It would be the world's greatest practical joke machine (or troll machine.)
I could probably write a fun story that makes use of it in a military scenario (something something, crack commandos hire impressionist, something something, recording of the general's voice, something something, point it at the radio/general's secretary), but nothing that's really practical.
Again, though, it's worth inventing just for what it could develop into next. A hundred of them in an array, each with some sort of auto-targeting system to point into a crowd and silence anyone who tries to talk as soon as they speak. That sort of thing.
Re: Military Tech / Science
Posted: Sun Sep 05, 2021 1:47 pm
by Unagi
Now at AMC Theaters...
Re: Military Tech / Science
Posted: Sun Sep 05, 2021 1:49 pm
by Blackhawk
Unagi wrote: ↑Sun Sep 05, 2021 1:47 pm
Now at AMC Theaters...
It would only have worked in the 80s. Possibly in the 90s as a spoof of the 80s. It's more Top Secret than Tom Clancy.
And before that we already had missiles that attacked their own targets (airplanes, incoming missiles, etc) on the basis of detected information rather than human choices.
I thought the Abrams tank had had these a good while now. Why is it suddenly in the news?
I don't know why it was "in the news", I just thought it was an interesting article, I learned some things I had not previously known.
Re: Military Tech / Science
Posted: Sat Jan 22, 2022 12:42 pm
by Kasey Chang
Grifman wrote: ↑Tue Jan 18, 2022 8:52 pm
The USAF is turning cargo planes into missile platforms via palletized missiles:
Meh. There was a plan in the 70's that turns 747 into cruise missile carrier. You can fit between 50 to 100 AGM-86 ALCMs, all internally. (FWIW, the B-52 can only carry... 20)
Grifman wrote: ↑Tue Jan 18, 2022 8:52 pm
The USAF is turning cargo planes into missile platforms via palletized missiles:
Meh. There was a plan in the 70's that turns 747 into cruise missile carrier. You can fit between 50 to 100 AGM-86 ALCMs, all internally. (FWIW, the B-52 can only carry... 20)
Sure but it’s still interesting. Don’t be such a downer.
One thing that has always been a strength of the US aerospace industry has bern engine technology. Russian and Chinese engines have always been a troublesome area for them. And now with the new US adaptive cycle engines, it is only going to get worse:
Thumbnail is misleading...but Id like that one lol.
Re: Military Tech / Science
Posted: Thu Apr 14, 2022 10:09 am
by Grifman
Israeli “Iron Beam” laser defense system:
Re: Military Tech / Science
Posted: Thu Apr 14, 2022 1:02 pm
by Pyperkub
One thing the Russian invasion is teaching us is that drone warfare is rendering a lot of conventional/tank warfare obsolete.
The direction I'm seeing are the swarms of microscopic drones constantly warring in Neal Stephenson's The Diamond Age.
Re: Military Tech / Science
Posted: Thu Apr 14, 2022 1:11 pm
by Daehawk
The laser. Didn't the US do the same test 10 or 15 years ago?
Re: Military Tech / Science
Posted: Thu Apr 14, 2022 2:10 pm
by Isgrimnur
Pyperkub wrote: ↑Thu Apr 14, 2022 1:02 pm
One thing the Russian invasion is teaching us is that drone warfare is rendering a lot of conventional/tank warfare obsolete.
The direction I'm seeing are the swarms of microscopic drones constantly warring in Neal Stephenson's The Diamond Age.
Pyperkub wrote: ↑Thu Apr 14, 2022 1:02 pm
One thing the Russian invasion is teaching us is that drone warfare is rendering a lot of conventional/tank warfare obsolete.
The direction I'm seeing are the swarms of microscopic drones constantly warring in Neal Stephenson's The Diamond Age.
I thought it was always called the B-21? Also always thought it was a full drone and unmanned but see now it can be crewed or uncrewed. Which means it will be crewed for the foreseeable future.
I guess Bruce Wayne has one on pre order.
Re: Military Tech / Science
Posted: Tue Feb 28, 2023 12:17 pm
by Max Peck
I didn't even know that RealNetworks was still a thing.
The United States is set to deploy facial recognition technology on drones. The tech, called SAFR, is owned by the company RealNetworks. According to a contract between RealNetworks and the U.S. Air Force, the facial recognition software will be used on small drones as part of special operations missions.
The Air Force paid RealNetworks $729,056 for SAFR. “Through this effort, we will adapt the SAFR facial recognition platform for deployment on an autonomous [small unmanned aircraft system] for special ops, [intelligence, surveillance, and target acquisition] , and other expeditionary use-cases,” the contract said. “This will require integrating the SAFR software with the hardware and software stack of the [small drones], including its onboard compute, communications systems, and remote controller software to enable operation in [disconnected, intermittent, and limited] communications settings, support actionable insight for remote human operators, and open the opportunity for real-time autonomous response by the robot.”
The small drones of the U.S. military are typically not armed. Small UAVs like the RQ-11B Raven are often hand launched by soldiers in the field and used for reconnaissance. This contract does not describe putting facial recognition software on large Predator and Reaper drones that will make decisions about who to assassinate in a war zone. The contract describes a use-case where teams of special operations soldiers use the facial recognition technology on smaller reconnaissance drones during operations in foreign countries.
