Defense Tech

Pics of the Day: HMS Liverpool Shadows Russia’s Carrier

John Reed — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:47:32 +0000

Here’s a great image that looks like it was almost taken from a Cold War-themed video game. It shows the soon-to-be retired British Type 42 destroyer HMS Liverpool shadowing Russia’s only aircraft carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov, as the slavic ship transits through the English channel during a recent patrol that marked the closest a Russian naval task [...]

Navy Moving Ahead With Railgun Devo

John Reed — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:10:33 +0000

Here’s a little story that’s been making the Internet rounds lately; the Navy is about to take one more step toward making high-powered railguns a ship-board reality. Yup, the Office of Naval Research is about to start test firing a BAE Systems-built railgun and another made by General Atomics (watch a badass video of the [...]

Video: The Latest, Terrifying Drone Dog

John Reed — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 22:07:13 +0000

Remember DARPA’s BigDog? You know, the terrifying, four-legged robot that won’t fall over when kicked or when walking on ice and snow. Well, DARPA and Boston Dynamics (the guys who are also working on this) are testing an upgraded version of the dog that will carry 400 pounds of gear for more than 20 miles [...]

Eye Candy: China’s New Armored Vehicles

John Reed — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 20:00:01 +0000

Here are your pics of the day; they show China’s latest infantry fighting vehicle equipped with new, thicker bolt-on armor up close and in action. These new tracs appear to be part of China’s new class of armored vehicles that recently entered service as an eventual replacement of the older Type 86 and 89 armored [...]

UK and France Desperate to be Included in Mid East Ops?

John Reed — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 16:11:12 +0000

“Britain had to plead with US to take part in Iran flotilla” This headline from Britain’s telegraph newspaper shouldn’t shock anyone who has been following the latest developments of the British military. Yup, both Britian and France apparently insisted on being included in the Pentagon’s military task force that is in the Middle East with [...]

Did Chinese Espionage Lead to F-35 Delays?

John Reed — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 19:33:25 +0000

Did Chinese cyber spying cause the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter’s cost spikes and production delays? That’s the question Pentagon budget officials are asking according to Aviation Week. Chinese spies apparently hacked into secure conference calls and listened to meetings discussing the classified technologies aboard the jets. In particular, China may have stolen info about the [...]

Meet North Korea’s Latest Drone

John Reed — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 16:07:11 +0000

As Iran and China and who knows who else scrambles to unlock the secrets of the U.S. Air Force’s stealthy RQ-170 Sentinel drone, North Korea is moving to reverse engineer some 1970s-vintage target drones. Yup, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency is reporting that the North has bought up old MQM-107D Streaker target drones from Syria [...]

Army Eying the K-MAX for Tactical Airlift?

John Reed — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 21:02:34 +0000

Check this out. We’ve been wondering how the cancellation of the C-27J Joint Cargo Aircraft would impact the Army’s tactical airlift needs. While the Air Force says canning the JCA won’t hurt anyone, it looks like the Army is eying the optionally-manned K-MAX helo to carry realatively small but urgent loads of cargo to remote [...]

Friday Eye Candy: China’s Newest Attack Helo

John Reed — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 15:28:14 +0000

Check out these latest photos of China’s newest attack helo, the Z-19. The twin-seat bird, an updated version of the Z-9W that’s been in service since the 1990s, is just one more example of China’s military modernization. If the chopper’s lines look vaguely familiar, it’s because the bird is based on the Eurocopter Dauphin series, [...]

Meet the Air Force’s Newest X-Plane

John Reed — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 19:13:10 +0000

Aviation Week dropped a heck of a story yesterday when it revealed the Air Force’s newest X-plane, the X-56A. The the flying wing is being designed by Lockheed Martin’s Skunkworks to test out the technologies that will allow a new crop of reconnaissance planes to stay aloft at high altitudes for long periods of times; think days or weeks. [...]