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Archive for the ‘military’ category: Page 215

Feb 18, 2019

China to test magnetized plasma artillery

Posted by in categories: energy, military

The Chinese military is looking to procure test systems for magnetized plasma artillery, according to a notice on the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) weapon and equipment procurement website weain.mil.cn last week.

Released on Wednesday and due expire on Thursday, the notice invites tenders for a theory-testing and a launch system for magnetized plasma artillery.

Although the weapon sounds as if it comes from a sci-fi movie, it will probably not shoot high-energy plasma but ultra-high velocity cannon shells.

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Feb 14, 2019

A ‘Quantum Radar’ System Will Watch for Stealth Aircraft and Missiles in the Arctic

Posted by in categories: military, quantum physics

Canada is investing $2.7 million to develop quantum radar technology.

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Feb 13, 2019

The Air Force Wants to Arm Fighter Jets With Laser Weapons

Posted by in category: military

They could open up a ton of new tactical possibilities.

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Feb 12, 2019

The US Army successfully flies its hoverbike prototype

Posted by in category: military

Circa 2017


Someday, it could carry supplies to soldiers on the battlefield.

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Feb 12, 2019

The real purpose of Russia’s 100-megaton underwater nuclear doomsday device

Posted by in categories: existential risks, military

  • Russia is said to have built a new 100-megaton underwater nuclear doomsday device, and it has threatened the US with it.
  • The device goes beyond traditional ideas of nuclear warfighting and poses a direct threat to the future of humanity or life on Earth.
  • Nobody has ever built a weapon like this before, because there’s almost no military utility in so badly destroying the world.
  • But an expert on nuclear strategy told Business Insider the weapon might have a larger role in helping Russian President Vladimir Putin break down NATO with the threat of nuclear destruction.

Since 2015, when images of a Russian nuclear torpedo first leaked on state television, the world has asked itself why Moscow would build a weapon that could end all life on Earth.

While all nuclear weapons can kill thousands in the blink of an eye and leave radiation poisoning the environment for years to come, Russia’s new doomsday device, called “Poseidon,” takes steps to maximize this effect.

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Feb 12, 2019

Are Cyborg Warriors a Good Idea?

Posted by in categories: cyborgs, military, neuroscience

The Pentagon is funding brain-implant research aimed at creating neurally “enhanced” soldiers.

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Feb 12, 2019

Report: Space will likely be a battlefield in any U.S. conflict with China, Russia

Posted by in categories: military, satellites

WASHINGTON — A new U.S. intelligence report warns that both China and Russia are investing in weapons that could attack U.S. satellites and assets in space, and that both nations are now preparing to use space as a battlefield.

Last month, the Defense Intelligence Agency released a report about China’s military capabilities, warning that the Asian country was making advances in counterspace technology that could threaten U.S. satellites responsible for communications, reconnaissance, GPS and early warnings of missile launches.

But a new DIA report, “Challenges to Security in Space,” warns that both China and Russia are making advances in space technology, and that both are likely to turn to space early on in any major military conflict to cripple their adversaries.

Continue reading “Report: Space will likely be a battlefield in any U.S. conflict with China, Russia” »

Feb 8, 2019

Navy-Funded Scientist Wins Award for Groundbreaking Seafloor Map

Posted by in category: military

Dr. David Sandwell, a geophysicist at Scripps, has been awarded American Geophysical Union’s Charles A. Whitten Medal for creating the world’s first comprehensive, high-resolution map of the ocean floor.

In a long-running project sponsored by the U.S. Navy’s Office of Naval Research, Sandwell combined satellite data with sonar measurements to develop a global depth chart of unprecedented detail. His work has charted thousands of previously unidentified mountains, trenches, and other features in the deepest and least explored parts of the ocean. The work is not only of academic interest: it provides crucial intelligence and scientific information for the Navy.

“Dr. Sandwell’s groundbreaking work provides the first high-resolution map of the ocean floor,” said Dr. Tom Drake, head of ONR’s Ocean Battlespace and Expeditionary Access Department. “This has opened new research areas for oceanography, marine geology and geophysics — critical topics for the U.S. Navy.”

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Feb 6, 2019

China’s latest quantum radar could help detect stealth planes, missiles

Posted by in categories: military, quantum physics

Circa 2018


China’s quantum radar makes more progress, and China plans to put it high up in the stratosphere, to spy on ballistic missiles and stealth aircraft.

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Feb 6, 2019

Earth’s Magnetic North Pole Has Shifted So Much We’ve Had to Update GPS

Posted by in categories: government, military

Magnetic north is not where it used to be.

Since 2015, the place to which a compass points has been sprinting toward Siberia at a pace of more than 30 miles (48 kilometres) a year. And this week, after a delay caused by the month-long partial government shutdown in the United States, humans have finally caught up.

Scientists on Monday released an emergency update to the World Magnetic Model, which cellphone GPS systems and military navigators use to orient themselves.

Continue reading “Earth’s Magnetic North Pole Has Shifted So Much We’ve Had to Update GPS” »