Excalibur: GPS Guided Artillery Developed by Raytheon

Raytheon has developed the first of its kind GPS guided artillery which is ready for deployment in Kuwait after 8 years of research and development.
The artillery was tested in Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona. During the test 13 out of 14 managed to hit targets with only 10 meters of error when fired from a distance of 24 km, even when it was aimed 15 degrees off target.
But the major concern for anything that runs on GPS signals is that these signals can be easily hampered by clouds and rain.
Via: Gizmodo

An Invisible Drone to Enhance Intelligence Gathering

VeraTech, a USA based firm has claimed to develop invisible drone named Phantom Sentinel. The company has applied for the patent of this technology.

Here a peep into the theory of its working.
“Persistence of vision” turns a fast moving object into a blur. Remember how the rotors of a helicopter are blurred and not easy to see. The whole body of the aircraft spins and turns into a blur thus by avoiding visual identification, but cannot evade radars.

The so called Phantom Sentinel aircraft is Y-shaped and consists of a single long wing attached to two short aerodynamic extensions. The weight is carefully balanced around the center of mass. When the rotors are moving the solid part moves around this center of mass thus creating a blur.

Making the plane sky blue, or largely transparent, should help conceal it further. The camera can be placed near the centre of mass and used to build a panoramic picture of the ground below, after software processing.

The compact size and light weight make it easy to fold, field pack, and hand launch.

It gives near invisible surveillance for close in intelligence and has several launching options like throw and go, Canister launch and Remote launch.

Via: Newscientisttech

MIT Develops Test Platform for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV)

Unmanned aerial vehicles are becoming more and more popular with the military forces all around the world. But the only hindrance is that these UAVs need skilled operators. Now, MIT researchers have developed a multiple-UAV test platform which can be controlled by anyone with a speedy Internet connection.

The interesting part is that these unmanned helicopters can stay in air for around a week and come back to the base for recharging their batteries. Jonathan How, an associate professor at MIT cited:

Ultimately, when you are taking these devices out into real-world applications, you want people to perform a task like surveillance of the border. You don’t want them spending a lot of time figuring out how to fly the vehicle.

Each UAV that costs about $700 is networked to a PC. The test platform comprises five minuscule “quadrotor” helicopters with four whirling blades. There is a indoor positioning system and many tiny autonomous ground vehicles that can be tracked by the UAVs. A video camera attached to the UAV makes use of a visual target to find out the vehicle’s distance to the landing platform. This tech can be further used to land these UAVs on a ship at sea.

Read more about MIT’s intelligent aircraft
Via: Primidi

Navy’s Aegis Radar is Working Consistently Even After 20 Years

Weapons made for wars do not last long and are replaced by latest ones. This is mandatory, as a war cannot be won with old weapons based on outdated technologies. But Navy’s Aegis radar is working consistently even after 20 years of its manufacture. The radar coupled with Raytheon SM-3 missile is still one of military ballistic missile defense systems working up to the mark. The radar was built by Lockheed Martin to defend aircraft carriers from Soviet missile attacks.

The main reason behind the success of this radar is its raw power and smart program management. It has adopted a commercial open architecture in order to keep up with rapid advancements in computing which makes it equipped with modern technologies and ready to meat ever-increasing pace of technological development.

Via: defensetech

2008 Dodge Viper - The powerful Reptile

A grand big center stage car from Chrysler Group i.e 2008 Dodge Viper, 600-horsepower, 8.4-liter V10 engine with 560 lbs of torque will make other models like 500-horsepower Corvette ZO6 and 500-horsepower BMW M6 search for corners. Ohhh, how 500 horsepower seems child’s play now..
Chrysler primarily focused on the Dodge brand in the final press conference at 2007 North American International Auto Show at Detroit and as expected their highlight was on official curtain raiser for the 2008 Dodge Viper.
2008 Dodge Viper would zoom from 0-60mph in just under 4 seconds and 0-100-0mph in 12 seconds. Now, that is impressive. The problem for the car is that it is outrageously powerful and not just powerful. Once you zoom on the road with the new Viper expect the world to follow behind you, i.e the power of 600 hp. Now it is going to be interesting war of horsepower and more auto rockets could be seen in near future.
The increased horsepower comes from extra 0.1 liter of displacement, new cylinder heads and variable valve timing. The other prominent cosmetic change include new and improved hood that has a larger scoop for air intake and louvers thus improving engine cooling. 5 body colors will be added in 2008 Viper which will take the total color count to 8. The interior styles are going to be wide with 5 interior color combinations and a choice of bezel and center console finishes.

Magnetic Launch Pad of the Future

Today’s Astronauts are trained to handle forces up to 9Gs. Comparing it with normal humans we cannot with stand forces more than 3Gs. Well breaking all rules a California based company, Launchpoint Technologies is developing a new technology that will exert a 10,000G force on the payload.
The design looks simple on paper with huge magnetic motors that will accelerate the payload in a circular 1.5-mile radius tunnel until the projectile reaches a speed of 6 miles per hour.On reaching the critical speed a laser will direct the projectile to the launch ramp and into space. The projectile will only be equipped with a small rocket engine that will guide it to orbit once it is out of the earth’s atmosphere.The U.S. Air Force is showing some interest in the idea and has granted the company a $500,000 capital to prove the idea. Launchpoint Technologies believes that the launch will cost under $50,000 and will be beneficial to provide food and other supplies to the astronauts.The company also commented that anything that can handle the intense 10,000 G force can be shot into space with the technology that the company aims to fully develop in the next four years.

Via: popsci

2009 Toyota Supra

Lot of rumors are making rounds on web about future 2009 Toyota Supra and if these are to be believed then the next generation Toyota Supra will certainly poised to displace Nissan 350Z which is THE most popular sports car in Japan. With the launch of this vehicle Toyota will no longer be viewed as only makers of successful hybrid cars with their stunning 2-seaters which is going to come with Coupe and Convertible versions at the same time.

Under the hood the Coupe is expected to be equipped with 5.0 liter V8 engine which will produce 450 bhp and 383 ln-ft of torque. Rigidity issues are going to prevent this engine from coming in open air models.

2009 Toyota Supra is rumored to have rear wheel drive and a 7 speed sequential auto with a great acceleration where the car will cover 0-60mph in less then 5 seconds and yet provide 30mpg of fuel efficiency. The Zapper is expected to wear similar look of Lexus supercar LF-1.