting in eastern Ukraine despite international sanctions and condemnation. Gortney described Russia’s intervention in Ukraine as part of a “new doctrine,” which they’re employing.  “The Russians have developed a far more capable military than the quantitative, very large military that the Soviet Union had,” he said. In sheer numbers, the Soviet Union’s military was still much bigger than Russia’s today. According to statistics published in The Washington Post, the Soviet Union in the mid-1980s had more than 5 million in its armed forces, and even more in its reserves. Today, its armed forces number fewer than 1 million, with its reserves at 2 million – roughly comparable to the total forces of the U.S., but smaller than the total NATO force.  “We watch very carefully what they're doing,” Gortney said, while noting that Russian aircraft are “adhering to international standards that are required by all airplanes that are out there.” CNN also reported Tuesday that Russian hackers were able to breach a White House computer system after a successful cyber-attack on the State Department. The White House has not publicly confirmed this. Meanwhile, Gortney revealed Tuesday that China has three ballistic missile submarines capable of hitting the U.S. On the bright side, he said: “China does have a no-first-use policy, which gives me a little bit of a good news picture there.” Fox News’ Lucas Tomlinson contributed to this report.

Boeing and RAAF triple bomb range with new JDAM-ER kit

The Joint Direct Attack Munition-Extended Range (JDAM-ER) precision bomb kit developed by Boeing and Australia’s Defence Science and Technology Organisation (Image: Boeing) Boeing and the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) have carried out tests of the Joint Direct Attack Munition Extended Range (JDAM-ER), which showed a three-times increase in range while maintaining accuracy. The add-on guidance kit for bombs was put through its paces at Australia's Woomera Test Range, where the 500-lb (227 kg) ordnance was dropped by RAAF F/A-18 Classic Hornets from altitudes ranging from 40,000 ft (12,190 m) down to 10,000 ft (3,048 m). The Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) now manufactured by Boeing isn't a new weapon, but a low-cost kit that is bolted on to standard "dumb" bombs to give them some smarts. Using guiding fins and a GPS-aided inertial navigation system, a JDAM-equipped bomb can land within 13 m (42 ft) of its target. Since it’s a retrofit, it’s also relatively cheap at US$27,000 a unit. So far, over 260,000 tail kits have been made and are used by 27 countries. The JDAM-ER is the latest variant. Jointly developed by Boeing and Australia’s Defence Science and Technology Organisation, it's intended for use on the RAAF’s 500-lb bombs and will be built in Australia. It differs from the standard JDAM in that it has wings that unfold in flight to triple the range from 15 mi (24 km) to over 45 mi (72 km). The modular nature of the kit means that it can be easily upgraded as technology improves and options such as improved laser sensors, GPS jamming immunity and an all-weather radar sensors can be added. "The JDAM ER wing kit takes advantage of the conventional JDAM aircraft interface and Small Diameter Bomb glide technology," says Beth Kluba, vice president, Boeing Weapons and Missile Systems. "This keeps integration, development and sustainment costs low while bringing customers the range increase needed to neutralize current and future threats." The JDAM-ER is slated for further tests this year, including flight and certification testing, followed by production and first deliveries by Boeing to the RAAF. Source: Boeing

BAE Systems develops advanced radar for Eurofighter Typhoon

 

