The military may one day manage to get a modified 747 to blast missiles out of the sky, with a real-life energy cannon. But even if the so-called "Airborne Laser," or ABL, functions as promised, nay-sayers contend, it still won't be all that useful; with a range of a few-hundred miles, you'd need a fleet of the things to cover the world's hotspots. And they'd be sitting ducks for enemy attacks.

Au contraire, answers ABL-maker Boeing. The laser jet would be just fine - especially if it was "accompanied by a fleet of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) fitted with mirrors," as Pop Mech's Erik Sofge reports. The "entirely new combination of lasers and robots — and it may be the answer to critics aiming to dismantle ABL before it ever flies."

The military has kicked around the idea of laser-relaying mirrors since Star Wars' heyday. More recently, the Pentagon pushed a "redirected energy initiative" -- meant to produce a "magic," world-wide ring of laser-directing mirrors which could be used to used to relay communications, supply energy to solar-electric devices, or put smoking holes in the less-than-cooperative.

The effort didn't have robots, however.

Continue reading "Laser Jet's Wingmen: Mirrored Drones?" »

Is the Taliban breaking with Al Qaeda -- and negotiating to end its insurgency? "Former Afghanistan presidential advisor Muhammad Sadeq Tashqari says that several senior Taliban officials have participated in drawing up a Saudi-U.K initiative to end the war in Afghanistan," according to London's Al-Sharq Al-Awsat. "He said that Taliban representatives had set several conditions for ending the war, including ministerial appointments for Taliban members and a withdrawal of foreign forces from the country."

CNN, citing unnamed sources, says the Taliban "has been involved four days of talks hosted by Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah. "The talks -- the first of their kind aimed at resolving the lengthy conflict in Afghanistan -- mark a significant move by the Saudi leadership to take a direct role in Afghanistan."

According to the source, fugitive Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar -- high on the U.S. military's most-wanted list -- was not present, but his representatives were keen to stress the reclusive cleric is no longer allied to al Qaeda.

But Afghan government spokesman Homayun Hamidzada tells the AFP: Don't believe the hype. Negotiations with Taliban have "not happened yet. We would like that to happen but how, when and where, by what mechanism and with whose help -- we are working on that."

UPDATE: Even if this report is true -- and it very well may not be -- don't assume that the Taliban have been whipped into submission, notes Hary Toor in the comments. There's a "vacuum of real power in the Government of Afghanistan." And the Taliban may be all too happy to help fill that breach.

[Photo: NP; on target: Kris]

Continue reading "Report: Taliban Ready to End War, Break with Qaeda (Update)" »

The whole hand-money-to-the-defense-contractor thing wasn't working out. So, last year, the Pentagon set up a million-dollar prize for lightweight, long-lasting wearable power. The idea was to get the entrepreneur, the tinkerer and the garage inventor to come up with radically new ways to supply juice to the increasing number of gadgets a soldier has to lug around. A total of 169 largely-unorthodox teams originally signed up for the competition. But the winner, the Pentagon declared today, was as traditional as it comes: DuPont, the chemical giant -- and military supplier, since 1802.

The company's fuel-cell-and-battery combo survived the longest in a military-sponsored "wear-off" at Twentynine Palms, California. "DuPont, in collaboration with SFC (Smart Fuel Cell AG), is thrilled to have won the competition, and work with the Department of Defense to address the need for lightweight, long-endurance power system for soldiers," Mark Baunchalk, DuPont Fluoroproducts - Fuel Cells business leader, said in a statement.

DuPont used a direct-methanol fuel cell to charge batteries, which in turn provided electrical power to devices, EE Times notes. Soldiers today carry around as much as 20 pounds' worth of batteries to keep PDAs, radios and other gadgets turned on. DuPont boasts that their system could be 80 percent lighter than current power schemes. Score another win for the big boys.

Photo: Noah Shachtman

The U.S. Navy and its allies don't have enough ships to deter piracy off the coast of Somalia. Edward Pernotto's solution is to use mercenary escorts, instead. He suggests getting an insurer like Lloyd's of London to contract with a private security company to "escort vessels in these dangerous waters."

Actually, the idea has been floated before. Not only have mercenaries been battling pirates for a good eight centuries. But back in 2005, the Somali government tried to hire a U.S. firm, Top Cat Marine, to fight pirates. The price: $50 million. The problem: the company was shady, even by private security contractor standards.

Kathryn Cramer discovered that the company shared a single New York suite with NyClubScene.com, "Animal Fair" magazine, and MyHealingPrayer.com. Top Cat CEO Peter Casini had a habit of bankrupting his companies. And the firm, it turned out, had ties to Sandline International -- the private military company that has been involved in quite a few of Africa's messy little wars.

