Bloomberg reports that Apple devices running iOS 6 or higher can be used, including the iPhone and iPad. Previously, the US Department of Defense approved Samsung devices earlier this month, as well as BlackBerry devices running BlackBerry 10. This makes Apple the third company to get security clearance at the Pentagon.

The recent approvals are expected to give BlackBerry a fight for government market share, a sector that BlackBerry has controlled for a long time now. With Apple and Samsung devices making their way into the Pentagon, it could spell even more trouble for the Canadian company, who has already been struggling in a world dominated by iOS and Android.

With the adoption of iPads alone, the US Air Force says they expect to save $50 million over 10 years, mostly due to the dropped weight of flight bags in planes in favor of lightweight iPads that would contain all of the flight manuals needed. American Airlines recently gaine approval for this same thing, so it makes sense that it would expand to the Air Force as well.

The Samsung Galaxy S 4 was approved earlier this month, and thanks to its new Knox security features, the US Department of Defense thinks that the new device is ready for Pentagon prime time, beating the iPhone and iPad to the punch, although that probably won’t stop iOS devices from being handed out as much as Samsung handsets. Either way, prepare for BlackBerry to lose a little grip in the government sector as Apple and Samsung are making their way inside.

SOURCE: Bloomberg

The X-47B is fully autonomous, meaning that it’s controlled automatically with computer software so that there doesn’t need to be a pilot to fly it, although someone could take control if need be. The new prototype drone is also designed specifically for aircraft carriers, and it’s made to take off and land just like a normal fighter jet would on an aircraft carrier.

The drone has a maximum altitude of over 40,000 feet with a range of more than 2,100 nautical miles. As for the speed of the drone, the Navy doesn’t disclose exact figures, but simply refers to its top speed as “high subsonic.” However, the drone is the size of a full-size fighter jet, and looks quite similar to a Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk.

There has been increasing controversy over drones, though, and some countries say that the drone strikes are causing widespread civilian deaths since they operate with little human interaction, but that doesn’t seem to be stopping the US military for advancing the program and sending out more drones overseas. Plus, people here in the US are even concerned themselves over the privacy issues that drones create.

In any case, the next step for the X-47B drone is to land on the aircraft carrier, which is a much more difficult task than taking off, but there’s already video proof of the new prototype drone making a test landing on the ground to see if it could land on such a short runway on an aircraft carrier, and from the looks of it, a landing looks very much possible at this point.

VIA: CBS News

SOURCE: Navy Live

Each of these lovely little flyers is a 5.9-pound aircraft with twin electric engines and a 3.75-foot wingspan. They’re each able to carry a one-pound payload that NASA chooses to fill with instrumentation that’ll allow them to study the volcano. Each of these planes is able to carry this payload for up to one hour inside a volcanic plume – important to keep in mind as this mission acts as another example of how military might can be used for civilian science purposes – a definite positive!

The full study had 10 total flights between March 11th and March 14th (of this year, 2013), each of them reaching above approximately 10,500 feet above sea level along the rim of the Torrialba summit crater. Flights reached up to 12,500 feet ASL, more than 2,000 feet above the Turrialba summit – hot stuff!

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, California’s own David Pieri, this project’s principal investigator and a research scientist, noted the dangers of missions such as these.

““It is very difficult to gather data from within volcanic eruption columns and plumes because updraft wind speeds are very high and high ash concentrations can quickly destroy aircraft engines. Such flight environments can be very dangerous to manned aircraft. Volcanic eruption plumes may stretch for miles from a summit vent, and detached ash clouds can drift hundreds to thousands of miles from an eruption site.” – Pieri

It’s important to note that each of these flying craft are retired military tools, and that they’re being used here to improve NASA satellite data as well as aviation safety in the end. Instrumentation aboard the craft included the following:

• USMC visible and infrared video cameras
• Sulfur dioxide and particle sensors
• Automatic atmospheric sampling bottles keyed to measure sulfur dioxide concentration

This same research center (Ames) will be working on this project with larger SIERRA unmanned aircraft as well, each of them working with what they characterize as a more sophisticated mass spectrometer so they’ll be able to measure a whole new set of gasses pluming forth from Turrialba. These larger craft weigh in at around 400 pounds (takeoff weight) and have the ability to carry a 100-pound payload.

[via NASA]

The cloak was developed by researchers at the University of Texas in Austin, with the material being wrapped around the cylinder you see in the image above. There’s a wrapping of copper and polycarbonate, with the copper being patterned, causing scattered light from the object and cloak to be cancelled out. In this case, the cloak successfully hides objects from microwaves, such as what is used by radars.

Before you get too excited at the thought of slipping into a thin sheet of invisibility and using it for various sorts of entertainment, realize that it doesn’t produce the same effect with visible light – yet, anyway. For now, the cloak can only hide objects from visible light that are a micrometer in size, meaning it is only effective if you need to hide a skin cell or two.

The project’s co-author Andrea Alu says that cloaking objects from visible light is possible, however. “In fact, metascreens are easier to realize at visible frequencies than bulk metamaterials and this concept could put us closer to a practical realization.” And with this device’s super thin design and use of conventional materials, it is both an exciting development in its own right, and also a glance at what the future holds.