Captor E-Scan radar system installed aboard BAE's IPA5 development aircraft (Photo: BAE Systems) BAE Systems is in the process of developing and testing a next-generation radar system for the Eurofighter Typhoon. The Captor E-Scan, fitted in the nose-cone of the fighter, boasts a number of improvements over other Active Electronically Scanned Arrays (AESAs), including a wider field of regard and the provision of advanced electronic warfare protection. Many of the improvements over the current generation of radar systems are due to the sheer size of the array, coupled with the novel re-positioning mechanism upon which the plate is mounted. The ability to re-position the array inside the protective environment of the fighter's nose-cone represents a significant operational advantage over traditional fixed-plate AESA radar systems, with the extra movement allowing for a 200-degree field of regard, roughly 50 percent wider than that offered by the traditional model. Furthermore, the enlarged aperture of the plate allows for more transmitter receiver modules (TRMs) to be fitted, and this in turn allows the system to detect aircraft from farther away and with greater fidelity. In its finished form, the Captor-E plate boasts more than 1400 TRMs, roughly 60 percent more than aircraft equipped with fixed-plate AESAs. According to BAE, these advances will allow the Captor E-Scan system to outstrip its competitors across the board, offering greater detection range and therefore first fire capability, along with reduced tracking latency and advanced air-to-surface capabilities. BAE has also endeavored to reduce the number of moving parts required for the system to function, with the effect of reducing the risk of mechanical failures during flight while lowering the difficulty of maintenance. "This is a major step forward in the development of Typhoon. From the outset, the aircraft was built with capability enhancement in mind and this step is proof that we are developing Typhoon to keep it relevant for today and for the future," stated Managing Directer of the Combat Air at BAE, Martin Taylor. "Typhoon has become the backbone of a number of air forces and with the potential for further development it will be meeting the needs of modern warfare for decades to come." The Captor E-Scan radar has already begun flight testing, with a dummy unit making its first flight aboard the company's IPA5 development aircraft in July this year. In terms of compatibility, the system is currently designed for integration aboard Tranche 2 & 3 Eurofighter Typhoons, with the possibility of modifying Tranche 1 aircraft to carry the system. BAE boasts that once operational, the new system will cater to client nation's operational needs up to and beyond 2040.   Source: BAE Systems

DARPA unveils Ground X-Vehicle Technologies display concept

 

DARPA’s concept provides the driver with a closed cockpit, that's equipped with visualization technologies (Image: DARPA)

DARPA’s Ground X-Vehicle Technologies (GXV-T) program, announced earlier this year, aims to move away from the traditional battle tank paradigm – creating a new class of faster, more agile vehicles that are better at negotiating terrain and detecting targets. Today, the agency has provided the first details on what this new breed of ground-based armoured vehicles might look like.

While a lot of military research continues to focus on adding greater resilience to existing vehicles, DARPA’s new initiative is tackling the problem in a different way. The goal of the GXV-T program is to create a new type of all-terrain vehicle that’s smaller, faster and provides the crew with a similar level of awareness as that afforded to fighter pilots.

The agency is focusing on the latter point first, working to improve the situational awareness of the vehicle’s driver by means of heads-up visualization technology. A concept video has been released that highlights a number of potential technologies and approaches that may make their way into the final vehicles.

The heavily armored nature of battle tanks means that situational awareness is inherently lower than with other vehicles, such as fighter jets, where wide-angle cockpits are the norm. DARPA’s concept aims to tackle this by providing the driver with a closed cockpit that incorporates visualization technologies to provide wide-angle, high-definition visibility of external conditions.

The projected display shown in the video is able to highlight optimal routes over difficult terrain, show both infrared and terrain classification views, as well as visually track both allies and adversaries. The concept vehicle also includes autopilot abilities, allowing the driver to focus on strategic activities and decisions.

Having only been announced in August, GXV-T is still in the early stages of development, though DARPA is hoping to see the first vehicles roll out within two years of the April 2015 contract award date.

 

Source: DARPA

 

U.S. To Launch New Generation Submarines To Counter Threats From The Bulging Fleet of Russia and China

 

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By Kalyan Kumar | September 27, 2014 11:19 AM EST

A submarine race is in the making. The U.S. has announced its new generation Ohio class submarines to address new threats from Russia and China. In an insightful assessment, the U.S. Navy expresses its concerns about the rapidly expanding submarine fleet of Russia and China while defending the new submarine push of U.S.A.