Continue reading "Could Mercenaries Return as Pirate Foes?" »

As if seizing a ship-load of tanks and small arms wasn't bad enough. Pirates have attacked six more vessels off the coast of Somalia in just the past week, according to data from NATO. The now-infamous, weapons-clogged MV Faina remains in pirates' hands. And international tensions are ratcheting up by the day.

The latest attacks brings the total number of "piracy-related incidents" in the Gulf of Aden and off the Somali coast to 93. A dozen vessels are currently being held for ransom -- their last known whereabouts are on the NATO slide, above.

"Larger cargo/oil/gas/chemical tankers" are now the pirates' favorite target. The idea isn't just to make money off of a single attack. Often, the vessels are being hijacked "with the sole intention of using them" as "mother ships," to launch more small-boat strikes.

Continue reading "Pirates Hit Six More Ships Off of Somalia" »

* Karzai's brother, heroin kingpin

* Russia's biggest bomber back on high alert

* Laser cracks "unbreakable" quantum crypto

* Robo-towers protect British troops

* Army expansion plans at risk?

(High five: EM)

More than a few of you we're wondering why the hell this picture of New York pavement was posted to the site.

"Perhaps a commentary on the sterile futileness of modern existence? The composition calls to me," says commenter KSU499.

"I know there's embedded info in the image using the jphide algorithm....I know the embedded data = 29kb, and I know there's a passkey, but I've tried brute-forcing it with a huge 600,000 English word file, and no luck," e-mails DS.

"Don't y'all see the Virgin Mary right next to the leaf?" asks BigDaddy.

Actually, he's more right than he knows. A full explanation, after the jump.

Continue reading "2008-10-04T16:37:00Z (Updated and Explained)" »

Armed Predator and Reaper drones have become the primary weapons in the fight against Pakistani militants. But they can be pricey; the Reapers come in at around a hundred million dollars each. Which is why the Air Force is working on a cheaper option: killer zombies.

Visit Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Arizona, and you'll see rows of obsolete F-4 Phantom II aircraft – or at least their gutted carcasses. This is the Aerospace Maintenance And Regeneration Center or AMARC -- whatever you do, don't call it the Boneyard. For many years, it has been common practice to resurrect these deceased planes as QF-4 unmanned drones, so that they can have a brief and undignified existence as "full-scale aerial targets." Everything in the inventory -- from Sidewinder missiles to Patriots -- have been tested on one at some point, even though some find it "kind of hard to shoot at such a magnificent aircraft."

Some 230 Phantoms have been through this resurrection process since 1995. It costs about $800,000 U.S. per aircraft. The tail and wingtips are painted orange to they can be easily distinguished from manned aircraft. Typically they are flown several times. Not all tests need to end in the plane being shot down, and there is an onboard scoring system to determine how close a warhead came. Up to six QF-4s can be flown together remotely by computer, maintaining tight formation using GPS. (Hey, how about a robotic version of the Blue Angels?)

But earlier this year, the zombie fleet got a new twist (see photo): one of them fired a modified High Speed Anti-Radiation Missile.

Continue reading "Air Force's New 'Killer Zombie' Drone" »

The U.S. is moving ahead with a sale of six billion dollars' worth of weapons to Taiwan -- including 330 Patriot interceptor missiles.

The anti-missiles and associated gear account more than $3.1 billion of the approximately $6 billion arms package, announced by the Pentagon's Defense Security Cooperation Agency. Also included are 30 Apache helicopters, 34 sub-launched Harpoon missiles, fighter jet spare parts, and 182 Javelin guided missile rounds.

The U.S. has long been concerned that China is building up new fleets of ships, submarines, fighter jets, ballistic and cruise missiles in preparation for an attack on Taiwan. "Consistent with a near-term focus on preparing for offensive Taiwan Strait contingencies, China deploys its most advanced systems to the military regions directly opposite Taiwan," a recent Pentagon report noted.

That said, "China’s leaders recognize that a conflict over Taiwan involving the United States would give rise to a long-term hostile relationship between the two nations – a result that would not be in China’s interests." And "relations between Taipei and Beijing continue to improve since Ma Ying-jeou assumed office as the new Taiwanese president in May," the Financial Times observes.

Perhaps that's why "the package is half of the original $12 billion proposal and does not include Blackhawk helicopters or money to study the possibility of acquiring diesel submarines," according to the paper. "One former US official said the reduced package was adhering to the 'Goldilocks theory' of being 'not too hard, not too soft to try to preserve things with Beijing.'"

[Photo: U.S. Army]

In the mid-1970's, the UK government put together a script to be read over the airwaves, in case of a nuclear attack. Its main message: "There is nothing to be gained by trying to get away."

Instead, the script -- recent released by the National Archives -- advised Britons to stay in their homes, where "roofs and walls offer substantial protection" against radiation.

