By David Crane defrev (at) gmail (dot) com July 29, 2010 Updated on 8/04/10. God, I love laser weapons. I really do. They represent the future, they represent high-technology (high-tech), and, let’s face it, they represent fun. I mean, what could be more fun than blasting an enemy combatant (military scenario) out of his socks with a military-grade tactical/combat laser/ray …

By David Crane defrev (at) gmail (dot) com July 20, 2010 On October 15, 2009, DefenseReview (DR) published an article on the U.S. Air Force’s successful testing of a Lockheed Martin Martin NC-130H-mounted Boeing Advanced Tactical Laser (ATL) weapon system. As impressive as that may have been, Raytheon Company just picked up the gauntlet by shooting down four unmanned aerial …

By David Crane defrev (at) gmail (dot) com June 21, 2010 Updated on 6/28/10 Outside the exhibition hall at SOFIC 2010 (Special Operations Infantry Conference 2010), GATR Technologies was showing off their giant beach ball-style 2.4-meter (2.4m) C-band inflatable satellite communications (SATCOM) antenna system. Made from a “flexible conductive composite fabric” capable of enduring “extreme heat, “extreme cold”, and “extreme …

By David Crane defrev (at) gmail (dot) com April 7, 2010 Updated 4/09/10 Looks like nuclear weapons aren’t the only thing the Iranian government is after. Apparently, they’ve also got a penchant for speedboats, specifically high-tech, very expensive speedboats. Multiple news sources are reporting that the Iranians have surreptitiously acquired a “James Bond-style” fast mover called the Bladerunner 51 / Bradstone …

By David Crane defrev (at) gmail (dot) com March 15, 2010 A company called Infinite Power Solutions (IPS) has apparently developed a a range of “revolutionary” small, ultra-thin solid-state thin-film rechargeable batteries called THINERGY Micro-Energy Cells (MEC) that could potentially represent a viable solution to powering future soldier/warfighter hardware and technology, including weapons accessories and advanced electronic devices like wearable …

By David Crane defrev (at) gmail (dot) com October 15, 2009 There’s a scene at the beginning of the 1985 film Real Genius showing a fictional “Crossbow Project” demonstration video of some unlucky bastard (perhaps a third-world dictator or politician?) getting instantly vaporized by a space-based laser weapon fired from a satellite. The video is being shown to a bunch …

By David Crane defrev (at) gmail (dot) com October 1, 2009 What do you get when you combine a (wheeled) manpackable mini-UGV (Unmanned Ground Vehicle) / ground robot with a flee-type (or grasshopper-type) jumping capability? You get the Precision Urban Hopper (PUH) jumping UGV. The Precision Urban Hopper, brought to you by the friendly folks at Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) …

By David Crane August 13, 2009 BAE Systems has just won a five-year, $347 million ($347M) to produce, maintain, and provide logistical support for 200 digital handheld Laser Target Locator Modules (LTLM) per month for the U.S. Army for an indefinite period of time, presumably until the $347M runs out, unless the contract is extended. BAE is partnering with Swiss …

By David Crane defrev at gmail dot com All photographic images contained in this article were taken by DefenseReview.com, and are the exclusive property of DefenseReview.com. DefenseReview.com owns the copyright on these photos. All photos were shot with an Olympus Stylus 790 SW 7.1-megapixel digital camera, which is advertised as "shock + waterproof". March 2, 2009 DefenseReview has been publishing …