Vice Adm. Michael Connor, the U.S. Navy's Atlantic Submarine Force commander, notes that the fast-paced development of ballistic missile submarine by Russia and China's will require a matching deployment of U.S. submarine fleet, reported Fox News

What is worrying the U.S. is Russia's significant nuclear arsenal that it bequeathed from the Soviet days. Thus Russia retains all the nuclear capabilities. They are regrowing those capabilities, and Russia showing aspirations for more territory and influence, reminiscent of the erstwhile Soviet Union.

Russian Upgrade

Last week, Russia announced its decision to upgrade its submarine fleet and released photos of the Akula II-class nuclear submarines getting ready for upgrades. Alongside Russia, the U.S. Navy also looks at China's expanding submarine fleet with concern and its advancement towards global strike capabilities.

China has many ballistic missile submarines, but Connor observed that China is showing a penchant for adding more nuclear ballistic missile submarines. The Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) in its assessment noted that China's navy has evolved from a littoral force to capable force for a wide range of missions with the capability to strike targets hundreds of miles from the Chinese mainland.

ONI noted that China's plan to include the Jin-class ballistic nuclear submarines was a force multiplier, and the deterrent patrols will start soon. The operational deployment of the Jin SSBN would enhance China's at-sea-second-strike nuclear capability, said the report. According to the report China now possesses 5 Nuclear attack submarines; 4 Nuclear ballistic missile submarines and 53 Diesel attack submarines.

China's Decade

The ONI report noted the rapid expansion of Chinese submarines of offensive weapons technology in the past decade. Before that, China had only a few submarines with the capability to fire modern anti-ship cruise missiles. Now, half of China's conventional attack submarines of China are configured with fire anti-ship cruise missiles.

When the undersea nuclear deterrence started in the 1960s, U.S. was the leader with 41 submarines. Now the U.S. Navy's fleet shrunk to 14 nuclear armed submarines. Conor added that the new scenario will be strategically addressed when the U.S. Navy releases the new-generation Ohio-class, nuclear-armed ballistic missile submarines by 2021. It is also known as the Ohio Replacement programme. In a report, the Market Watch carried the news that the U.S. Navy awarded a million contract to General Dynamics Electric Boat, towards planning the yard work and engineering of its new nuclear submarines.

 

The Black Knight Unmanned Ground Vehicle Could Revolutionize Future Combat

 

The Black Knight is an experimental unmanned ground vehicle that may one day replace the tank on battlefields.

Remote Controlled Armored Vehicle

The Black Knight is a remote controlled armored vehicle being developed by British defence company BAE Systems PLC. The unmanned ground combat vehicle is currently in the prototype phase. However, people in the global defense industry have high hopes for the Black Knight and see it as the future of ground warfare. Unmanned ground vehicles are operated remotely from a distance, and soldiers do not travel in them – keeping military personnel out of harm’s way.

While unmanned vehicles are mostly associated with aircraft and aerial drones, a growing number of unmanned ground vehicles are also being developed for use by militaries around the world. The Black Knight is one of the most sophisticated of the unmanned ground combat vehicles, and its development is at an advanced phase. In 2010, the U.S. Army was putting the vehicle through a series of evaluations.

Turret and Machine Gun

At five meters long and 2.5 meters wide, the Black Knight is very similar to a tank. It is operated by a 300 horsepower Caterpillar engine and can travel at the same speed as main battle tanks. Many of the automotive parts in the Black Knight are the same as in a Bradley Fighting Vehicle. The commonality of parts helps keep maintenance costs low. The Black Knight can be airlifted to combat zones worldwide by C-130 transport aircraft.

The Black Knight is armed with a 30 millimeter cannon that is mounted on a turret at the top of the vehicle. It also uses a 7.62 millimeter machine gun. The Black Knight is primarily controlled from a command center. However, the vehicle can also be operated by a Dismounted Control Device (DCD), which is essentially a large remote control.