[via Extreme Tech]

They are currently swimming around in the Black Sea in search of some other dolphins to mate with. Yury Plyachenko, a former Soviet naval anti-sabotage officer, stated that this is typical behavior coming from male dolphins. It is mating season, and they usually come back within a week. That’s not exactly reassuring since it’s been about 2 weeks and 2 days since the dolphins took off.

Before they were trained to be killers, these dolphins were in charge of civilian tasks like rehabilitating disabled children. The Ukrainian’s decided to re-train these dolphins in order to fend off enemy combat swimmers. They were fully trained to use weapons strapped to their heads. The dolphin training program originated in the USSR, and there they were taught how to find mines, or plant explosives onto enemy ships. After the breakup of the USSR, the dolphins were given to the Ukrainian Navy.

The Ukrainian Defense Ministry were quick to call these reports a lie. They stated that they were just “fabrications” and “gross provocations”. While that would be a good counter-argument, the killer dolphin training program has been caught on various Ukrainian media reports. Whatever the case may be, civilians (and ships) should probably stay away from the Black Sea for a little while.

[via RIA Novosti]

The Defense Department awarded a $3 million research contract to the California company to examine its Smart Mobile Identity biometrics identification package. The contract is over two years and at the end of the contract term the Department of Defense wants to see research to validate the concept the company is offering. Under the contract, AOptix will provide the DOD with the hardware peripheral and software solution able to turn commercially available smartphones into biometric scanning devices.

The hardware and software combination should be able to turn the industry available smartphones into something capable of scanning and transmitting data from the eyes, face, phones, and voice of a person of interest. Current systems the US military uses for recording biometric data require a soldier to bring the camera system very close to the subject. The new Smart Mobile Identity system has some ability to record this biometry data at a distance and has better specifications than the current Handheld Interagency Identity Detection System in use today.

The company plans to produce an accessory solution that will wrap around an existing phone to add biometry capabilities. The company hasn’t fully described the peripheral but does note that it shouldn’t impact the phones form factor significantly. The company goes so far as to say that a smartphone using its sensing device would weigh under a pound and only need one hand to operate.

[via Wired]

The single most expensive loss is probably that of a Reaper drone, which is capable of carrying both reconnaissance technology as well as Hellfire missiles for actively attacking remote targets. With a price tag of around £10m ($16m) it is yet to be replaced; it’s unclear whether it was hostile destruction, pilot error, a fault with the UAV itself, or problems recovering the downed hardware – all reasons for drone losses given by the MoD – that was at fault.

Far more common, however, are smaller drones falling out of service. 412 of the UK army’s Desert Hawk 3 drones – which resemble hobby airplanes – have been destroyed or otherwise lost in the half-decade period, while the Black Hornet and Tarantula Hawk “micro air vehicle”, both smaller models, have totalled 25 losses.

However, the MoD did admit to having lost nine of its Hermes 450 UAVs, costing £1m ($1.6m) apiece, a total of half its overall fleet. Work in Afghanistan has been responsible for the vast majority of Hermes 450 losses; the drone is not intended for active attack use, but instead for surveillance and communications backup.

In its defense, the MoD points out that drones are often used for reconnaissance in areas where manned investigation would previously have been relied upon, reducing the potential risk to soliders and technicians. It also says that no deaths or injuries – presumably of its own personnel – have resulted from UAV crashes or losses. Meanwhile, the potential risks involved in recovering a downed drone in unfriendly territory can often lead to the hardware being abandoned.

Earlier this month, US law enforcements conducted what is believed to be the first drone manhunt on US soil, searching for fugitive Christopher Dorner who was later killed outside of Los Angeles after a standoff with police. Last year, meanwhile, drone researchers revealed they had been working on nuclear-powered solutions for extended-deployment UAVs, which would be able to remain airborne for months at a time. However, the project apparently ended without prototypes being constructed.

The ARGUS camera system can be attached to the main pod of a drone, and once in action, the camera can capture images at 20,000 feet with a resolution of 1.8 gigapixels — so high-res in fact, that you can see what color shirt a pedestrian is wearing. It can’t quite make out facial features, but it’s able to spot a six-inch object within a 10-mile radius.

While DARPA doesn’t want to give anything away, they at least say that the imaging system consists of a collection of 368 sensors that are the same found in modern smartphones, but it’s the processing power that really makes the ARGUS stand out. The camera can also stream around 1 million terabytes of video, which is around 5,000 hours of HD footage per day.

Whether the ARGUS is currently deployed right now is unknown, and we can’t see what the camera looks like either. Overall, DARPA is keeping quiet on any future implementations of the imaging system, and they’re not telling us exactly how they can stream an exabyte of video per day. There’s got to be some crazy processing power on board, for which we know nothing about at this point.

[via ExtremeTech]

After the interceptor missile blasted off, the Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle, developed by Raytheon, was deployed and traveled to a designated point in space. In this particular test, there was no dummy target missile for the system to intercept. Instead, the kill vehicle executed a variety of preplanned maneuvers while collecting performance data in space.

The kill vehicle is designed to identify, lock on, and eliminate high-speed ballistic missile warheads while they are in space. The kill vehicle uses no explosives and destroys the missile by the sheer force of the impact. Raytheon calls the system hit to kill. The program has had failures in the past.

