Syria’s air force has retrofitted MiG-21 fighters with remote flight systems and the capability to carry chemical weapons, according to a Flight Global report.
The evidence was found in June 2012 when a Syrian pilot flew a MiG-21 from Syria to King Hussein airport in Jordan. Analysts found the MiG-21 could be flown remotely and could “carry and dispense a ‘deadly volume’ of chemical warfare agents,” according to Flight Global’s report. [Continue reading…]
Congress wants Air Force leaders to figure out why unmanned pilots don’t get promoted as often their fighter, bomber and cargo counterparts, according to an Air Force Times report.
Lawmakers inserted into the 2013 National Defense Authorization Act a mandate to receive answers in 180 days from Air Force leader.
Air Force Times reported that the past five promotion cycles have shown that unmanned pilots have lagged behind other pilots in three of those five promotion cycles. [Continue reading…]
Eight U.S. Navy sailors have sued one of the Japanese energy companies whose nuclear reactor melted down after the 2011 earthquake in Japan, according to a Bloomberg report.
The sailors, who were aboard the USS Ronald Reagan when the aircraft carrier took part in the humanitarian missions, claimed that Tokyo Electric Power Co. officials exposed them to radiation near the Fukushima Dai-Ichi plant by not disclosing the full extent of the damage to the plant. [Continue reading…]
The Chinese military confirmed that it is developing a large transport aircraft.
The announcement comes after blurry photos leaked onto aviation forums on Christmas Eve. The photos were taken at Xian Aircraft Corporation’s airfield. As Danger Room pointed out earlier, the photos show an aircraft that looks a heck of a lot like the U.S. Air Force’s C-17. [Continue reading…]
DARPA recently completed field testing of its LS3 four-legged robot system at Fort Pickett in central Virginia. An agency press release reported the following:
Working with the Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory (MCWL), researchers from DARPA’s LS3 program demonstrated new advances in the robot’s control, stability and maneuverability, including “Leader Follow” decision making, enhanced roll recovery, exact foot placement over rough terrain, the ability to maneuver in an urban environment, and verbal command capability.
Here’s a video that shows some of the action:
Pretty cool, no doubt; but the thing that jumps out at us here at DT World HQ is the robot is sort of loud, which certainly would be a big concern if you were trying to sneak up on the enemy. (Maybe they’ll figure that out as they go along.)