The Black Knight’s advanced computer system allows it to perform several functions by itself – including moving the turret, navigation, and planning a travel route while avoiding obstacles such as rocks and water.

DARPA's guided sniper bullet changes path mid-flight

 

DARPA has conducted live-fire testing of its .50 caliber guided bullet

Image Gallery (3 images)

With an ability to strike from great distances, snipers present a unique threat in the field of battle. This long-range lethality is not without its complications, however, with accuracy often dictated by wind, rain and dust, not to mention targets that are constantly on the move. Over the last few months, DARPA has been conducting live-fire tests of guided .50 caliber bullets and today unveiled footage demonstrating the project's success.

With the aim of improving accuracy and safety for military snipers, DARPA's Extreme Accuracy Tasked Ordnance (EXACTO) project is tasked with developing more accurate artillery that will enable greater firing range, minimize the time required to engage with targets and also help to reduce missed shots that can give away a troop's location.

The EXACTO 50-caliber round is claimed to be the first ever guided small-caliber bullet. The maneuverable projectile uses a real-time optical guidance system to change its path mid-flight and home in on a target, potentially overcoming adverse weather and hostile conditions to improve sniper accuracy.

DARPA isn't giving too much away in terms of technical detail. However, if the illustration above is any indication, the steering mechanism used by DARPA appears different to the method used by a team at the Sandia National Laboratories back in 2012.

In that case, researchers developed a small-caliber guided bullet prototype capable of steering toward a laser-marked target 2 km (1.2 mi) away. This was accomplished by way of an optical sensor on the bullet's nose that gathers flight path information, while onboard electronics controlled tiny fins on its side to direct it toward the target. No such fins can be seen on the EXACTO round.

The DARPA footage, which can be seen below, demonstrates two rounds of live-fire testing. With the rifle intentionally aimed to the right of the marked target, the bullet can be seen veering in trajectory, altering its path to strike accurately over an undisclosed distance. DARPA claims the technology is likely to markedly extend the day and night-time range of current sniper systems.

Following the successful demonstration of the round's guidance systems and sensor, DARPA will now work to refine the technology to improve performance and conduct system-level live fire testing.

Source: DARPA

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Nick was born outside of Melbourne, Australia, with a general curiosity that has drawn him to some distant (and very cold) places. Somewhere between enduring a winter in the Canadian Rockies and trekking through Chilean Patagonia, he graduated from university and pursued a career in journalism. He now writes for Gizmag, excited by tech and all forms of innovation, Melbourne's bizarre weather and curried egg sandwiches.

Turret flight tests to pave the way for laser weapons on military aircraft

 

The laser turret prototype being tested on the University of Notre Dame’s Airborne Aero Optical Laboratory Transonic Aircraft in Michigan (Photo: Air Force Research Laboratory)

Image Gallery (2 images)

High energy laser (HEL) systems have been the subject of military research for decades, but it is only in recent years that the technology has advanced to the point where it is feasible for such systems to be mounted on military ground vehicles and sea vessels. Initial flight tests have now been conducted on a new aircraft laser turret that will help pave the way for HEL systems to be integrated into military aircraft.

Lockheed Martin, working in partnership with the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and the University of Notre Dame, recently conducted eight flight tests in Michigan with a prototype Aero-adaptive Aero-optic Beam Control (ABC) turret fitted to the University of Notre Dame's Airborne Aero Optical Laboratory Transonic Aircraft.

The tests were intended to demonstrate the airworthiness of the new beam control turret being developed for DARPA and AFRL that is designed to provide 360-degree coverage for HEL weapons on an aircraft, thereby allowing it to engage enemy aircraft and missiles above, below and behind the aircraft.

The turret features flow control and optical compensation technologies developed by Lockheed that are designed to counteract the effects of turbulence resulting from the turret protruding from the aircraft's fuselage.

