Transparent carbon nanotube sheets are fulfilling the promise of invisibility. Ali Aliev is a University of Texas scientist that uses the carbon nanotubes to bend surface light around an object, producing a mirage effect that can hide physical objects. While this is being announced as current research, the military has already long been experimenting with similar cloaking devices as well as nano-enhanced hybrids for both invisibility and body armor. The U.S. scientific community is fully supported by the government by itsNational Nanotechnology Initiative 2011 Strategic Plan to exploit nanotech to the fullest extent. Demonstrations like the one below are meant to introduce the “coolness” of it all. Indeed nanotechnologyis interesting and mind blowing, but we would be wise to also learn about the other applications that thegovernment is working on in the areas of surveillance, data control, and human movement so that we can urge those discovering the capabilities of nanotech to use it for the betterment of mankind, not for military weaponry and citizen enslavement.
The US military plans to add a new lethal drone to its fleet — a robotic helicopter for the US Navy equipped with laser-guided rockets, defense giant Northrop Grumman said Wednesday.
The armed Fire Scouts will mark a new era in naval warfare, offering an alternative to pilots flying attack helicopters or fighter jets off ships and reflecting a broader shift to robotictechnology across the US military over the past several years.
An unarmed version of the MQ-8B Fire Scout is already flying surveillance and reconnaissance missions for theUS Navy, using cameras and sensors inside a cone on the aircraft’s nose.
Northrop Grumman won a contract in September worth $17 million to outfit the choppers with racks capable of carrying up to eight 70 mm rockets, with four on each side, the company said.
“The operational system will be delivered by 2013,” company spokesman Warren Comer told AFP.
“By arming the Fire Scout, the navy will have a system that can locate and prosecute targets of interest. This capability shortens the kill chain and lessens the need to put our soldiers in harm’s way,” George Vardoulakis, Northrop’s vice president for tactical unmanned systems, said in a statement.
The Fire Scout had its first flight in December 2006 and is due to be deployed on new littoral combat ships under construction.
The helicopter, which is seven meters (yards) long and three meters high, can reach an altitude of 20,000 feet (6,000 meters), fly at a speed of more than 115 knots (200 kilometers) per hour and stay in the air for more than eight hours, employing sensors and radar to track targets.
The US Navy had a fleet of about 15 Fire Scouts and plans to build 168 of the helicopters, according to thePentagon.
One of the unmanned helicopters went down in the NATO-led air campaign in June.
In recent times there’s been a resurgence of interest in airships for military and commercial uses as evidenced by Lockheed Martin’s High Altitude Long Endurance-Demonstrator (HALE-D) and Hybrid Air Vehicles heavy-lift variant of Northrop Grumman’s Long-Endurance Multi-Intelligence Vehicle (LEMV). Like HAV’s design, this concept from Canadian company Solar Ship is a hybrid airship that relies on aerodynamics to help provide lift, and like the HALE-D, it would have its top surface area covered insolar cells to provide energy and minimize its carbon footprint.
Although the Solar Ship aircraft would be filled with helium, under normal circumstances they would rely on the aerodynamic lift provided by their wing shape to provide more than half the lift required to get them off the ground. Additionally, the aircraft could also fly when filled with plain old air. This means the aircraft will still be able to fly – and, more importantly, land safely – if there is damage that results in helium loss.
Solar Ship says the aircraft’s electric motor can either be powered solely by the energy provided by the on board batteries, or by the solar panels covering the wing – a feat already achieved by a conventional airplane design in the form of Solar Impulse.
The company points out that such heavier-than-air airships provide numerous advantages over their lighter-than-air brethren. Firstly, no mooring infrastructure or ballast weight is required to keep the aircraft from floating away during loading or unloading, making them more practical for the remote locations in which they are designed to operate. Additionally, not relying on buoyancy for lift means the aircraft can be smaller than lighter-than-air aircraft carrying the same payload. They are also more structurally robust and more maneuverable and resistant to wind and weather conditions.
Small, medium, large
Solar Ship has designed three different concept aircraft, the smallest of which is the Caracal. This design has a claimed payload capacity of up to 750 kg (1,653 lb) for 2,500 km (1,553 miles) with a maximum speed of 120 km/h (75 mph).
Designed for remote areas where roads are a rarity and targeted at general, utility and ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance) markets, the Caracal can take off and land on strips as short as 50 m (164 ft) long but carrying the maximum payload requires strips of 100 m (328 ft).
Next step up in size is the mid-size Chui, which is targeted at ISR and cargo markets. Under solar power it can carry up to 2,500 kg (5,512 lb) over distances of up to 5,000 km (3,107 miles) at speeds of up to 100 km/h (62 mph). The take off and landing distances of the Chui are the same as the Caracal – 50 m (164 ft) empty and 100 m (328 ft) when fully loaded.
The third and largest Solar Ship class is the Nanuq, a dedicated cargo freighter designed to carry payloads of up to 30 tonnes (66,139 lb) for distances of up to 6,000 km (3,728 miles) at speeds of up to 120 km/h (75 mph). Empty the Nanuq can take off on strips 60 m (197 ft) long and land on strips 100 m (328 ft) long, while fully loaded requires a take off distance of 200 m (656 ft).
Solar Ship has already built and flown a 10 m (33 ft) prototype. The promotional video below provides a glimpse of the company’s vision for the future in which it sees a wide range of uses for its heavier-than-air aircraft, from delivery of urgent medical supplies to remote communities and disaster relief, to environmentalmonitoring and military applications.
… and with several company’s floating short take off hybrid airship platforms, this is definitely a space to watch over the next decade.
A miniature “kamikaze” drone designed to quietly hover in the sky before dive-bombing and slamming into a human target will soon be part of the US Army’s arsenal, officials say.
Dubbed the “Switchblade,” the robotic aircraft represents the latest attempt by theUnited States to refine how it takes out suspected militants.
Weighing less than two kilos, the drone is small enough to fit into a soldier’s backpack and is launched from a tube, with wings quickly folding out as it soars into the air, according to manufacturer AeroVironment.
Powered by a small electric motor, the Switchblade transmits video in real time from overhead, allowing a soldier to identify an enemy, the company said in a press release last month.
“Upon confirming the target using the live video feed, the operator then sends a command to the air vehicle to arm it and lock its trajectory onto the target,” it said.
The drone then flies into the “target,” detonating a small explosive.
The California-based firm also said the drone can be called off at the last moment, even after a kill mission has been ordered. That feature provides troops with “a level of control not available in other weapon systems,” it said.
The United States currently uses larger Predator and Reaper drones to hunt down suspected militants inPakistan and elsewhere.
The robotic planes fire powerfulHellfire missiles and drop heavy bombs that can cause civilian casualties and extensive damage, which has fueled popular anger with the United States in Pakistan.
In the war in Afghanistan, US and coalition troops fighting the the Taliban can call in artillery fire or air strikesfrom fighter jets and attack helicopters. But the heavy firepower has been blamed by Afghan leaders for claiming the lives of innocent civilians and strained US relations with Kabul.
The Switchblade, however, is touted as a way to avoid killing bystanders.
“Flying quietly at high speed the Switchblade delivers its onboard explosive payload with precision while minimizing collateral damage,” the company said.
The US Army in June approved a $4.9 million contract for AeroVironment to supply the new drones as soon as possible. Officials have not said how many Switchblade drones were ordered or when the robotic weaponswould make into the hands of US forces.
Human rightsgroups have raised concerns that the use of drones by the CIA has allowed the conduct of a secret assassination campaign abroad without public scrutiny and little oversight by lawmakers in Congress.
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