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Posts Tagged ‘military’

Tiny Pocketbots Prepped for Combat

August 19, 2011 1 comment

wired

When the U.S. military first got serious about ground robots, it bought up a bunch of 42-pound machines called PackBots. The name implied that infantrymen would just throw the robots in their rucksacks. In reality, the things were too heavy for already-overloaded troops to carry around on the regular. The PackBot’s main Read more…

Categories: military, Technology Tags: , , ,

This U.S. Military Supercomputer Lab Just Bought A Bunch Of Chinese-Made Components

August 18, 2011 1 comment

businessinsider

UT Chattanooga

Image: UT Chattanooga

The U.S. lab that creates supercomputers to simulate tests flights of next-generation military aircraft and submarine warfare is closing a deal to buy a slew of Chinese components.

According to The Washington Times, the contract calls for wrapping U.S. made Symantec software around devices made by Chinese telecommunications conglomerate Huawei Technologies.

U.S. officials maintain Huawei has close ties with China’s military, but they own a 51 percent share of Symantec from a 2008 deal.

Four Republican Senators and one member of the House Select Committee on Intelligence are urging the Pentagon to re-think the arrangement and recognize the risks to national security.

“Given Huawei’s close ties to the [Chinese] government and its Read more…

Categories: China, United States Tags: , , , ,

New Chinese stealth jet raises question of Russian aid

August 18, 2011 2 comments

rawstory

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Similarities between a new Chinese fighter jet and a prototype Russian plane have brought suggestions that Moscow may be quietly helping Beijing compete with the world’s military powers.

Experts say the fifth-generation J-20 fighter, which made its maiden flight in January during a visit of the U.S. defense secretary, could have its origins in the Mikoyan 1.44 stealth jet that never made it to the production line.

A highly placed source close to Russia’s defense industry said the similarities suggested Mikoyan technology had been passed into the hands of Chinese arms designers.

“It looks like they got access…to documents relating to the Mikoyan — the aircraft that the Ministry of Defense skipped over in its tender to create a stealth fighter,” he said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

He said it was not clear whether such a transfer of technology had been legal. Analysts say Russia’s assistance to the Chinese may Read more…

Categories: China, Russia Tags: , , , , ,

US to lose its base in Kyrgyzstan

August 17, 2011 Comments off

axisoflogic

Kyrgyzstan is not going to prolong its agreement with Washington, which entitles the US to use Manas Transit Center to supply its forces in Afghanistan, after it expires in 2014, the republic’s Prime Minister Almazbek Atambayev has said.

“… In full compliance with our commitments, we will inform the American side on the termination of the contract six months prior to its expiry,” the Central Asian state’s premier said in an interview with Rosbalt agency. Kyrgyzstan plans to turn the Center, formerly known as Manas Air Base, into a civil transportation hub. Both Russian and Western investors would be welcome to participate in the creation of the facility, Atambayev added.

The military installation has been used as a Read more…

Categories: Kyrgyzstan, United States Tags: , , ,

U.S., South Korea Begin Drills; North Warns of War

August 17, 2011 Comments off

defensenews

SEOUL, South Korea – South Korea and the United States launched a massive joint military exercise on Aug. 16, prompting the North to condemn the maneuvers as provocative and warn that war could erupt.

The two allies have described the 10-day Ulchi Freedom Guardian exercise as defensive and routine, but the North habitually terms such joint drills a rehearsal for invasion and launches its own counter-exercises.

“The exercise started this morning,” a spokesman of the U.S.-South Korea Combined Forces Command (CFC) told AFP, referring to the annual computer-assisted simulation command-post exercise.

All of CFC’s major units are taking part, involving more than Read more…

Categories: North Korea, South Korea, United States Tags: , , , , ,

China’s Nuclear Sub Needs

August 16, 2011 1 comment

the-diplomat

The past couple of weeks have seen a number of reports over a rumoured radiation leak from a 094 type Chinese nuclear submarine stationed near Dalian port. The incident is said to have occurred as electronic equipment was being installed on the sub.

