China And Russia Are Rushing To Build The Next Generation Of Weapons

A MiG-31 interceptor equipped with the supersonic Kinzhal missile. © Yevgeniy Biyatov / Sputnik

USNI News: Pentagon Research Chief Nominee: China, Russia Racing to Develop Next Generation Weapon Technology

The nominee for the Pentagon’s first research and engineering chief warned a Senate panel that China and Russia risk outpacing the U.S. in key technology areas like artificial intelligence and hypersonic.

Former defense executive, DARPA program manager and NASA associate administrator Lisa Porter told the Senate Armed Services Committee said platforms like U.S. aircraft carriers would be at risk from a weapon moving five times the speed of sound and “you can’t see it, you can’t take it down.”

Using space as another example of new challenges, Porter said, “I believe Russia and China hold our assets [satellites] at risk” and they see “it as a domain where they need to take away our advantage.”

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More News On China And Russia Rushing To Build The Next Generation Of Weapons

China Rapidly Building Advanced Arms for Use Against U.S. -- Washington Free Beacon
Here's where major military powers stand in the global hypersonic arms race -- CNBC
Major powers starting to deploy hypersonic weapons -- Asia Times
Russia Inducts its Own 'Carrier Killer' Missile, and It's More Dangerous than China's -- The Diplomat
US falls behind Russia and China in race to develop hypersonic weapons -- Washington Times
US accelerating hypersonic weapons development to catch up with China, Russia -- Space Daily

DoD Panel Pushes U.S. Weapons Tech To Allies

New DoD Panel Pushes Weapons Tech To Allies -- Aol Defense

WASHINGTON: The Pentagon is pushing hard to get weapons technologies into the hands of U.S. allies and a new advisory panel will help the department do just that.

The new Technology Security and Foreign Disclosure Office created by Deputy Defense Secretary Ash Carter will help "ensure DoD-wide planning for building partner capacity [by] taking into account these processes early in the planning process in an integrated, standardized, and institutionalized manner," he wrote in a Jan. 9 memo. The panel will help DoD "assess potential benefits of building allied and friendly nation partner capability efforts [and] advance our political and military objectives," according to the memo. At the same time, the panel's actions will maintain "U.S. operational and technological advantages and [protect] critical technology from diversion to potential adversaries," it adds.

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My Comment: This is a major reversal in policy. I guess with the domestic defense budget being cut back, the defense contractors now want to make money abroad. Hmmmm ... does this mean that the F-22 will be up for sale to our allies? Probably not.

Air Weapons That Will Blow You Away

Mach-5 Cruise Missile. Photo: Boeing

Mini-Nukes, Flying ‘Terminators,’ and 8 More Air Weapons That Will Blow You Away -- Danger Room

Even the most high-tech warplane in the world is useless without its weapons. From the earliest days of aerial combat, fighter planes succeeded or failed depending on the accuracy, lethality and reliability of their machine guns, cannons, rockets and bombs. That's why the U.S. military is hard at work on a dizzying array of pricey new guided munitions to match its trillion-dollar investment in stealth fighters, bombers and killer drones. Some are super smart. Others, super fast. A few are designed to be tiny. All of them have one purpose: to blow away the target, and only the target.

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My Comment: An impressive array of weapons.

The Explosive Force Of Weapons Are About To Increase

Revolutionary Material Dramatically Increases Explosive Force of Weapons -- Science Daily

ScienceDaily (Aug. 10, 2011) — A revolutionary material that will replace steel in warhead casings will bring added lethality and increase the likelihood of a hit on an enemy target, the Office of Naval Research (ONR) announced August 10.

By combining several metals with standard manufacturing techniques, High-Density Reactive Material (HDRM) has the potential to dramatically increase the explosive impact of most weapons with little or no compromise in strength or design.

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My Comment: For more info on how U.S. military munitions will become even more deadlier, go here.

Weapon Systems That Reduce Collateral Damage

Photo: CBU-107 Passive Attack Weapon

5 Weapons Systems to Reduce Collateral Damage -- Popular Mechanics

In the early days of the coalition air war over Libya, finding and destroying ground vehicles was easy because they were moving through the open desert. As the campaign progressed, Muammar Gaddafi's forces nestled closer to cities—and civilian buildings—to gain protection. Tactics like these in Iraq and Afghanistan have crated a boom industry in weapons that can strike targets without causing collateral damage. Technology has come a long way, and these are five of the best weapon technologies to do it. But the fact is air strikes will always come with a price.