"By leaving your homes you could be exposing yourselves to greater danger. If you leave, you may find yourself without food, without water, without accommodation and without protection," it added. "Radioactive fall-out, which follows a nuclear explosion, is many times more dangerous if you are directly exposed to it in the open."

Continue reading "70's Nuke Attack Message: Don't Try to Get Away" »

Last week, a key Congressman predicted that the mega-expensive Wall Street bailout would naturally force the government to cut back defense spending.

Well, not if the Pentagon has anything to do with it.

The Defense Department "wants an increase of $57 billion in fiscal 2010, about 13.5 percent more than this year's budget of $514.3 billion," according to Bloomberg News.

Military spending has skyrocketed since fiscal 2000 -- up 43 percent, before the hundreds of billions for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are factored in. But even in these fat years for defense budgets, the proposal for 2010 (not yet approved by the White House) would be an anomaly. The typical increase has been a mere four percent.

UPDATE: Inside Defense was all over this, months ago.

[Image: TVA]

Ask an Air Force general why he needs so many new stealth fighters, and he'll warn of sophisticated "peer competitors," like China and Russia. Both countries are building up their air defenses. Both countries are making plans (however preliminary) for next-generation fighters. Both countries can't be ruled out as future adversaries.

But the Air Force has done such a lousy job at managing its new plane programs that the air service worse enemy may in fact be... itself. By handling "military aircraft manufacturing" so poorly, the Air Force has become its "own peer threat," writes Center for Strategic and International Studies analyst Anthony Cordesman, in a new report, "America's Self Destroying Air Power."

The Air Force says it needs 200 planes a year, to replace its creaky fleet. Meanwhile, the service can't even manage to give out a contract for new tanker planes. Costs for F-22 stealth jets have tripled; an initial order of 750 planes has fallen to 183. The Joint Strike Fighter's price tag has increased by nearly 50%; its role as the “Chevrolet of the skies” is in doubt.

Continue reading "Air Force's Biggest Enemy: Itself" »

A few weeks back, the U.S. Army's European Command set up an early-warning radar system in Israel. It's ostensible purpose is to boost defenses against Iranian missiles. But Entropic Memes wonders whether there isn't something more to this radar than meets the eye.

The AN/TPY-2 radar is one of the "key component[s]" in the "American Forward-Based Radar global missile-defense system," Entropic Memes notes. And it has a huge range -- about 2000 kilometers, by some estimates.

Placed in Israel, the radar could watch over most of Iran. But it also covers a broad swath of the Middle East and the Caucasus, too. Plus, EM observes, "you can’t help but wonder why the system wasn’t installed in Iraq, or better yet Afghanistan." That "would ensure full coverage of Iran - and, in the case of Afghanistan, provide coverage of Pakistan as well."

What's more, the system in Israel is quite similar to the radar that the U.S. wanted so badly to install in the Czech Republic earlier this year, as part of its larger missile defense shield. Could this be another attempt, to piece together that regional defense? Victoria Samson, with the Center for Defense Information, believes it might. "It was sold to the Israelis as something that could feed information into their system about incoming Iranian missiles," she writes. "But I would argue its primary purpose is to be part of the U.S. missile defense system in Europe."

Continue reading "U.S. Radar in Israel: What's it For, Really? (Updated)" »

* G-Men: CIA deliberately blocked 9/11 intel

* Russia wants new nuke subs

* Darpa signs deal for "ultrasonic auto-scab tourniquets"

* "King of the Vampyres" jailed

* American tech stopping Hamas?

(High five: WH)

The award for crook of the year goes to the as-of-yet-uncaptured robber who not only "wrested a bag of cash from an armored truck guard and escaped down a creek with an inner tube." He used "decoys summoned from a Craigslist ad to distract witnesses," too, ABC News reports. Oh, and pepper spray.

The robbery happened went down in tiny Monroe, Washington. The thief wore a ventilator mask, and sprayed the armored truck guard, outside a Bank of America branch. Then he dashed for a creek running into the Skyomish River. He got in an yellow inner tube, and took off.

Meanwhile, "at least a dozen unsuspecting decoys" were standing around to confuse any potential pursuers. They were all recruited on Craigslist.

"I came across the ad that was for a prevailing wage job for $28.50 an hour," KING-TV quotes a "Mike, who saw a Craigslist ad last week looking for workers for a road maintenance project in Monroe."

He said he inquired and was e-mailed back with instructions to meet near the Bank of America in Monroe at 11 a.m. Tuesday. He also was told to wear certain work clothing.

"Yellow vest, safety goggles, a respirator mask… and, if possible, a blue shirt," he said.

Mike showed up along with about a dozen other men dressed like him, but there was no contractor and no road work to be done. He thought they had been stood up until he heard about the bank robbery and the suspect who wore the same attire.

