Archive for the 'War' Category
Unmanned Systems Integrated Roadmap 2013-2038
December 28th, 2013Via: U.S. Department of Defense: 4.1.5 Autonomy and Cognitive Behavior Nearly all unmanned systems require active control of basic vehicle operations and behavior that affects communications, manpower, and system effectiveness. One of the largest cost drivers in the budget of DoD is manpower. A significant amount of that manpower, when it comes to operations, is […]
Mikhail Kalashnikov, Soviet Inventor of the AK-47, Dies at 94
December 23rd, 2013Via: Time: Mikhail Kalashnikov, the Soviet general who designed the ubiquitous automatic weapon that now bears his name, died Dec. 23 at the age of 94. Iterations of the gun he invented now exist in the tens of millions, making it the most popular rifle in the wars of the latter half of the twentieth […]
Pentagon Spending Billions of Dollars on Accounting Boondoggles; Yes, Trillions Still Missing
December 23rd, 2013Black hole. Via: Reuters: With its efforts to build reliable accounting systems in disarray, the Pentagon isn’t likely to meet a congressionally mandated 2017 deadline to be audit-ready. All other federal agencies are audited annually, in accordance with a 1990 law, and with rare exceptions, they pass every year. The Pentagon alone has never been […]
Google-Owned SCHAFT Robot Won DARPA Robotics Challenge
December 22nd, 2013Via: Slashgear: The Google-owned Japanese robotics company SCHAFT has won the DARPA Robotics Challenge Trials by a wide margin. It scored 27 out of 32 points, beating its nearest competitor IHMC Robotics by seven points. Coming up third was Tartan rescue with 18 points, and MIT following that with 16 points. The contest took place […]
Saab Wins Brazil Jet Deal After NSA Spying Sours Boeing Bid
December 18th, 2013Via: Reuters: Brazil awarded a $4.5 billion contract to Saab AB on Wednesday to replace its aging fleet of fighter jets, a surprise coup for the Swedish company after news of U.S. spying on Brazilians helped derail Boeing’s chances for the deal. The contract, negotiated over the course of three presidencies, will supply Brazil’s air […]
Japan Boosts Military Forces to Counter China
December 17th, 2013Via: BBC: Japan’s cabinet has approved a new national security strategy and increased defence spending in a move widely seen as aimed at China. Over the next five years, Japan will buy hardware including drones, stealth aircraft and amphibious vehicles. The military will also build a new marine unit, an amphibious force capable of retaking […]
U.S. Weighing Closer Ties With Hardline Islamists in Syria
December 17th, 2013Via: Foreign Policy: As the moderate faction of the Syrian rebellion implodes under the strain of vicious infighting and diminished resources, the United States is increasingly looking to hardline Islamists in its efforts to gain leverage in Syria’s civil war. The development has alarmed U.S. observers concerned that the radical Salafists do not share U.S. […]
The 6,000-Page Report on CIA Torture Has Now Been Suppressed for 1 Year
December 16th, 2013Via: The Atlantic: It cost $40 million to produce, documents serious wrongdoing, and doesn’t threaten national security. Team Obama won’t release it.
The Soviet Union’s $1 Billion ‘Psychotronic’ Arms Race with the U.S.
December 16th, 2013Via: Medium: During the Cold War, the US and the Soviet Union battled on many fronts to demonstrate their superior technical and scientific achievements. Some of these battles are well known and well documented, such as the race to put a human in space and then on the Moon. Others are much less well known. […]
U.S. Government Lobotomized 2,000 Veterans
December 16th, 2013Via: Army Times: The U.S. government lobotomized roughly 2,000 mentally ill veterans — and likely hundreds more — during and after World War II, according to a cache of forgotten memos, letters and government reports unearthed by The Wall Street Journal. “They got the notion they were going to come to give me a lobotomy,” […]
