Lifeboat Foundation

Such fifth-generation fighters are only now coming into service and others are being developed in Russia, China, and Japan, but they are already obsolete. Even while the F-35 was still in the testing phase, the US Pentagon was looking at a replacement, and countries like France and Germany gave up their own efforts at building a fifth-generation fighter in favor of skipping straight to making a sixth.

The world of aerospace is full of buzzwords and phrases and one that’s been getting a lot of attention in military aircraft circles is “sixth-generation fighters.” Rather than an F-35 or a Typhoon with new trim and chrome hubcaps, these emerging combat aircraft are set to represent a real sea change in tactics and, perhaps, strategy in the middle of the 21st century. But what exactly is the sixth gen? Let’s take a look.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is experimenting with using a swarm of autonomous drones and ground robots to assist with military missions. In a video of a recent test, DARPA showed how its robots analyzed two city blocks to find, surround, and secure a mock city building.

DARPA conducted its test back in June in Georgia, featuring both drones and ground-based robots. The demonstration was part of DARPA’s OFFensive Swarm-Enabled Tactics (OFFSET) program, which is designed to eventually accompany small infantry units as they work in dense urban environments, and could eventually scale up to 250 drones and ground robots. The test back in June was the second of six planned tests, which DARPA says will increase in complexity as they happen over the next couple of years.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URMMkqZ8HvQ&t=13s

With exclusive access, this eye-opening series reveals the latest military innovations which are shaping the present and future of the armed forces. Each informative episode features must-see inventions and life-saving gadgets.

This episode shows how simulations are giving RAF pilots the winning edge, how the revolutionary X-Plane blends fixed wing and helicopter technology and how 3D printing is becoming a world-changing industry.

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The tardigrades were part of a “lunar library” that Spivack’s foundation had put together. According to Wired, the package was about the size of a DVD and contained human DNA—including Spivack’s own—as well as 30 million pages of information on mankind’s knowledge and thousands of dehydrated tardigrades.

Tardigrades are known as one of the toughest creatures on Earth. They are microscopic, measuring about 0.012 to 0.020 inches in length, and can withstand temperatures of up to 304 degrees Fahrenheit and can survive being frozen alive. One tardigrade is known to have survived being frozen for 30 years. They can also live without water for up to a decade by shriveling up and placing themselves in a state of suspended animation—a trait DARPA is currently studying in the hope of preserving soldiers injured on the battlefield.

France will develop satellites armed with laser weapons, and will use the weapons against enemy satellites that threaten the country’s space forces. The announcement is just part of a gradual shift in acceptance of space-based weaponry as countries reliant on space for military operations in the air, on land, and at sea—as well as for economic purposes, bow to reality and accept space as a future battleground.

Tech billionaire Peter Thiel painted a gloomy picture of artificial intelligence in his NYT’s op-ed on Thursday, detailing the technology’s real value and purpose as primarily a military one.

“The first users of the machine learning tools being created today will be generals,” Thiel declared in his 1,200-word piece. “A.I. is a military technology.”

Thiel’s portrayal is a far cry from the optimistic view that many in Silicon Valley have embraced. Artificial intelligence has promised to give us the next, best Netflix recommendations, let us search the internet using our voices, and do away with humans behind the wheel. It’s also expected to have a huge impact in medicine and agriculture. But instead, Thiel says that AI’s real home is on the battlefield — whether that be in the physical or cyber worlds.

The U.S. Army has confirmed it is trying to speed up high-powered laser weapon program to develop a new system that will acquire, track, engage, and defeat unmanned aircraft system, cruise missile and rocket, artillery, and mortar threats.

The new Army’s high-powered laser weapon system is intended to provide 360º protection and simultaneously engage threats arriving from different azimuths.

The Army will adjust the current High Energy Laser Tactical Vehicle Demonstrator (HEL-TVD), a 100 kW-class laser system integrated on a Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles platform developed by Dynetics and subcontractor Lockheed Martin. Under the new directed energy strategy, the Army is leveraging progress made in that effort in order to merge the HEL-TVD with similar technologies in development by the Navy and the Office of the Secretary of Defense.

In the deep of the ocean, where the sun’s rays struggle to penetrate, organisms lurk that could solve the biggest medical crisis facing humanity.

Far below the surface bacteria are engaged in warfare with each other — and to do so they make an antibiotic so strong it can destroy the toughest superbugs in our hospitals.

“But there’s a problem,” Rebecca Goss, a professor of organic chemistry at the University of St Andrews, said. “It disintegrates in sunlight.”