Flight testing of the defense system was suspended in early 2011 after an error resulted in a failed intercept during a test conducted in December of 2010. Program participants say that they used industry and government expertise to solve a complex technical issue related to what the kill vehicle experiences in space. This test is one of the steps to getting the system ready to resume intercept testing.

[via LA Times]

DARPA calls its new initiative the Phoenix program, and they’re looking to spend around $180 million to test technologies that will retrieve working parts from dead satellites and use them elsewhere. Essentially, DARPA wants to save money overall, and increase the return on investment with all of its satellites.

Essentially, DARPA will launch a robotic mechanic into space with a toolkit that will be able to mine dead satellites for parts. There would then be a separate launch of multiple mini-satellites, where the robotic mechanic would then connect the mini-satellites to the old satellite parts to create a whole new satellite of sorts.

The Phoenix program is actually already under way, and DARPA has given contracts to several companies to develop new technologies that will eventually be able to scrap old satellites for its parts. The agency is also seeking new proposals from interested companies starting next month. The first test that will find out whether the program will work or not will come in 2016, when it launches a demonstration mission to one of 140 dead satellites that DARPA has picked out for this mission. It’s a new technique that’s never been done before, so while we’d love it if the program went off without a hitch, there’s always the possibility that it might not work, but we’re keeping our fingers crossed hoping for the best.

The deal is for a total of three years, and will bring Microsoft products to approximately 1.5 million computers. Included under the licensing agreement is Office 2013 and SharePoint 2013 Enterprise, which will facilitate data sharing across the agencies. Both the Air Force and Army have been working alongside Microsoft to create AF Standard Desktop Configuration and Army Golden Master compliance for Microsoft’s OS.

According to Bloomberg, the Defense Department had seven bids come through for the contract, all from companies that have not been named. Ultimately, it went to Insight Public Sector, which is an Arizona-based Microsoft products reseller. Considering Windows’ lagging sales, the deal couldn’t have come at a better time for the company.

General Manager of Microsoft’s Department of Defense Business Tim Solms offered this statement. “Microsoft has longstanding relationships with the U.S. Army, the U.S. Air Force and DISA, and we are honored to expand our support of ongoing technology modernization efforts across all three organizations. This agreement enables us to provide the best technology tools to an incredibly broad range of servicemen and servicewomen across the DoD, and we are looking forward to implementing to support their mission goals.”

[via Microsoft]

According to the announcement, the same technology used to construct these mats will also be implemented into devices at the consumer level via gadgets and cars, as well as in unmanned systems and industrial platforms. According to the company’s CEO Chris Norris, the next decade will be one where consumers expect “transparently available” mobile power. There’s mention of using the charging mats in emergency situations, such as Hurricane Sandy, which left many without power.

The smallest charging mat is 4 ounces, and is said to be slightly larger than a piece of paper in terms of dimensions, in addition to being flexible and highly portable. All the chargers are designed to be rugged for both rough handling and harsh conditions. They’re specifically designed to be low-light sensitive, with the 10 watt version producing up to 60W/h per day in “strong solar climates.”

CEO Chris Norris offered this statement. “There are nearly limitless opportunities for always-available mobile power. We are initially targeting applications where the need is well understood and the opportunity is substantial. Over time, we see huge markets being enabled by this kind of mobile power.”

The project is called 100 Gb/s RF Backbone or 100G for short. The goal project is to provide the US military with networks needing no wires that are about 500 times faster than the current wireless links used. The project is seeking to give soldiers in the field fast connectivity with high bandwidth and low latency you might expect from a fiber-optic network.

Currently the military uses wireless system called Common Data Link, which is secure wireless protocol used for transmitting imagery, intelligence, orders, and other secure communications. Exact specifications on the current CDL system are unknown but it is believed max out at about 250 Mbps. DARPA wants the significantly faster 100 Gbps equipment to retain the same weight and power requirements of the existing system.

To put the speed DARPA is seeking in perspective, most home networks max out at around 100 Mbps making them about 1000 times slower than the 100 Gbps DARPA wants to achieve with its wireless system. DARPA system is expected to use the KU band. While the system is being developed for the military, I can certainly see the potential use for these in the commercial environment for extending broadband access in the US to rural communities where wires are not always available.

[via Extremetech]

The Orbital Test Vehicle, more commonly referred to as OTV-3, was delayed after a Delta 4 engine malfunctioned. The X-37B was sent into space via Atlas 5 rockets, but the launch was delayed while the cause of the Delta 4 engine’s malfunction was identified to ensure that it wasn’t something that could likewise affect the Atlas 5. Ultimately, the launch went off without a hitch.

The X-37B measures in at 8.8m long x 4.5m wide, while its payload measures 2.1m x 1.2m. What the payload is, precisely, is unknown. The space vehicle is about one-quarter the size of a space shuttle, and is a refurbished OTV-1, one of the few official pieces of information offered by the USAF. Its launch will “demonstrate a reliable, reusable, unmanned space test platform for the United States Air Force.”