Continue reading "Robber Recruits Henchmen on Craiglist" »

Of all of Sylvester Stallone's grunting, epic performances, perhaps the most gruntingly epic of all came in 1996's Daylight. You remember the plot, of course: the Holland Tunnel cracks, and Sly has to rescue everyone, before they're drowned by the Hudson River.

Too bad there probably won't be a sequel. A bunch of pesky eggheads at West Virginia University have constructed a "giant inflatable airbag" which can "seal off tunnels to help prevent the spread of smoke, toxic fumes, gases or flooding should there be a fire or breach in a transportation system." Which kind of obviates the need for a Stallone-style rescue.

West Virginia University reports that the design was tested in the Washington, D.C., Metro system this past August.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is funding the project in collaboration with the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and the Transportation Security Administration.

The idea of the airbag had been contemplated a decade before by European developers but had never been tested. WVU’s team did just that, and they are now working on honing the design based on what they’ve learned. The final product is expected to be a fully workable design that can be incorporated into transportation systems.

Oh, well. We can always pray for Rocky VII. Or Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot 2.

The Pentagon's shape-shifting, sideways-flying, unmanned, supersonic bomber program is coming to an end.

The Oblique Flying Wing, or "Switchblade," project was meant to produce an experimental aircraft that could travel 2,500 miles, loiter just outside enemy territory for more than a dozen hours and then attack at twice the speed of sound. It was never going to be an easy job; aircraft that do well at subsonic flight are inefficient at Mach speeds, and vice versa. But Darpa gave Northrop Grumman more than $10 million to come up with up designs that might work. The key: Make sure the plan was a shape-changer.

Switchblade would cruise along in a more-or-less standard configuration - with a 200-foot-long wing perpendicular to its engines. But just before the craft breaks the sound barrier, its single wing would swivel around 60 degrees so that one end points forward and the other back. This oblique configuration redistributes the shock waves that pile up in front of a plane at Mach speeds and cause drag. When the Switchblade returns to subsonic speeds, the wing would rotate back to perpendicular.

Continue reading "Darpa Kills Shape-Shifting, Supersonic Bomber " »

NATO's senior commander for Afghanistan was back stateside yesterday, all-but-begging for more troops, and more civilian assistance. What he may get instead is more robotic planes.

"We found we were in a heavier fight, a larger fight [t]han we had anticipated, so we asked for some immediate forces," Gen. David McKeirnan told a Pentagon press conference. "The additional military capabilities that have been asked for are needed as quickly as possible."

But the bulk of the extra troops won't be coming, any time soon. "Three additional brigades that McKiernan has requested will not be available until later in 2009, after the U.S. withdraws more forces from Iraq," the L.A. Times notes. And McKiernan's request for 3,500 trainers to help mold the Afghan Army and police "is being reviewed right now," the General said.

To help plug the gaps, an anonymous "senior defense official" tells the AP, Defense Scertary Robert Gates has "asked aides to find both unmanned surveillance drones and mine-resistant vehicles to divert to Afghanistan in the coming months until a more coordinated effort early next year. One focus is protecting the strategic main highway."

Continue reading "Drones May Double in A'stan; Troops, Not So Much" »

When Chinese scientists claimed that they had validated the math behind the "impossible" Emdrive -- and are building their own demonstration model -- it brought a predictable storm of protest. Many said it can't be true. Others objected that the only proof would be to build an actual "Emdrive" that converts drive converts electrical energy into thrust via microwaves. Roger Shawyer, inventor of the Emdrive, has built several. The video appears to show one of them in action.

The drive allegedly produces a fraction of an ounce of thrust. That may not seem much, but it's comparable to existing ion engines used on deep space probes.

Seeing is not necessarily believing, however. The video could be anything, and even if it is real it proves nothing, as British space blog Rocketeers points out:

Continue reading "Video: 'Impossible' Space Drive In Action?" »

A $15-billion helicopter contest that got protested and overturned in 2006. A $35-billion tanker program that suffered the same fate this year. A 75-percent cut in the original order for F-22s. Mounting delays to the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. "Our contracting personnel, our warfighters and our engineers [are] not always adequately prepared" for tough, legally challenged acquisitions, new Air Force chief Michael Donley explained. That has meant fewer and fewer planes bought every year for more and more money.

As a result, the Air Force's 6,000 airplanes are more than 20 years old, on average -- the oldest ever. To start driving down the average age, the service would have to buy 200 new planes per year, nearly double the recent rate, according to Air Force Magazine.

But finding the modernization and recapitalization money needed for its fleet of tactical airlifters, bombers, search and rescue helicopters, tankers, and fighters is "going to be a neat trick," said Donley.

The air service long has said it needs an extra $20 billion a year to buy new planes. But if anything, defense budgets are going to shrink as the economy teeters, according to Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.).

(Photo: Bryan William Jones)