Did it really happen? While some newspaper reports certainly seem to suggest so, officials have clamped down on discussion of the issue. This is hardly surprising since China has never been open about its nuclear assets (unless proudly displaying them during its national parades) and this would be especially the case over failures in these systems during regular research and development and deployment. This means that until there’s greater overall transparency in Chinese official reports, such alleged incidents remain simply rumors.

However, the news highlights the broader issue of nuclear-powered submarines armed with Read more…

Categories: China, nuclear technology Tags: , , , ,

Superfast Military Aircraft Crashed in Pacific Ocean, DARPA Says

August 12, 2011 Comments off
Falcon Hypersonic HTV-2 Payload Fairing Jettisoned
The Falcon hypersonic HTV-2 aircraft emerges from its payload fairing before gliding back to Earth.
CREDIT: DARPA

This story was updated at 5:42 p.m. ET.

An unmanned military plane billed as the “fastest aircraft ever built” crashed into the Pacific Ocean today (Aug. 11) after a malfunction caused it to stop sending signals while flying at more than 20 times the speed of sound, military officials said.

The flying prototype, called the Falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 2 (HTV-2), plunged into the ocean after shifting into a mode that allows it to fly Mach 20, or about 13,000 mph, according to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), which oversaw the Read more…

Categories: military, United States Tags: , , , , ,

Russia developing new air defense systems

August 11, 2011 Comments off

rian.ru

Russia developing new air defense systems

Russia is developing two air defense systems as part of future multilayered aerospace defense network, Air Force Commander Col. Gen. Alexander Zelin said on Tuesday.

“The Morfey is a short-range air defense system with effective range of five kilometers,” Zelin said. “It is designed to protect military installations and has both active and passive weapons [launchers and radars].”

Another system, the Vityaz, is a further development of the S-300 medium-range air defense system, whose combat capabilities largely surpass those of its predecessor.

“In fact, it could be considered a brand new system,” Zelin said, adding that the Vityaz would have a launcher with 16 missiles compared to only four on the S-300.

Both systems will complement the Read more…

Categories: military, Russia Tags: ,

Chinese Carrier Sea Trial Raises Concerns

August 11, 2011 1 comment

voanews

China to give more information about its first aircraft carrier, which was sent out on an initial sea trial Wednesday.

A spokeswoman for the U.S. State Department told reporters that Washington would welcome any kind of explanation China would like to give for needing this kind of equipment. She said China’s lack of transparency about its military acquisitions and its military budget raises concerns.

Earlier Wednesday, Beijing announced that the carrier it purchased from Ukraine in 1998 had left the port of Dalian for its inaugural sea trial.

Little was said about the vessel formerly known as the Varyag until last month when Chinese defense officials said it would Read more…

Categories: China, military Tags: , , , , , ,

Russia creates new mega-powerful ballistic missile

August 10, 2011 Comments off

pravda

Russia creates new mega-powerful ballistic missile. Russia’s Defense Ministry reported about the progress in the domestic missile industry. First and foremost, the first missile regiment has been rearmed completely with state-of-the-art Yars mobile missile systems. Secondly, Russian engineers have developed Liner sea-based strategic missile. The new missile is said to be twice as more powerful as the Bulava missile, which had a number of failures during test-launches.

Officials from the ministry said that the first missile regiment armed with latest Yars missile complexes was on full duty. The complexes are equipped with RS-24 thermonuclear intercontinental ballistic missiles. The missile was developed by engineers of the Moscow Institute of Thermal Technology under the guidance of academician Yuri Solomonov. The missile has been created with the use of technological solutions used in Topol-M systems, which significantly shortened the terms and costs of the production.

The new missile will strengthen the Read more…

Categories: Russia, Technology Tags: , , , , , ,