Mecha Talk

Scientists at Yale have developed a so-called 'Anti-Laser', which traps and dissipates light, in the process turning it into heat.
They're quick to point out that it's not meant to function as a defense against laser weaponry since, well, you still end up with all that heat energy delivered by the laser. Instead, it would probably find use in computing & other 'civilian' applications.

Meanwhile, the US Army, and probably the USMC, is planning to field its new Enhanced Combat Helmet this fall.
Apparently, it's such an improvement over the existing ACH that it couldn't be evaluated properly with their current test equipment!

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Last I heard, the Commandant doesn't want us using a new helmet unless it can stop direct hits with 7.62mm. I won't get one, regardless, though my unit did just switch to 100% M4s (unfortunately; crappy ballistics, makes the 500-yard targets iffy, especially with the RCO and its lack of windage adjustment). Lots of talk about protection from fragments in that article, but that's not the problem with the existing helmets, especially considering how rarely anyone in Afghanistan is injured from anything other than IEDs, at least where the Marines are.

Navy makes record-breaking laser, it's supposedly capable of burning through 20ft/second of steel and..... they want to use it to shoot messages at allied ships.

A second X-37B was launched successfully last March 5. As with the first one, there's no word so far on what it's carrying, what it's supposed to be doing, or when it'll be coming back.

Tired of drilling holes in your nice, solid ship's hulls & bulkheads just to pass a couple of tiny electrical cables through? Now there's no more need for those pesky holes or wires, or so it seems. Now, I have to wonder if this system can be used as well, and still maintain its efficiency, with composite materials--such as the laminate armour used by current-generation main battle tanks. I wonder if this can be applied to spacecraft as well...

AeroVironment, sponsored by DARPA, debuted last February to the public its Nano Hummingbird technology demonstrator. It and its inevitable derivatives certainly have a number of forseeable immediate uses, and its ornithopter mode of flight gives it a lot of flexibility (I'm quite delighted at how stable the camera seems to be), but it saddens me that there'll probably be 'swat to kill' orders for hummingbirds around sensitive government installations sometime in the near future....

Meanwhile, the much-criticized V-22 Osprey Tilt-rotor has passed the 100,000 hour mark for accumulated flight time. I'll leave any commentary to Black_Knight since he's probably the one most often in close proximity to the things.

Continuing with rotorcraft, the unmanned K-MAX cargo synchropter accomplishes a successful demonstration. Ditto for the unmanned Fire Scout, which also successfully completed at-sea trials with a Littoral Combat Ship and some frigates.

And, on the lighter side of the news...Iran to design & build an advanced fighter jet.

F/A-18 that's also an F-5? Hmm, it's like 2007 all over again!

As for the stealth fighter, I guess papier-mache doesn't show up on radar.

Kidding aside, Iran does seem to have something up its sleeves. More background info here.


Must be some Larry Niven fans in the USN.

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RINRIN NANO DA!!

Bring on the jetpacks.

Remember that Mythbusters episode where Adam & Jamie attempt to build a ducted-fan 'jetpack'? Well, looks like a Kiwi's done it, and is close to turning it into commercial reality.

Meanwhile, Space Shuttle Endeavour concluded its final mission last month, which leaves the Atlantis for one last Shuttle mission in July. It has also abandoned, after more than a year, further efforts to contact the Mars rover Spirit.

Boeing's Phantom Ray flying wing UCAV made its first flight in April.

Metal Storm has developed the 'Fury,' a new version of its 'Firestorm' weapon which takes into account a good deal of feedback from the US Marines. It's also in talks with Colt to manufacture the MAUL, a 12-gauge weapon that can be attached to the M4.

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RINRIN NANO DA!!

Bio-lasers!

http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/06/ ... uman-cell/

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Whatever works.

I will say those jetpacks are awesome, but more like superfans/turbofans then pure rocket engines.

So it's more like miniaturized helicopter engines, but still very interesting.
And I haven't posted in here in ages.

Bad news. The US Senate canceled funding for the US Navy's Laser and Railgun programs. As if that weren't bad enough the Littoral Combat Ship is being given a waiver on having to undergo the mandatory stress tests.

Posting this, not sure if Ryujin has seen it or but if not well it's a contribution for the thread.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/ ... HOURS.html

Incidentally, plans for this were also unveiled at the Paris Air Show:

The ZEHST.

Unlike the SonicStar's S-MAGJET finesse approach, EADS seems to be banking more on brute force with their Zero Emission HyperSonic Transportation. Turbojets, rocket engines and ramjets.

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RINRIN NANO DA!!

While most attention has recently been focused on Raytheon's XOS 2 exoskeleton, Lockheed Martin's ruggedized HULC will now be undergoing thorough testing by the US Army.

It has no arms, unlike the XOS 2, but there appears to be a different mission profile behind its design.

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RINRIN NANO DA!!

Pardon for resurrecting this old thread that I've completely neglected for more than half a year....

Navy's humanoid firefighting 'bot

Interesting that the Navy decided that the humanoid form's the form most suited for this task, with the USMC investigating other potential...uses.

Also, remote-controlled A-10!

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Now it's the Dutchmen's turn to bring out the flying cars.

PAL-V Autogyro/car

Interesting that they opted for a rotary-wing autogyro, with its STOL & autorotation capabilities, instead of the more conventional fixed-wing layout found in 'flying cars' of the past.

Suddenly, the Netherlands having a windmill for a Gundam makes so much more sense.

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Asteroid mining!

OK, this is oldish news as a whole, but there seems to be revitalized buzz around it now. We're finally closer to creating the Debris Belt!

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-We will not be caught by surprise!
*Almost everyone I've killed uttered similar last words.
-Then I am glad once again that you are on my side.
*They've often said that too.

I'm really glad that Jerry Pournelle & Larry Niven, both longtime proponents of private enterprise in space, are still around to see this.

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The big news, of course, is the successful launch of SpaceX's Dragon, heralding the entry of private enterprise into what was once the sole purview of well-heeled governments.

Meanwhile, other countries have also been busy with regards to spaceflight:

Russia's once-moribund space industry is now working on rocket engines which use a different type of propellant, while its government has expressed an interest in developing a nuclear engine.

Japan has also made a foray into commercial space launches, with a successful deployment of a South Korean satellite and three domestic ones. They're very aware that, at present, they still have to bring down their launch costs in order to compete with other countries.

Last but not least, an Egyptian student has developed a rather exotic form of spacecraft propulsion. Given the absence of any onboard propellant, my first reaction was "LOL, Dean Drive," but upon further reading, this looks like it could be very useful for spacecraft operating in the (very) low-thrust regime.

Now, moving on to the pew-pew:

Northrop Grumman has been testing the latest iteration of its FIRESTRIKE scalable solid-state laser, moving the USA that much closer to a practical battlefield weapon.

While everyone's attention has been on American developments, Germany's Rheinmetall has also been developing its own practical battlefield laser.

Last but not least, in a case of life imitating art, the people at the US Army's NSRDEC have developed the 'Ironman high-capacity ammunition carriage system.' Yes, it's basically the backpack ammo-carrier for Jessie Ventura's minigun from the movie 'Predator.'

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