Speculation has it that the hypothetical sensors being tested by the X-37B will be used in CubeSats, which are small, inexpensive satellites that can easily be tracked. Other sources murmur about possible space weapon deployment systems and spying platforms. Whatever its purpose, the X-37B has successfully been sent on its way.

[via MSNBC]

In fact, the only real purpose of the OTV-3 mission that the Air Force has publicly shared is its demonstration of reusability. The OTV-3 vehicle is actually the same unit as was used as OTV-1, refurbished and redeployed ”to demonstrate a reliable, reusable, unmanned space test platform for the United States Air Force.” OTV-1 returned to Earth in December 2010.

The Boeing Government Space Systems made X-37B is 8.8m long and 4.5m wide, with a 2.1 x 1.2m payload system that has been the cause of some controversy. While the Air Force has generally been vague as to its intentions, there has been speculation that the X-37B is intended as a spy platform or even as a space weapons deployment system.

Whatever the payload, the OTV-3 has been grounded for some months now, after a Delta 4 upper-stage engine underperformed during an October GPS satellite launch. Despite the fact that OTV-3 will use Atlas 5 rockets – with different engines – all launches were postponed while the cause of the flaw was hunted down.

“The ULA investigation has concluded that a fuel leak occurred in a specific area of the interior of the thrust chamber” the United Launch Alliance, manufacturer of the Delta 4 and Atlas 5 rockets, said in a statement, “and that this leak started during the first engine start sequence.” Both OTV-1 and OTV-2 were launched using Atlas 5 rockets.

OTV-1 spent 224 days in space, while OTV-2 returned to Earth in June this year after having spent 469 days in orbit. The second mission saw accusations that the autonomous craft was being used to spy on the Chinese Tiangong 1 unmanned spacelab.

[via Space]

The newest information here comes from – for the first time, mind you – the Air Force, Marine Corps, and DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency). These three Military branches have for the first time had their records shown to the public in all cases save for one. That one case is if these flights are only taking place inside their own “restricted airspace” – over their own military bases. Click the map below to see the live map via the EEF and Google Maps.

Across this map you’re going to be able to see drones of many types, with the Air Force testing cute little hand-launched Raven, Puma, and Wasp drones from Aerovironment on the short end. On the larger end you’ll find the scary types of drones, those being the Predator and Reaper drones you may have heard of flying missions overseas in live warzones.

Some of the lighter uses of drones you’ll be finding across the USA are straight from places like the University of Michigan where a “Flying Fish” drone can be found. This drone is made to float over open water for human tracking and is able to reposition itself through flight when it’s moved too far away from its original and intended spot. The U of Michigan also has a drone made to study “persistent solar-powered flight” and goes by the name YellowTale.

Have a peek up north in Minnesota and you’ll find two basic extremes, one of them being a flight that’s been cancelled due to “unacceptable risk” to the National Airspace System. The other you’ll find right near the border with North Dakota and is set for Customs & Border Protection – that one lists a Predator drone and an unknown drone, with the FAA not being especially clear on where the drones are being flown.

Keep your eye on the map and let us know if you find anything interesting as more information is added in the future!

[via The Verge]

These are the first EELV missions the company has scored, and they will take place in 2014 and 2015. The first mission is the Deep Space Climate Obervatory, DSCOVR for short, and the second is the Space Test Program 2, also known as STP-2. Both will be launched via SpaceX’s Falcon vehicles, marking a monumental occasion for the company.

DSCOVR will take off via a Falcon 9 in late 2014, with the STP-2 following shortly after in the middle of 2015 via a Falcon Heavy. Presently, they’re both slated to launch from the Space Launch Complex 40, although that could change as the time nears. Both DSCOVR and STP-2 are OSP-3 (Orbital/Suborbital Program-3) missions, which is a USAF contract meant to given new entries into the EELV a chance to strut their stuff.

SpaceX’s Chief Executive and Chief Designer Elon Musk offered this statement. “SpaceX deeply appreciates and is honored by the vote of confidence shown by the Air Force in our Falcon launch vehicles. We look forward to providing high reliability access to space with lift capability to orbit that is substantially greater than any other launch vehicle in the world.”

[via SpaceX]

The Navy has announced that it plans to begin replacing the dolphins with unmanned underwater vehicles starting in 2017. The dolphins use their unique echolocation capabilities to find underwater mines and warn personnel so the mines can be avoided or removed. The unmanned underwater vehicles that will place the dolphins will use a broadband sonar system to perform the same task.

The robotic underwater vehicles will use low-frequency broadband sonar to perform a similar task at a greater distance and for longer duration. The unmanned underwater vehicles will also be able to operate without the need for manned support boats or surface-based assistance that the Dolphins require.

The Navy likens its dolphin mine hunting program to programs that use dogs to detect bombs and drugs in airports and other locations around the world. The dolphins in the Navy’s program will be reassigned for other tasks. What exactly those tasks will be is unknown at this time.

[viaPCMag]

The US military has several robotic weapons systems that are capable of operating autonomously that are equipped with weapons. However, those weapons are controlled by humans when it comes time to attack a target. The same human rights groups want the designers of robots to enact a “code of conduct.” That sounds like an effort to prevent Skynet.