"These initial flight tests validate the performance of our ABC turret design, which is an enabler for integrating high energy lasers on military aircraft," said Doug Graham, vice president of advanced programs, Strategic and Missile Defense Systems, Lockheed Martin Space Systems.

Lockheed says subsequent flight tests will be conducted over the course of the next year, which will see the complexity of operations steadily ramping up.

At the 2014 Air Force Association's Air & Space and Technology Expo this week in Washington D.C., Maj. Gen. Tom Masiello who is the Commander of the AFRL, revealed that he has on occasion been leery of the HEL program's progress, saying, "[The high-energy laser program] has been over-promised, but under-delivered."

But it appears that perseverance is finally beginning to pay off with Masiello going on to say that the solid-state laser has emerged as a breakthrough program in recent years. "Now you can actually package it and fit it on an aircraft. I can’t over emphasize the progress we have made in solid-state lasers. Initially, we are looking at more self-defense. Eventually [we will] deploy against soft targets ... getting to hard target kills."

Sources: Lockheed Martin, US Air Force

AA-12 combat shotgun

 

April 3, 2009 Assault rifles are all well and good, but when you really need to tear a person to pieces, nothing fills the air with metal quite like a combat shotgun. And for those times when a regular combat shotgun isn't generating enough flying body parts, connoisseurs turn to what must be the most outrageously devastating hand-held anti-personnel murder machine in existence: the Atchisson Assault Shotgun, or AA-12. Fully automatic and drum-fed, the AA-12 fires five 12-gauge shotgun shells per second, with extreme reliability and so little recoil that strong men can shoot it Arnie-style with one hand. And if that hail of hot buckshot isn't enough to make both shooter and target need a change of underpants, consider this: it has been developed in conjunction with the FRAG-12 - a new type of shotgun cartridge in which each round is a small, flighted high explosive or fragmentation grenade accurate up to 175 metres.

This staggering weapon was first developed by Maxwell Atchisson during the Vietnam war in 1972. He later sold the patent to Military Police Systems, inc, and weapons designer Jerry Baber spent the next 18 years perfecting the machine.

Baber's modifications included changing the AA-12 from blowback- to gas-operated with a locked breech. When the bolt flies back after firing to cycle another round, around 80% of what would normally be felt as recoil is absorbed by a proprietary gas system. A recoil spring grabs another 10%, leaving the final recoil a remarkable 10% of the normal recoil for a 12-gauge round - so you can point the AA-12 at a target and unload the full magazine without significant loss of accuracy.

Baber says the AA-12's aerospace-grade stainless steel body is self-cleaning and it self-lubricates with carbon from the shells' detonation. His personal AA-12 has fired upwards of 9,000 rounds without ever being cleaned or lubricated, without any plastic fouling from the shotgun shells, locking or jamming - issues which have plagued other combat shotguns like the Benelli M1014. Baber believes this is because the AA-12 is the first gun designed from the ground up to be a combat shotgun, rather than an adaptation of a hunting or target shooting gun. It will thrive in the sandy, urban battlefields of today's antiterrorist war theater.

Ammunition

You've got the option to load the AA-12 with either an 8-round box magazine or a 20-round tommy gun-style drum - but it's largely inconsequential in automatic mode as the 20-round drum takes only 4 seconds to expire if you hold the trigger down. That's a lot of ouch.

Being a standard 12-gauge shotgun, the AA-12 is compatible with a fairly wide variety of shells - but the one that's got our attention is the FRAG-12.

Designed and made in Britain by the Experimental Cartridge Company, Ltd and Action Manufacturing, Inc, the FRAG-12 is a standard 3-inch 12-gauge cartridge case and propellant, that fires a small warhead and fuse assembly that arms itself 3 meters out of the muzzle and explodes on impact thereafter. Small stabilizing fins pop out when the warhead leaves the muzzle, spinning the projectile and giving it an awesome 175-meter effective range.

