FRIEND OR FOE: BIOMETRIC IDENTIFICATION

Accurate identification of targets, even in the most remote locations, is critical to military operations. Dr Gareth Evans investigates how biometrics-based identification technology has developed from a clunky add-on into an integral part of mission equipment and perhaps the precursor to an entirely new form of enemy surveillance 

Little more than five years ago, biometric technology still largely represented a new and somewhat unconventional item in the military toolkit - an “add-on to the mission”, in the words of Myra S Gray, director of the US Army’s Biometrics Identity Management Agency (BIMA).

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RUSSIAN UNMANNED AVIATION FUTURE-PART Ii

Continued from previous part:

Author describes how copying foreign technology sets the basis of improving domestic goods. He described copying much difficult and technically demanding process. Also he describes the contemporary developments in unmanned technology in Russian aviation schools.

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Russian Unmanned Aviation Future-Part I

53 million dollars, another 100 million, and ultimately 300 million - the price for Ministry of Defence contracts for the purchase of Israeli drones has caused confusion & even humiliation. Person named Nicholas Dolzhenkov should get rid of them. One of the best modern Russian aircraft designer, he is now leading the development of UAVs, for Russian Army. Once he made his country, leader in the unmanned aircraft technology. It was back in 80s, and the country was called the Soviet Union. Nicholas Dolzhenkov will explain why we have fallen from that apex & are causing huge expenses in purchasing Israeli drones.

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10 Years of Designing & Manufacturing Precision Guided Weapons

Created in January 2002, the "Tactical Missiles Corporation" in a short time brought together 18 leading Russian defense industrial complex enterprises. The strategic goal of an integrated structure was not only to develop Russian missile educational institution, but also to establish a strong, steadily growing company that can compete successfully in the global arms markets.

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No Longer Intelligence Officers, But The Killers

In recent years there has been a steady rise in robotics, so to speak, depersonalization of war. The use of various weapons are increasingly vested in the remote-controlled combat systems - air, land and sea. And while today's decision on the use of weapons still predominantly requires  a man, but days are not far, when the command "Fire!" will be given by a computer!

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DARPA's Portable But Killing Lasers

The goal of HELLADS (High Energy Liquid Laser Area Defense System) is to shrink the mass of high-energy lasers by an order of magnitude, so a 150 kW laser can be integrated into tactical aircraft. That’s the power level sought for defense against rockets, artillery, mortars, and surface-to-air missiles at distances up to a couple of kilometers. The mass target is less than five kilograms per kilowatt of output, so the whole laser would weigh less than 750 kg. Although DARPA has not identified the design, other documents say it is a diode-pumped solid-state slab laser with flowing index-matched coolant.

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Two Stealth Aviation Articles

Russian UAVs Dozor

The Russian Dozor-600 Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV). All of these pictures were been taken during 2010 Engineering Technologies, Zhukovsky Russia.

The Russian Dozor-100 Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV). All of these pictures were been taken during 2010 Engineering Technologies, Zhukovsky Russia.

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U.S. Military Will Spray The Enemies By "Smart Dust"

U.S. Air Force want to get a tiny unmanned vehicles that can sneak up on an opponent and mark it with a special powder or slime.This will allow U.S. troops to discreetly monitor certain people and technology and, if necessary, to immediately destroy them with precision weapons.

The U.S. military issued a request for the development of miniature unmanned vehicles that could be applied covertly hypothetical "dust" on people and track them from a distance. The request indicated that this technology will be useful in a variety of situations: from the identification of its soldiers and civilians to monitor wildlife. But probably the main purpose is surveillance of terrorists and the opening of the underground terrorist networks.

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Tales of the Gun: The AK-47

The Avtomat Kalashnikova, 1947, otherwise known as the AK-47, was developed by the Soviets in secrecy at the dawn of the Cold War. Its menacing silhouette, featuring a curved magazine, has gained worldwide recognition and respect. In a rare television interview Mikhail Kalashnikov, the inventor of the AK-47, discusses how he designed the gun and what it was like to work within the secret world of the Soviet military during the Cold War.

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America Unmanned Future

by Vladimir Shcherbakov

 

"Computers and the like" network-centric "Things are good at the exercises and in the war against a weak opponent - said once one of the American generals. - They give commanders the beautiful pictures and lots of information.But when enemy is distributed in the trenches: "bayonets!", It is time to turn off the monitors and take up a rifle. " 

By 2020, the number of UAVs in the U.S. military will increase by seven times.In early February, the Pentagon submitted a long-term, calculated at 30 years of combat aircraft procurement plan and supporting aviation, one of the priorities of which - the development of unmanned aircraft systems for various purposes, from tactical to strategic. It should be noted that this document is based on the provisions of the next four-year plan for defense of U.S. construction in 2010.

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Robo-Gull

by Tony Reich

Wow. Aviation pioneer Otto Lilienthal would have loved this. German automation company Festo has built a “SmartBird” modeled on the herring gull that, according to the company, can take off, fly, and land autonomously—just by flapping its wings.

Motors inside the 485 gram "Smart Bird" enable the wings to flap and twist at specific angles - which allows the bird to rise in the air by flapping its wings alone. It is able to start, take off and land unassisted, with the head and tail acting as a rudder to steer the bird through the air.

 

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