The fear is that numerous automated weapons systems in use around the world that currently identify, target, and give humans only a little time to decide whether the target is obliterated might be turned into fully automated systems. Some of those weapons systems may need only a software upgrade. The human rights groups say, “action is needed now, before killer robots cross the line from science fiction to feasibility.”

A ban on fully automated weapons systems would reportedly require a new and major arms treaty amongst nations. Those who support the ban point out that fully autonomous weapons systems wouldn’t be able to comply with international humanitarian law. Others believe that fully autonomous weapons systems could be more reliable than humans because people can make bad decisions under stress.

John McGinnis, a Northwestern University Law professor, suggests, “artificial-intelligence robots on the battlefield may actually lead to less destruction, becoming a civilizing force in wars.”

[via The Globe and Mail]

According to the Air Force, the original surveillance system wasn’t designed to track hundreds of thousands of smaller objects orbiting the planet. These small pieces of space debris threaten important satellites in orbit and pose a threat to the international space station and future space missions. The Air Force wants to begin constructing the first Space Fence site on the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands.

Construction on that initial facility will begin in the fall of 2013 with an initial operational capability hoped for 2017. If the proposal from Lockheed Martin is approved the contract would be worth $1.9 billion over a seven-year term. Space Fence is a ground-based S-band radar technology.

The goal of the Space Fence system is to enhance the capability of the United States to detect, track, measure, and catalog orbital objects and space debris with significantly improved accuracy and timeliness. The radar system also promises increased surveillance coverage. Lockheed Martin has already demonstrated a prototype Space Fence radar system and proved that the prototype could detect resident space objects.

The company has announced that it has been granted a contract in the US military’s search for a new Joint Light Tactical Vehicle worth $64.5 million. The multimillion-dollar contract is for Engineering, Manufacturing, and Development phase. Under the contract AM General will produce and deliver 22 prototype Blast Resistant Vehicle- Off road known as BRV-O for short.

I suspect these vehicles, if adopted in the military, will be called Bravo. The vehicles delivered under the new contract will be delivered to the government for testing. AM General says that the BRV-O is based on more than 10 years of investment in research, development, and testing for the next-generation vehicle. Prototype test vehicles have already racked up 300,000 operational test miles.

The vehicle has proven to be highly reliable and maintainable during testing. One key feature of the BRV-O is modular armor and a crew capsule that has proven to be effective at protecting soldiers during government-supervised blast testing. Other features of the vehicle include a fuel-efficient high-performance engine, self-leveling suspension, a C4ISR backbone with open standard network architecture and clustered super-computing power, and other advanced components.

Again we’re speaking with mc10 co-founder Ben Schlatka, and for those of you looking for more information on getting in contact with the crew, you can head to their page over at mc10inc.com – and tell em SlashGear sent ya! Have a peek here at our very brief but very informative conversation below.

[Q] How do you see wearable technology fitting in with the rather mobile consumer landscape of today ?

[Ben Schlatka] There is increasingly strong market demand to measure everything about the body. And there are a number of wearable devices available that are trying to address this need. Unfortunately, most of these devices are bulky and uncomfortable to wear, and the quality of the data they provide varies widely.

MC10 is reshaping conventional rigid high-performance electronics into ultra-thin form factors that conform to the body. Imagine a kids’ fake tattoo that can sense how our bodies work: data from the heart, the brain, muscles, body temperature – even hydration levels. When a sensing technology conforms to the consumer and not the other way around, it can capture more insights for longer periods of time without discomfort or distraction.

[Q] I understand you’ve just secured an R&D contract for Wearable Electronics for the Battlefield with NSRDEC [US Army Natick Soldier Research, Development, and Engineering Center] – could you talk a little bit about that?

[S] This is an exciting project, we’re working with the NSRDEC to develop a renewable power source that extends the capabilities of soldiers in the field. The modern soldier carries lots of high-tech gear but they can’t be effective if the devices run out of power. We’re developing solar cells that are integrated directly into the fabric of helmets and rucksacks so devices can be charged and ready to use at all times. And it sure beats lugging a battery around in addition to the gear our troops already carry.

Now imagine the design freedom this technology provides. Something like your jacket can serve the same purpose. As you go about your day, your jacket is collecting energy that you can use to charge your phone or other portable electronic devices. You no longer have to search the coffee shop or airport lounge for a free outlet.

This is where the technology is heading, and it’s not too far off in the future.

[Q] How do you predict wearable technology will reach the mainstream?

[S] Wearable technologies will only go mainstream if they can be virtually invisible to the user. If your sleep monitor is bulky and keeps you from falling asleep, what good is it? If your doctor wants you to monitor your hear rate and it requires wearing an uncomfortable device, what are the odds you’ll actually comply?

Today we conform to our electronics without even thinking much about it, we’ve adapted because the pros outweigh the cons. But as electronics increasingly conforms to us, the barriers to adoption decrease.

[Q] Are there examples of mc10 that are live and out in the wild right now that you’d like to share?

[S] Nothing ‘in the wild’ until later this year, we’re developing a new device with Reebok that is expected to launch in 2012. We’ve also convened a team of accomplished athletes and experts across a variety of sports to help us shape the next generation of athletic performance monitoring.