FRAG-12 rounds are available in plain high explosive (HE), high explosive fragmenting anti-personnel (HE-FA) and high explosive armour-piercing (HE-PA) varieties, each designed to mince foes in different locations and situations. The frag grenade, for example, can be put through the window of a house from 100 metres away, and will explode with a burst radius of up to nine feet. Send a dozen in there, and there'll be very little left when the troops go knocking on the door.

Military Potential

Defense Review reports that troops in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars apparently complaining that their M4A1 carbines and other 5.56x45mm assault rifles aren't scaring the 'bad guys' or stopping them in their tracks fast enough. The bullets are simply zipping through the skinny insurgents and failing to drop them without multiple hits.

This would simply not be an issue with the tremendous firepower of the AA-12. 12-gauge shells do a heck of a lot of damage to a person when fired one at a time - let alone high explosive 12-gauge mini-grenades fired at a ruthless 5 per second. The AA-12 will be an exceptionally effective ground force weapon, as well as an asset of extreme intimidation.

The U.S. Marine Corps has test-fired the weapon, as have various international military and government organizations. Armed Forces Journal reports that most who get a chance to fire the thing come away absolutely convinced that there's little that can come close to the AA-12 as a close quarters weapon. When it hits the market, this killing machine will be in high demand.

 

SPARCS "camera grenade" offers an alternative to reconnaissance drones

 

 

The SPARCS round round has a CMOS camera sending back real-time images to a computerized receiver

Imagine a scenario where an earthquake brings down an industrial complex, trapping the survivors inside and as the disaster response team arrives, they unpack a grenade launcher and start lobbing rounds into the air. This may seem like madness, but there’s method in it. In this hypothetical case, the grenades are part of the Soldier Parachute Aerial Reconnaissance Camera System (SPARCS) built by Singapore-based ST Engineering. Instead of a warhead, each 40 mm grenade round has a CMOS camera sending back real-time images to a computerized receiver; turning disaster teams, police, and foot soldiers into recon units.

In military parlance, the fog of war refers to the uncertainty that incomplete knowledge plagues soldiers with. Even a glimpse over the hill can mean the difference between success and failure, which is why the use of drones has become widespread in recent years. Unmanned aerial vehicles present a far more attractive option that putting humans in the line of fire, but they are still expensive, and putting them in the field means carrying a lot of extra kit. SPARCS (also known as the S407 Round) is an alternative type of eye in the sky that ST Engineering says is low cost, simple to use, and requires no maintenance.

The SPARCS round is designed to fit any standard low-velocity 40 mm grenade launcher

ST Engineering already makes a wide range of grenades from less-than-lethal rounds to mini bunker busters designed to blow through walls. Aimed at military, law enforcement, and civil disaster management agencies, the 8 kg (17.6 lb) SPARCS is designed to fit a standard low-velocity 40 mm grenade launcher. The solid-state electronics are capable of surviving being fired at 76 m/s (250 ft/s) to an altitude of 150 m (490 ft), where a parachute slows its descent. As it comes down, the camera transmits top-down view images back to a receiver, with software stitching these together in real time.

According to ST Engineering, the receiver can be any wireless device that can pick up the 2.4 GHz signal and the software is compatible with most operating systems. The images can be retransmitted to other handheld devices or back to headquarters. In addition, the receiver can be repackaged into a load-bearing vest and the images sent to a head-mounted display.

Source: ST Engineering via IEEE Spectrum

South Korea's autonomous robot gun turrets: deadly from kilometers away

 

 

DoDAMM's Super aEgis 2: South Korea's autonomous robot gun turret

If there's one place you don't want to be caught wandering around right now, it's the demilitarized zone that separates North and South Korea. Especially since South Korean military hardware manufacturer DoDAMM used the recent Korea Robot World 2010 expo to display its new Super aEgis 2, an automated gun turret that can detect and lock onto human targets from kilometers away, day or night and in any weather conditions, and deliver some heavy firepower.

