Weaponsblog

Airports started to check for liquid explosives when a plot to bomb airplanes using liquid explosives was uncovered in the United Kingdom.

I told you some time ago that the Transportation Security Administration can scan your carry bags with their Multi-View X-Ray Devices for some liquid explosives.
Such X-Ray based devices can detect the presence of liquid explosives but along with it they can also give false alarms.

A company based in Stillwater, OK, has developed a detector for Hydrogen-Peroxide that is the main ingredient of a liquid bomb. The device is so sensitive that it can detect the presence of the ingredient in a factory sealed container.
The detector is based on chemical films, which can sense minute amount of vapor of the chemical. The films are specially formulated and they start to glow if they detect the presence of Hydrogen Peroxide and any of its compounds.

The device has a simple design that makes it efficient for use in an Airport.

Via: technologyreview

British Security and Military contractor, QinetiQ has unveiled the first ever system of self-organizing UAVs.

In the recent test and demo the company made an autonomous BAC1-11 twin-jet plane to control a group of UAVs to carry out a simulated ground attack on a moving target.

During the trial run the company had some humans on board the BAC1-11 to prevent any disaster if the program had any failures.

The company fitted the BAC1-11 with some of its previous inventions such as a Millimeter Wave Scanning device and a tiny GPS tracking unit, which altogether resulted in a UAV squadron.

Via: engadget

Use of lethal weapons is always avoided on the citizens during local protests. However, there must be something to stop them.

Military and police forces have started concentrating on the use of nonlethal weapons. These weapons make use of radio waves of different frequencies and do not cause any lasting effects. One such system brought into implementation is Active Denial System (ADS), which fires pain-inducing beams of 95-GHz radio waves. These waves only produce a sensation of burning at the target’s skin and do not really burn them. The weapon is efficient to retreat the mob.
A stripped down version of ADS is Silent Guardian, which uses a joystick and a targeting screen to induce the pain up to 250 yards and is available now. Researchers at the University of Nevada are looking for a better technology, which can immobilize targets without causing pain. This technology uses microwaves instead of radio waves. The 75 to 6 GHz frequency thrown by this weapon is intended to affect skeletal muscle contractions by blocking the release of neuro-transmitters.

The working of this new technology has not yet been tested, but if successful, the technology will not only be good for weapons but would also play a vital role in medical treatment of patients with neurological disorders, neuromuscular disorders and chronic pain.

Via: popularmechanics

While the Israeli Military is busy making some robotic Bombs called ‘Bionic Hornet’, Scientists at the U.S. Weapons Laboratory commented that they have trained bees to detect explosives. The new program will have great applications in the U.S. homeland security and the Iraq War.

Researchers at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico have claimed that they have supervised an 18-month training campaign for the bees and have been successful in training them to stick out their proboscis when they smell any type of explosives in cars and belts similar to those used by suicide bombers.

They have done this by exposing the insects to the odor of explosives ranging from Dynamite and C-4 plastic explosives to the Howitzer propellant grains used in improvised explosive devices. The bees were lured to do the task as they got sugar water in reward.

Researchers commented that bees could be easily carried in hand-held detectors the size of a shoe box and can be used to sniff out explosives in any type of environment. They also said that their next step will be to train the security guards in their use.

Via: reuters

While we all started that the U.S. Submarine fleet is diminishing as they are spending more money and technology in searching for Osama as he might not be hiding some where on the ocean floors, they have proved us wrong.

The USS Jimmy Carter that is a Seawolf-class nuclear submarine has been modified into a spy ship.

The submarine was commissioned in February and will now serve as a weapon near the enemy shores. The submarine will use fiber-optic cables and deliver Navy Seals into enemy posts. The sub can also directly attack enemy ships and other land targets.

Via: popsci

Not only modern gadgets, such as the PMPs and cell phones, are going smaller but, now, even modern weapons are coming in their minute versions.

iHurt is .17 Caliber Mini-Browning that can easily be recognized the world’s smallest automatic machine gun ever, which is about a foot long in size. Though, the gun is apparently small in size, it can hit with immense force.
Watch the video after jump:

Via: gizmodo

Weapons made for wars do not last long and are replaced by latest ones. This is mandatory, as a war cannot be won with old weapons based on outdated technologies. But Navy’s Aegis radar is working consistently even after 20 years of its manufacture. The radar coupled with Raytheon SM-3 missile is still one of military ballistic missile defense systems working up to the mark. The radar was built by Lockheed Martin to defend aircraft carriers from Soviet missile attacks.

The main reason behind the success of this radar is its raw power and smart program management. It has adopted a commercial open architecture in order to keep up with rapid advancements in computing which makes it equipped with modern technologies and ready to meat ever-increasing pace of technological development.

Via: defensetech

Unmanned aerial vehicles are becoming more and more popular with the military forces all around the world. But the only hindrance is that these UAVs need skilled operators. Now, MIT researchers have developed a multiple-UAV test platform which can be controlled by anyone with a speedy Internet connection.

The interesting part is that these unmanned helicopters can stay in air for around a week and come back to the base for recharging their batteries. Jonathan How, an associate professor at MIT cited:

Ultimately, when you are taking these devices out into real-world applications, you want people to perform a task like surveillance of the border. You don’t want them spending a lot of time figuring out how to fly the vehicle.

Each UAV that costs about $700 is networked to a PC. The test platform comprises five minuscule “quadrotor” helicopters with four whirling blades. There is a indoor positioning system and many tiny autonomous ground vehicles that can be tracked by the UAVs. A video camera attached to the UAV makes use of a visual target to find out the vehicle’s distance to the landing platform. This tech can be further used to land these UAVs on a ship at sea.

Read more about MIT’s intelligent aircraft

Via: Primidi

The United States Special Forces have been well known for its best equipments and latest warfare.

CV-22 Ospreys will soon join the list. The Air Force’s newest addition, the CV-22 Osprey, has been in the limelight since its arrival in March. What makes the CV-22 so unique is something no other aircraft in the world can do. Its tiltrotor capability allows the aircraft to travel long distances at speeds similar to a C-130, but take off and land like a helicopter. This capability of this aircraft makes it the best suited for adverse conditions like landing on mountains or anywhere it finds a dry spot. The aircraft can also travel long distances without need of refueling.
Bell-Boeing will provide performance-based support for the first nine production CV-22s for aircraft maintenance, reliability, supply and repairs, technical data and interactive electronic technical manuals, engineering, information technology, field service and logistics support.
As the Osprey enters the force in the years ahead, the Forces plans to trim their weapon program to maintain a steady economy of 3% defense spending.

Via: gizmag

Israeli military has always faced problems in fighting with suicide bombers of the Lebanese guerrilla. They have certainly realized that their big destructive weapons have adverse effect on civilian population. In a recent war with Lebanon, more civilians have died as compared to the fighters. Therefore, this analysis has diverted their interest towards the use of smaller weapons.

They have started to make a robot dubbed the “bionic hornet,” which (if completed) will be extremely small and will be efficient to hunt, photograph and kill individual opponents. The scale of the robot will require nanotechnology to develop its parts.

Certain other warfares are also to be designed like strength-boosting gloves, and sensors designed to warn of suicide bombers. These small but efficient weapons may join the Israeli military within the next three years.

Via: electronista