The US Air Force’s Tactical High-Power Operational Responder (THOR) microwave weapon has neutralized a swarm of drones in a recent trial.
Conducted at the Chestnut Test Site in New Mexico, the activity simulated a real-world swarm attack on military assets.
THOR engaged the targets and knocked them out of the sky using its non-kinetic, speed-of-light [ -Isg] microwave pulses.
Re: Military Tech / Science
Posted: Sun May 21, 2023 4:23 pm
by Max Peck
One supposes that THOR's underlying technology is referred to as something in the vein of High Amplitude Microwave Modulation Enhanced Radiation.
Re: Military Tech / Science
Posted: Mon May 22, 2023 8:47 am
by The Meal
Hard drives have an enabling technology (to make magnetic domains effectively smaller on the media, enabling larger capacities) called Heat-Assisted Magneto Resistive (MR is the old-school head technology). In development there were these (relatively) sizable laser features on the end of the actuator arms (next to the heads), which caused all kinds of consternation for shock and vibration issues (extra mass where you really didn't want extra mass for dynamic purposes). I'm pretty sure they've moved onto a more laser-based acronym for that enabling tech.
Re: Military Tech / Science
Posted: Tue May 23, 2023 6:13 am
by Hyena
Max Peck wrote: ↑Sun May 21, 2023 4:23 pm
One supposes that THOR's underlying technology is referred to as something in the vein of High Amplitude Microwave Modulation Enhanced Radiation.
I was under the impression it used Microwave Jamming On-board Linear Neutralizing Infra Red tech, but maybe I read it wrong.
Max Peck wrote: ↑Sun May 21, 2023 4:23 pm
One supposes that THOR's underlying technology is referred to as something in the vein of High Amplitude Microwave Modulation Enhanced Radiation.
I was under the impression it used Microwave Jamming On-board Linear Neutralizing Infra Red tech, but maybe I read it wrong.
You may have a future in the exciting world of Military-Industrial Complex acronym weaponization.
Re: Military Tech / Science
Posted: Mon May 29, 2023 3:34 pm
by Daehawk
Re: Military Tech / Science
Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2023 8:40 pm
by Daehawk
AbramsX. New tank tech being tested for future deployment. The see through tank is pretty cool just like the F-35 is. Cameras everywhere so the guy inside can sit with a helmet and see everything without having to open up the tank to enemies and stick his head out to look see and get shot at. Remote turret also. Could basically seal the crew up in the tank to bio weps and such and enemies getting in. Also supposed to run on a diesel electric hybrid to save 50% on fuel.. Bring it on ....And in the future maybe fit it with a rail gun or ETC gun.
EDIT: Thought I should ad this edit in ..if you want to know what an ETC gun is...
Spoiler:
Re: Military Tech / Science
Posted: Mon Jun 19, 2023 2:54 pm
by Daehawk
Re: Military Tech / Science
Posted: Mon Jan 22, 2024 10:31 pm
by Daehawk
Re: Military Tech / Science
Posted: Wed Jan 24, 2024 6:50 pm
by Daehawk
The unmanned small not a toy not a model RIPSAW M5 armed vehicle. Size of a VW Beetle maybe but heavier.
The Air Force is preparing to bring on its newest stealth bomber, the B-21 Raider, and retire the aging B-1 Lancer and B-2 Spirit. Sometime in the 2030s, the service plans to have a fleet of two bombers — at least 100 B-21s and the current fleet of 76 B-52s, modernized top to bottom with a slate of upgrades.
It is the most sweeping revamp of the U.S. bomber fleet in more than a generation.
This $48.6 billion overhaul is intended to keep the (eventually redubbed) B-52J operational until about 2060 — meaning the Air Force could be flying nearly century-old bombers. When the last B-52 was delivered in 1962, it was expected to last 20 years, the Defense Department’s inspector general said in a November 2023 report.
The service is preparing for the overhaul, rethinking day-to-day maintenance and reevaluating its strategy for how a fleet made up of two bomber types would operate against an advanced enemy.
“The B-21 with the B-52J [will be] a very powerful, integrated force,” Maj. Gen. Jason Armagost, commander of 8th Air Force, said in a January interview here, sporting a B-21 patch on his uniform sleeve. The combined fleet would be capable of conducting a wide range of operations and striking an array of enemy targets, possibly armed with the latest hypersonic weapons.
...
“These are programs that are long overdue and are utterly necessary if the B-52 is going to be able to execute what we need it to do in today’s — and last into the future’s — strategic environment,” she said.
If the B-52 modernization ends up significantly more complicated than expected, and thus delayed, Penney explained, the Air Force may be forced to extend the life of some B-1s or B-2s beyond their planned early retirements in the 2030s just to keep enough operational bombers.
And if the Air Force opens up the B-52 and finds structural problems severe enough to jeopardize the re-engining?
“We can’t even go there,” Penney said. “It is such a must-do. We cannot fail.”
-Isg] microwave pulses.
....And in the future maybe fit it with a rail gun or ETC gun.