We are also really excited about the important role our technology can play empowering people to play a more active role in staying healthy. Given the skyrocketing cost of healthcare, it’s clear we need smarter, cheaper ways to monitor health status outside of the hospital. Today, we learn about our health very occasionally and episodically; as a result, we access care in a costly setting, often when a condition has worsened to extreme levels. By providing continuous access to high-quality biofeedback at an affordable cost, MC10 is empowering people to take more ownership of their health, and to take action in real-time, accessing care only if and when it’s needed.

“There was nothing real secretive about it,” US Navy Test Engineer Matt Funk said of the drone, “but we didn’t go out of our way to publicize it.”

The drone itself, an X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System (UCAS) made by Northrop Grumman, is entirely remote instructed and the first of a new breed of air surveillance and attack systems expected to be increasingly commonplace in the coming years. Commanded remotely from a computer system – that will eventually be on an aircraft carrier, the Navy says – the UCAS can also return to base autonomously should it lose connection with its controller.

Unlike existing drones, the X-47B doesn’t require continuous controlling from a human operator, but is instead given a flight target and relied on to get itself there and back. There are “space, weight and power provisions for weapons and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance sensors,” Northrop says, but the current prototypes are not equipped with weaponry.

Its otherworldly looks make it a good candidate for something from outer-space. At 62.1ft wide and 38.2ft long, with distinctive kinked and truncated wings (that fold up to reduce width), the X-47B is more science-fiction at first glance than warfare-fact. Northrop Grumman says it will have a range of over 2,100nm and a maximum altitude of over 40,000ft, with “high subsonic” speed potential. It will also support in-flight refueling for continuous missions.

A 36 minute test flight at the end of July saw the X-47B fly at a maximum altitude of 7,500 feet and a maximum air speed of 180 knots. It’s worth roughly $800m, and will begin aircraft carrier testing in 2013.

This week the investigations panel of the House Homeland Security Committee held a hearing on how civilian operation of drones could affect the security of American airspace. According to panel chairman, Republican Michael McCall, the panel needs to ensure that the current vulnerabilities are mitigated before the drone is put to use.

The big challenge moving forward is that the FAA and the Department of Homeland Security don’t have a set of requirements or certification system in place to ensure that drones aren’t subject to hacking or GPS spoofing. Wired reports that some drone makers have their own systems in place to prevent GPS spoofing, yet surprisingly some drone manufacturers feel it’s not their place to secure the systems and others were reportedly surprised that their systems could be spoofed.

“The Department of Homeland Security mission is to protect the homeland. Unfortunately, DHS seems either disinterested or unprepared to step up to the plate,” said McCall, noting that representatives from the DHS declined to testify at the hearing.

[via Wired]

According to the terms of the contract, the company will be responsible for developing three of the six components that make up the Integrated Personal Electronics suite in the Air Soldier System. Perhaps most importantly, this includes the Soldier Computer Module, which serves as the processing unit for the whole system. Also included in Raytheon’s responsibilities are the development of the Personal Display Module and the Mission Display Module, which provide a user interface for the system and mission and navigation information respectively.

Raytheon Technical Services Company President John Harris took some time today to comment on the improvements found in this iteration of the Air Soldier System. “Among other developments, the Air Soldier System will be lighter, last longer and provide more integrated controls,” he said. “This translates to enhanced situational awareness that better supports the mission.”

[via Raytheon]

The X-37B is the longest space mission behind the NASA Discovery shuttle program. The spacecraft is designed to perform risk reduction, experimentation, and concept of operations development for reusable space technologies according to the Air Force.

The X-37B program was originally a NASA initiative and was later transferred to DARPA in 2004. The spacecraft first launched in 2006. The space vehicle weighs 11,000 pounds and is about one-fourth the size of the space shuttle. The spacecraft was designed to take experiments into orbit and return them safely.

“The vehicle was designed for a mission duration of about 270 days,” said Lt. Col. Tom McIntyre, the X-37B program manager. “We knew from post-flight assessments from the first mission that OTV-1 could have stayed in orbit longer. So one of the goals of this mission was to see how much farther we could push the on-orbit duration.”

The naval section of the military has announced that by the end of the year, three of its ships will be outfitted with 4G LTE connectivity, making it possible for sailors to go online with their smartphones – something that has been a pipe dream for so many until now. The USS Kearsarge, the USS San Antonio, and the USS Whidbey Island are the ones chosen for the initial rollout, with more planned if the move is successful.

The service is being installed by military contractor BATS Wireless. “What we’ve collectively developed is a ruggedized, ocean-going LTE network similar to what you’d find with telecom providers like Verizon or AT&T. The biggest difference being that it can expand, contract, and move seamlessly; delivering critical data and communications to the soldiers who need it most,” BATS said in a statement.

[via Wired]

The system allows geo-tagging using the standard military grid reference system and frame stamped high-definition video recording. The video can be geo-located and is accurate within 7 m and the iPhone or iPad can be attached permanently or temporarily the high-end military optics, weapons, or other equipment. The company notes that its hardware and app isn’t specifically for the iPhone or the iPad. The company says it’s also excited about Windows phones, Android, the Lumia 9000, and the Nokia PureView.