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My Comment: Small and accurate is the new big thing for weapon designers and policy makers.

A New Grenade Launcher Is Headed To Afghanistan

The XM-25 Smart Computerized Grenade Launcher Is Headed To Afghanistan -- Popular Science

Words like “futuristic,” “computerized,” “explosive,” and “grenade launcher” really tickle our sensibilities, so perhaps it was no surprise that we honored the XM-25 grenade launcher – that futuristic-looking, computerized-targeting infantry weapon that hurls smart explosive rounds downrange – with a Best of What’s New award last year. But with so much defense tech falling victim due to cost overruns, impracticality of deployment, or simple bureaucratic indecision, we’re always pleasantly surprised to see new systems hit the battlefield. And that’s exactly where the XM-25 is headed next month.

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My Comment: Many see this weapon as a game changer in Afghanistan. We shall see.

Special Ops Gunships To Get Pain-Inducing Weapons

1. An electron gun fires a particle beam through a vacuum tube wrapped with strong magnets.
2. As the beam meets the magnetic field, the electrons bunch up and gyrate, producing high-power microwaves at set frequencies.
3. Mirrors steer the microwaves through a window made of diamond. The gem is used for its resistance to heat and for its clarity.
4. The electron beam’s excess energy is deposited in the coils of a collector.

From Popular Mechanics:

Nonlethal energy-beam blasters that cause pain without killing their targets could finally find a home—inside special operations gunships. Here's how they work.

The Pentagon has been researching nonlethal pain rays since the mid-’90s, but finding a vehicle to carry them has proven to be a challenge. Researchers have mounted these microwave weapons—which repel people by heating water molecules just under the skin, reportedly without damaging tissue—on trucks, guard towers and Humvees, but the U.S. military has never deployed them for real-world use. (Using such weapons on civilians in Iraq or Afghanistan is not seen as a good way to win hearts and minds.)

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My Comment: Ouch.

Does The US Have An "Earthquake Weapon"?

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez

Hugo Chavez Mouthpiece Says U.S. Hit Haiti With 'Earthquake Weapon' -- FOX News

The United States apparently possesses an "earthquake weapon" that set off the catastrophic quake in Haiti and killed 200,000 innocents. Don't believe it's true? Just ask Hugo Chavez.

Citing an alleged report from Russia's Northern Fleet, the Venezuelan strongman's state mouthpiece ViVe TV shot out a press release saying the 7.0 magnitude Haiti quake was caused by a U.S. test of an experimental shockwave system that can also create "weather anomalies to cause floods, droughts and hurricanes."

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My Comment: Instead of sending significant aid and assistance to Haiti .... Hugo Chavez prefers to talk about US conspiracies and hypothetical weapon systems.

Yup .... Chavez's logic is priceless .... because the US has been wanting to occupy Haiti for some time now that they had to take the earthquake weapon out of the bag.

Hmmm .... so why is Hugo Chavez talking like this? I guess it is because he spends his free time at sites like this one.

Hmmmmm .... I just realize .... I also spend some of my free time at sites like the one above. Yup .... Buddha is right .... point a finger at someone you are actually pointing three at yourself.

Electromagnetic Pulse Cannon Could Demo Car-Stopping Power Next Month

EMP Cannon This skewed perspective shows a presumably older version of Eureka Aerospace's EMP car-stopper. PopSci

From Popular Science:

U.S. Marines could deploy the non-lethal weapon if it proves viable.

Stopping a speeding car without killing its driver and passengers with traditional means--bullets--can prove tricky, even if skilled snipers can put a disabling shot in a car's engine block. But a Canadian company could soon demo an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) cannon capable of effectively scrambling a car's chips and other electronics, according to Flight International. The U.S. Marines have lined up as possible, if skeptical, customers.

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My Comment: Hmmmm .... I have to see this first to believe it.

Secret Directed-Energy Tech Protecting the President?

From The Danger Room (Wired):

The Secret Service is tasked with protecting the President of the United States from assailants; and given that President-elect Obama has already been the target of assassination plots they may have their work cut out after January. But they have more than earpiece radios and armored limos to help them; the Secret Service can call on the very latest technology. Documents from a recent court case indicate that they have advanced directed-energy devices which are highly classified.

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