With all the gadgets and technologies being developed for consumers, many tend to forget that the government spends billions on classified military projects, which means that we probably won’t get to see some of these incredible things for years to come. Continue reading to see five examples.

5. Sandflea

Researchers at Boston Dynamics unveil “Sand Flea”, a high-tech robot that is capable of jumping 30-feet in the air. In the demonstration video, “Sand Flea’s front wheels rise up and a piston shoots it into the air on to the roof of the garage.” Boston Dynamics says: ‘An onboard stabilisation system keeps it oriented during flight to improve the view from the video uplink and to control landings. Current development of Sand Flea is funded by the U.S Army’s Rapid Equipping Force.’

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4. PETMAN

We have seen the future of battlefield robots, and it’s PETMAN. This robot, developed by Boston Dynamics, “can run, juke, twist and turn, and even bang out some push-ups — it’s designed to move just like a human soldier, but not so that it can fight wars.” The robot, which Boston Dynamics will deliver to the military sometime next year, is designed to be a 50th percentile male (or an average North American man): it’s nearly six feet tall, weighs 180 pounds, and is able to simulate sweating, respiring and changes in body temperature.

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3. AF2011-A1

The AF2011-A1 is touted as the world’s first double-barreled, semi-automatic pistol. It “will knock down a bull, while the whole 18 bullets, for a payload exceeding 4000 Grains, can be delivered to the target in about 3 seconds.” The AF2011-A1 holds amazing and surprising target performance for the shooter: in fact, it will group all the 8 double .45 caliber rounds (16 bullets) held in the duplex, single columns magazines, in a target of the size of an orange at 15 yards and of a water melon at 25.

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2. X-51A WaveRider

GlobalSecurity reports that an X-51A WaveRider scramjet successfully completed “the longest supersonic combustion ramjet-powered hypersonic flight May 26 off the southern California Pacific coast.” Different from other scramjet technology, the X-51A Waverider literally rides on the supersonic waves, using them as a direct flow intake into the propulsion chamber, where it is immediately converted into thrust.

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1. DARPA’s Electric Wand

DARPA has developed an electric wand that is capable of extinguishing fires. In other words, their “Instant Fire Suppression” project “was designed to manipulate and extinguish fires using “physics techniques” like acoustics, ion injections, and manipulation of electromagnetic fields.” DARPA hasn’t said exactly how the fire-killing rod in the video works, but the results of the project will hopefully be scaled up and used inside military vehicles, especially sensitive ones like ships that may not respond well to traditional firefighting methods.

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A technology, gadget and video game enthusiast that loves covering the latest industry news. Favorite trade show? Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.