One of the coolest functions of the system is that the screen of the iPhone or iPad can display images using night-vision technology allowing a soldier to see in the dark and get information right on the screen of the device about target. The smartphone or tablet turns into a special heads up display offering better situational awareness and more viewability as well as offering the ability to record video for commanding officers. The [SOA]2 system includes a multiuse optics case integrator, adapter rings machined from a virtually unbreakable and lightweight material called Ultem 2300, Hoodman System Accessories, a proprietary software platform that has a range of special operations tactical navigation apps and more.

US Night Vision’s vice president of sales and marketing, Chris Byrd, said “With [SOA]2 and USNV Hardware, warfighters can use their smart devices as a calibrated, heads-up display for optics to improve situational awareness. No longer will they have to squint through a scope and close one eye — or be locked into goggles.”

An ongoing auction- at just over $100,00 at time of writing – will see Sea Shadow sold off as scrap to the highest bidder. Set to end on Friday, the sale also includes the vast Hughes Mining Barge-1 (HMB-1) in which the stealth ship was constructed from independently commissioned parts, so as to escape the watchful eye of Russian spy satellites. It also served as the ship’s garage and, post-2006, its warehouse as the Navy attempted to find a long-term home.

Despite several interested parties, no museum placement could be found for Sea Shadow. Although it is visually distinctive, its limited interior space – a side-effect of the radar-slipping design – makes it poorly suited to the sort of public tours museums might want to conduct.

The winner of the auction will have to operate under strict security guidelines in dismantling the ship, as per usual naval practice. Although it must be removed from its current berth - along with the barge housing it – within thirty days of closing, the scrapping process itself must take place within the US and with full monitoring by the US government.

Built by Lockheed Martin, Sea Shadow borrowed stealth technologies from radar-avoiding planes such as the F-117 Nighthawk, including various absorbent materials and steeply-bowed sides that scatter radar signals. A catamaran, it has a propeller, aft stabilizer and inboard hydrofoil at the end of each strut, with crew space for twelve inside. Although never – as far as publicly known – equipped with live weaponry, the concept was that such a ship could covertly approach enemy ships and territory and gain a great tactical advantage.

There’s more information on Sea Shadow at Wikipedia, and a photographic tour of the ship here.

[via The Sacramento Bee]

US law only requires that carriers allow military personnel to suspend their wireless service without penalty while they’re deployed. AT&T has taken its service a step further now by letting deployed military personnel unlock their iPhones even under contract so that their devices can be used abroad with a SIM card from overseas carriers.

The unlocking service is offered upon request along with proof of military order. Although AT&T hasn’t responded with any official statements regarding the unlocking service for deployed military personnel, some user reports from their own experiences dealing with customer service seem to confirm the new policy. If you’re in active duty, it certainly wouldn’t hurt to give AT&T a call to see if your situation qualifies.

The new system will be deployed on Fire Scout drones, which have already been helpful at catching cocaine smugglers at sea. With the added 3D radar scanning technology, the drones will be able to automatically compare the 3D images of boats to those of pirate boat profiles on record. This capability will ease the work load on Navy sailors, who would otherwise have to manually comb through an overwhelming amount of data.

The new technology improves on the traditional targeting and infrared imaging, which were less exact. The first test of the new MMSS system with LADAR is set to take place this summer using seven small boats off the coast of California.

[via LiveScience]

BAE systems has researched and developed a new liquid-gel based armor. BAE use a shear-thickening fluid that flows just like traditional liquids, but hardens on sudden impacts or when stress is applied. When hit with a bullet, the gel hardens to the point where it stops all movement.

While Kevlar is known to be five times stronger than steel, and can stop a bullet effectively, it can leave severe bruising and minor injuries. All of the energy of the bullet is focused into one spot, which Kevlar does very little to prevent. The gel-based armor, meanwhile, spreads that energy out over the entire surface.

BAE say that they can put ten layers of the gel between two layers of Kevlar in order to create a lightweight armor that can withstand a bullet from a 10mm pistol. The amount of protection can also be increased to withstand larger bullets, like from an AK-47. Even that would be lighter than traditional body armor, allowing greater freedom of movement, as well as being cooler.

[via Geek]

The team of Sandia-Northrop Grumman are working with patented drone technology that works with a helium-cooled nuclear reactor. This patent comes from all the way back in 1986, while similar nuclear-powered aircraft patents are known to have been filed as early as the 1950s. The team notes that these kinds of nuclear drones have been able to bring both longer surveillance time and enough power to do more research whilst in flight than ever before as well.

This project has inspected and tested power systems ranging from large to medium sized drones and has, it appears, settled on a nuclear solution at this time. Though reports show that the project is now “completed” in some aspects, it appears that there may be no real future for an actual, working drone for the time being. Sandia reports:

“Sandia is often asked to look at a wide range of solutions to the toughest technical challenges. The research on this topic was highly theoretical and very conceptual. The work only resulted in a preliminary feasibility study and no hardware was ever built or tested. The project has ended.” – Sandia

Concerns for the project mostly came from a crashed vehicle, as if it were to fall into enemy hands or fall into a civilian area, complications could arise. Thus is also the problem with any and all drones flown for military purposes, but in this case the danger of the plane effectively becoming a “dirty bomb” appear to have been too great.