The border between North and South Korea is a pretty amazing strip of land. Around 2.5 miles (4 km) wide, it stretches the entire width of the Korean peninsula and it's recognized as the most heavily fortified border in the world. Over the last 60 years, as North and South Korea have faced off in an aggressive and frequently violated ceasefire, this Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) has been one of the deadliest places on Earth for humans. Step into the zone and there's hundreds of thousands of soldiers on either side ready to put a bullet in you just for being there.

As a fascinating aside, this has also made it one of the world's best-kept nature preserves - the complete absence of human interference leaving a more or less pristine habitat for all kinds of wildlife, endangered and otherwise.

The DMZ's history is full of incredible stories; the gigantic tunnels dug by North Korean incursion forces, the tragically doomed friendships between North and South Korean soldiers operating in the zone, the almost unbelievable defection of a South Korean farmer across the DMZ into North Korea. And perhaps this history will go on to include ice-cold robotic killers.

Through military eyes, the existence of a shoot-on-sight no-go zone several kilometers wide opens up options for some interesting high-tech hardware, like DoDaam's Super aEgis II, which we had a chance to look over in person at the Korea Robot World Expo 2010.

The Super aEgis 2 is an automated gun tower that can find and lock on to a human-sized target in pitch darkness at a distance of up to 1.36 miles (2.2 kilometers). It uses a 35x zoom CCD camera with 'enhancement feature' for bad weather, in conjunction with a dual FOV, autofocus Infra-Red sensor, to pick out targets.

Then it brings the pain, either with a standard 12.7mm caliber machine-gun, a 40mm automatic grenade launcher upgrade, or whatever other weapons system you want to bolt on to it, including surface-to-air missiles. A laser range finder helps to calibrate aim, and a gyroscopic stabilizer unit helps correct both the video system's aim and the direction of the guns after recoil pushes them off-target.

Each 140 kg (308.6 lb.) unit can be rigidly mounted or put on a moving vehicle, where the gyro stabilization would be a huge asset. They can operate in fully autonomous mode, firing first and asking questions later, or they can be put into a manual mode for more human intervention. All machines communicate back to headquarters through a LAN cable or wireless network.

There's no word about whether the Super aEgis 2 has been deployed in the Korean DMZ in the wake of several recent incidents that threaten to push the peninsula into full-scale, potentially nuclear war, but Dodaam has been exporting units as far afield as the United Arab Emirates.

The best .338 sniper rifle in the world

 

Image: MoD

November 26, 2008 The sniper is one of the most feared specialists of war and he is one workman who definitely relies on the right tools. There are a surprising number of sniper rifle manufacturers out there, so it’s a big call when one declares itself to be the best .338 in the world, though the raw specifications of the Accuracy International L115A3 sniper rifle suggest there is merit to the claim. The UKP23,000 (USD$34,000) rifle was designed incorporating performance-enhancing features gleaned from international target shooting and fires an 8.59mm bullet which is heavier than the 7.62mm round of the previous L96 and hence less likely to be deflected over extremely long ranges. Put the 6.8kg rifle in the right hands and it can hit a human-sized target from 1400 metres. Even at that range, it hits harder than a .44 Magnum does in the same room.

The muzzle velocity of the L115A3 is 936 metres per second (up from 838m/s) giving it an effective range of 1400 metres compared to the L96’s 800m, and not surprisingly, the Schmidt & Bender day sights now magnify up to 25 times, compared with the L96’s 12 times.

The L115A3s are part of the British Ministry of Defence’s Sniper System Improvement Programme (SSIP), which includes new night sights, spotting scopes, laser range finders and tripods.

The first batch of SSIP systems was deployed to Afghanistan with members of 16 Air Assault Brigade earlier this year and reports suggest the claim of "the best .338 sniper rifle in the world"

Portsmouth-based Accuracy International was established in 1978 by two-times Olympic shooting Gold medallist Malcolm Cooper, and its high-accuracy sniper rifles are in use with military and police forces worldwide including many elite military units (the British SAS and reportedly the US Delta Force too).

