tech e blog

The Russian designed Zubr is touted as the world's largest military hovercraft. It was "designed to sealift landing assault units from equipped/non-equipped vessels to non-equipped shore, as well as transport and plant mines." Click here for first picture in gallery.

Capable of carrying multiple tanks and a nice mix of 140mm rocket pods, 30mm cannons and air defense missiles, the Zubr can cruise for 300 miles before rapidly deploying troops and equipment close to shore.

The X-47B UCAS is a "a transformational, carrier-capable, multi-mission, unmanned combat air vehicle." Future Weapons takes a look at this high-tech aircraft after the break. Click here for first picture in gallery.

Strike fighter-sized, it is a survivable, long range, high endurance and persistent platform capable of a variety of missions including Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance, and Time Sensitive Targeting/Strike.

Why settle for a standard issue chainsaw or rocket launcher when you could have the LV and Chanel versions? Well, that's why Peter Gronquist deciceded to "jazz" up these weapons. Click here for first picture in gallery.

Dubbed "The Revolution will be Fabulous," Gronquist's show opened last night at Gallery 1988 in Los Angeles. The pieces ranged from anywhere from a few hundred bucks to several thousand and several, such as the Louis Vuitton chainsaw, have sold.

The Navy has just launched the U.S.S. Independence, also known as the Littoral Combat Ship by General Dynamics. At $208-million, this "trimaran can move huge weapons around faster than any ship in the Navy." Click here for first picture in gallery.

Littoral means close to shore, and that’s where these fleet-hulled babies will operate, tailor-made for launching helicopters and armored vehicles, sweeping mines and firing all manner of torpedoes, missiles and machine guns.

Having just received a $38-billion contract from the Army Research Lab, BAE Systems will lead the "Micro Autonomous Systems and Technology project to develop the technology." Video after the break. Click here for one more picture.

The intention is that the consortium led by BAE will perform research into developing an "autonomous, multifunctional collection of miniature intelligence-gathering robots" which will operate in places "too inaccessible or dangerous for humans."

That's right, college student Will Foster built a fully-operational, half-scale Tiger tank, complete with "live air cannon for firing packs of paint ball rounds." Video after the break.

Sure, they're not live fire shells, but it'll do the trick. Will Foster, we salute you for raising the bar higher than we saw it lifted in Flint in quite some time, and we're assuming you no longer worry about the minor issues that troubled us during our time spent in these ivy-covered halls

Northrop Grumman's unmanned X-47B is a radio-controlled "19-foot craft that can carry a 4500-lb. payload." This craft may fly as early as next year. Click here first picture in gallery.

Besides calling the beast a 'manhunter,' the company plans to equip the unmanned plane with air-to-air missiles, laser and microwave firepower (called 'directed energy and rechargeable weapons') that can take out enemy missiles

The US Army has partnered with researchers at the University of Michigan to develop the Spy-Bat, a robotic bat that features "stereo cameras, miniaturized radar, ultra-sensitive self-guidance, "energy scavenging" recharging capability and a radio to send data back to troops in urban combat zones." Click here for one more picture.

For energy recovery, UMich will work to develop "quantum dot solar cells," making current solar cells twice as nice. The bat's autonomous navi system will be 1,000 times smaller than current systems, and that much more energy efficient too

If nothing else, the FMG-9 concept from Magpul is commendable for being one of the first weapons that can "switch from a simple flashlight to a Glock-style submachine gun in one easy flick of the wrist." Video after the break.

Designed by Magpul, the FMG-9 is currently in prototype phase, and there's no guarantee whether it will be released or not, but I guess it's one for the personal protection peeps

In this 60 Minutes segment, "David Martin gets zapped by a ray gun - a non-lethal weapon that could be used to disperse crowds and could save many lives in war zones." Video after the break.

[source CBS]