2010s

[IMAGE CREDIT: MoD (Japan)/TRDI] The new name seems to have been adopted sometime later on in 2011, as can be seen in this TRDI pamphlet (page 8 [pdf pg 9]).

First view of it. PS: Possibly not Armata afterall according to bmpd's blog: http://bmpd.livejournal.com/302442.html#cutid1 We will see.

MBDA mini cruise missile, 100km range, F-35B loadout 8x internally. http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/pictures-mbda-sharpens-spear-missile-design-for-f-35-integration-373453/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ki_Af_o9Q9s&feature=plcp http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzqdoXwLBT8&feature=plcp http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syA7ml64zY4&feature=plcp Not bad for a PR piece.

Via HP&CA, a new MOD concept for the Royal Navy: Detailed specs Joint Concept Note 1/12 This concept is probably DOA. Someone should have told the MOD that Transformation and the like is dead and buried. 'Systems not platforms' is what brought about such disasters as the LCS.

Govt may send PAC-3s to Okinawa / SDF readying for launch of DPRK rocket The Yomiuri Shimbun The government is considering a plan to deploy Patriot Advanced Capability 3 (PAC-3) missiles in Okinawa Prefecture for the possible interception of a rocket that North Korea will launch next month...

:o I'll let the gizmag article (via Slashdot) speak for itself: http://www.gizmag.com/startram-maglev-to-leo/21700/

From Wired.com: Navy’s Newest Robot Is a Mechanized Firefighter By Katie Drummond March 8, 2012 | 12:56 pm | Categories: robots Meet SAFFiR: Embedded sensors allow the 'bot to see through smoke, and sophisticated upper-body agility let the 'bot throw fire-squelching grenades. Illo: Naval...

Congress passed the FAA bill. http://www.mobile-tech-today.com/story.xhtml?story_id=82075 "The FAA is also required under the bill to provide military, commercial and privately-owned drones with expanded access to U.S. airspace currently reserved for manned aircraft by Sept. 30, 2015. That...

Debt-riddled Japan relaxes decades-old arms exports ban Source: http://news.yahoo.com/debt-riddled-japan-relaxes-decades-old-arms-exports-090832091.html TOKYO (Reuters) - Debt-riddled Japan Tuesday relaxed its self-imposed decades-old ban on military equipment exports in a move that will open...

Not 100% sure but with a MAD-boom, a weapons-bay and a large serach radar ... I would say that's the long rumoured Y-8GX-6 ASW. Deino

Yes, I know I'm easily exciteable. Yes, the history of aviation is littered with examples of "personal flight machines" which either didn't work, would've exceeded anything a middle class clientele can sustain or in any case couldn't be safely trusted in the hands of every Tom, Dick and Harry...

The Shenyang 601 Institute has been working for some years now on what might be a competition for Chengdu's J-20. Here's a handful of pics( sorry, can't remember the site, I think it was a Pakistani defence forum) of a model strongly resembling the blurred windtunnel model from Huitong's site...

Hello, I heard that HDW recently presented a Type 216 submarine design with vertical launcher tubes and a greater displacement than 212/214s. Is there anyone with more details?

At present it looks unlikely if the Army will need a Challenger 2 replacement for the foreseeable future. I got into hot water for suggesting that when and if we ever did, we should take a leaf out of the Australian or Canadian book and buy off the shelf. What options are out there? What would...

Thanks to Clark Lindsey for posting a link to this FAA document: Draft Environmental Assessment for Issuing an Experimental Permit to SpaceX for Operation of the Grasshopper Vehicle at the McGregor Test Site, Texas - September 2011 and for pulling out the following extracts:

Juliet Marine Systems, Inc.; issued August 10, 2011 PORTSMOUTH, N.H. --- Juliet Marine Systems, Inc. (JMS) announced today that the US Navy/USPTO have removed Secrecy Orders previously applied to GHOST. For the first time, Juliet Marine is able to release photographs of GHOST, the first...

MDBA press release: Sources: http://www.deagel.com/news/MBDA-Unveils-CVS-401-Perseus-Concept-Missile-System-for-2030_n000008918.aspx http://www.zonamilitar.com.ar/foros/futuro-de-las-fuerzas-navales/28124-mbda-perseus.html...

Raytheon Systems Company, Elta Division of Israeli Aircraft Industries, and Airbus Industries A130-based submission for the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Project Wedgetail Airborne Early Warning and Control System (AEW&C) system. The team also included Hawker de Havilland, Honeywell...

EADS has a design for a Zero Emission Hypersonic Transportation (Zehst) rocketplane. Of course there's an animation too: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6e33aPdoUxc I really don't get what EADS think they'll achieve publicising such designs that no one (not even the EU) will ever fund ...