In terms of the best .5o sniper rifle in the world, that mantle almost certainly goes to the McMillan Bros Tac-50 used by Canadian Special Forces in Afghanistan that holds the all time record kill at 2430 meters.

The skill of Canadian snipers combined with the fire power of the “Big Mac” made it very dangerous for the Taliban fighters to expose themselves if only for a few seconds. There are many accounts of the 2430 meter kill shot on the net. That's two and a half kilometres!

Q -Warrior brings head-up displays to the battlefield

 

The Q-Warrior is designed provide foot soldiers with comprehensive situational awareness

"Great battles are won with artillery" – Napoleon Bonaparte. In the 21st century, he’d probably change that to information. The trick is to get that information to soldiers on the front line quickly and in a manner that won’t distract them from the job at hand. To this end, BAE Systems’ Electronic Systems in the UK has developed the Q-Warrior – a head-up display for foot soldiers that’s designed to provide a full-color, high resolution 3D display of the battlefield situation and assets.

Call it military intelligence, situational awareness, or just knowing what’s going on in the next foxhole, but information has always been a vital military asset. Today, modern warriors have access to lasers, satellites, GPS, high-speed digital communications, and all the rest, but for the soldier on the ground it still tends to boil down to gestures and shouting that Julius Caesar would recognize. It is, in other words, a classic bottleneck.

For the engineer, the tricky bit is coming up with something that can keep a soldier in the know without distraction. Head up displays have been available to fighter pilots since at least the Second World War, and today everyone from helicopter jockeys to Iron Man has one. But a squaddy lives in a different, dirtier, and more chaotic world than that of a pilot. It requires a peculiar mix of awareness and concentration that doesn't take well to needless distraction or irrelevant data, so coming up with information systems for the infantry is less a matter of adapting technology and more one of almost building from scratch.

The Q-Warrior is the latest version of BAE's helmet-mounted display technology based on its Q-Sight range of display systems. Now undergoing field testing by the US military, it looks a bit like something an Apache helicopter pilot might wear, but that’s about as far as the similarity goes. Instead of controlling FLIR cameras and look-and-shoot weapon pods, Q-Sight is intended to give foot soldiers and special forces “heads-up, eyes out, finger on the trigger” situational awareness, friend-or-foe identification, and the ability to coordinate a small unit even when away from their vehicles.

Consisting of a large eye projector screen that is low power demand, low fatigue and has fast day/night transition, yet delivers high transmission, high-resolution color in a collimated, high-luminance, high-resolution see-through display, the Q-Warrior is also designed to allow for large movements of the helmet while maintaining the overlay of the display on the real world.

BAE says that the Q-Warrior will provide soldiers with their own portable command, control, and communications system in 3D with exact target designation and charting. With the Q-Warrior, a soldier will be able to see the location of friendly warplanes, including their speed, altitude, and payload, as well as being able to designate targets. The display will also track friendly and enemy forces with symbols overlaid on the real-world view, navigational waypoints and related data, and visual feeds from drones and other platforms.

According to BAE, the Q-Warrior will initially be used by the section commander level and with special forces, but that the technology will eventually spread to become standard frontline kit.

“The biggest demand, in the short term at least, will be in roles where the early adoption of situational awareness technology offers a defined advantage,” says Paul Wright, Soldier Systems’ Business Development Lead at BAE Systems’ Electronic Systems. “This is likely to be within non-traditional military units with reconnaissance roles, such as Forward Air Controllers/Joint Tactical Aircraft Controllers (JTACS) or with Special Forces during counter terrorist tasks. The next level of adoption could be light role troops such as airborne forces or marines, where technical systems and aggression help to overcome their lighter equipment.”

 

Source: BAE Systems