[via Guardian]

The Epic Games’ Unreal Engine 3 was licensed through reseller Virtual Heroes via the Unreal Government Network (UGN) that sponsors gaming projects for government partners. Through UGN, the FBI will use the Unreal Engine to develop multiplayer crime scene simulation games to train agents and recruits.

Virtual Heroes also has a partnership with the IARPA, which would mean more widespread use of the Unreal Engine 3 for intelligence agency training through IARPA’s Sirius program. The Sirius program develops “serious games” that train decision-making by intelligence personnel.

The Army has already been using the Unreal Engine 3 for soldier training, but it will soon be using the engine for two medical training simulations. One is a medical education and training program called HumanSim, while the other is for anesthesiology training for Army physicians.

[via InfoWeek]

The surgery was funded by the U.S. Navy in hopes that the technique can help injured soldiers in the future. The operation lasted 36 hours in Norris’ case and 72 hours overall with multiple transplants going from one donor to five different people. So far, the transplant was a success.

Doctors say that Norris is recovering well and has already brushed his teeth and shaved. Norris will have to take anti-rejection drugs for the rest of his life to prevent his body from rejecting the new face. Norris is said to have regained his sense of smell from the operation, which included underlying nerves and muscles.

[via BBC]

When taxiing on the ground, military personnel use a very strict set of hand gestures to tell the pilot where to move and various other commands like openin weapon bays or cutting their engines. Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Yale studied these universally accepted hand gestures and tried to see if a computer could recognize them without error.

The scientists created a program that can record body, arm, wrist, and hand/finger positions. During the earliest trials, it was able to recognize the correct command 76% of the time. That obviously wouldn’t cut it in any sort of real-world application, but it’s a pretty darn good starting point. Ultimately, military officials and researchers believe it will one day be common practice to turn the human process of signaling and interpreting hand gestures into a computer-controlled process.

[via New Scientist]

Neutrinos are described as particles that have very little mass and travel close to the speed of light. Naturally, the message beamed in testing through the 780 foot chunk of rock said “Neutrino” when received on the other side. The technology has significant implications and could possibly allow communication between any two points on earth without having to use satellites or cables.

The military implications for such technology are pretty obvious. Neutrinos are able to penetrate almost any substance they encounter. The tech is particularly appealing for submarine communication use in the military because communicating through water is difficult even with modern technology. The neutrino beam can even be used to communicate with other planets.

[via The State Column]

DARPA are hoping that the satellites, aimed to cost around $500,000 each, would allow crucial mapping information to be sent in less than 90 minutes. In a statement, the agency said:

We envision a constellation of small satellites, at a fraction of the cost of airborne systems, that would allow deployed warfighters to hit ‘see me’ on existing handheld devices and in less than 90 minutes receive a satellite image of their precise location to aid in mission planning.

Right now, the plan consists of 24 satellites that would be able to stay in Earth’s low orbit for around two to three months before burning up on re-entry. DARPA say the plan would require manufacturers to take advantage of rapid production techniques currently used in the smartphone industry.

Right now the U.S Military makes use of unmanned drones in order to provide reconnaissance, although DARPA argues that drones cannot cover large areas of land without extensive refueling. The other problem is that there simply aren’t enough drones to go around to all the armed forces, and bandwidth requirements makes it difficult to get images back to the front line. DARPA have invited manufacturers to discuss the plan, and have organized a “Proposers Day” on March 27th.

[via BBC]

The craft launched aboard an Atlas 5 rocket. This week marked the one-year anniversary of the spacecraft orbiting the planet performing a still secret mission. So far, the USAF has only said that the craft is performing top-secret experiments. We have no indication of when the X-37B might return to earth.

X-37B number one spent 224 days orbiting the planet before landing on December 3, 2010 at Vandenberg Air Force Base. Amateur astronomers have noted that the second X-37B is in an orbit that is very similar to US spy satellites. Some think the USAF may be using the spacecraft to keep certain countries under close scrutiny.

“We are very pleased with the results of ongoing X-37B experiments,” Lt. Col. Tom McIntyre, Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office, said this week. “The X-37B program is setting the standard for a reusable space plane and, on this one-year orbital milestone, has returned great value on the experimental investment. Upon completion of all objectives we look forward to bringing the mission to a safe, successful conclusion.”

[via Santamariatimes]

Firefighting robots that exist now are, at their core, basically just like Roombas. They roll around on wheels to perform a function (in this case, dousing flames). The basic functionality and operability of Roomba is actually a pretty common standard seen in military-grade robots. When it comes to humanoid robots, that’s still very much a concept that exists in laboratories.

But on its way out of that laboratory environment is the Shipboard Autonomous Firefighting Robot, or SAFFiR as he’s better known. He walks on two legs but is sturdy enough to almost never be knocked over, and he can be remotely controlled to movie just like a normal human. The goal is to implement him in situations where he could walk down parts of Navy vessels that have caught on fire, a concern that is of utmost importance to the military because of the confined nature of Navy ships. He’s still in testing phases and won’t be put into practical applications until next year, but it is interesting to see the advancement of military robotics.

[via MSNBC]