5GWTF: The Post-Everything Future of War. Posted Jul 22, 2012 5 comments On the auspicious date of August 17th, 2011, Barack Obama was looking ahead. Faced with the recent actions of Anders Brievik and contemplating the immanent 10th anniversary of the 9-11 attacks, he stated: “The biggest concern we have right now is not the launching of a major terror operation, although that risk is always there. The risk we are especially worried about right now is the lone wolf terrorist. Somebody with a single weapon being able to carry out wide scale massacres of the sort we saw in Norway.” The fact he was in a television studio speaking those lines to a man named Wolf Blitzer is just one of those coincidences that permeate our associative universe. "Fifth Generation Warfare" is not catchy. Consumers need something relatable, something visual and visceral. I think that "our enemies" are being given far too much credit, as usual.
Fortunately, Kehoe was not an meticulous enough and the majority of the charges never went off. The Flame: Questions and Answers. Duqu and Stuxnet raised the stakes in the cyber battles being fought in the Middle East – but now we’ve found what might be the most sophisticated cyber weapon yet unleashed. The ‘Flame’ cyber espionage worm came to the attention of our experts at Kaspersky Lab after the UN’s International Telecommunication Union came to us for help in finding an unknown piece of malware which was deleting sensitive information across the Middle East. While searching for that code – nicknamed Wiper – we discovered a new malware codenamed Worm.Win32.Flame. Flame shares many characteristics with notorious cyber weapons Duqu and Stuxnet: while its features are different, the geography and careful targeting of attacks coupled with the usage of specific software vulnerabilities seems to put it alongside those familiar ‘super-weapons’ currently deployed in the Middle East by unknown perpetrators.
Flame can easily be described as one of the most complex threats ever discovered. General Questions. Israel hints it may be behind 'Flame' super-virus targeting Iran - Middle East - World. A top Israeli minister yesterday fed speculation that the Jewish state could be responsible for a powerful new virus said to have been used in a fresh attack on computers in Iran and elsewhere in the Middle East. Click HERE to view graphic The discovery of the unprecedented complex data-stealing "Flame" virus was disclosed by a Russian-based digital security firm Kaspersky Lab. Its experts reported on Monday that it had been applied most actively in Iran, but also in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, Sudan, Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Moshe Yaalon, Israel's Vice Prime Minister and Strategic Affairs Minister, told the country's Army Radio: "Anyone who sees the Iranian threat as a significant threat – it's reasonable [to assume] that he will take various steps, including these, to harm it.
" Mr Yaalon, a former military Chief of Staff, added: "Israel was blessed as being a country rich with high-tech. There are disagreements over how long it has been in existence. Flame virus is mid-east cyber-broiler. Chemical shape shifting robot. Unmanned drone attacks and shape-shifting robots: War's remote-control future. Washington; and kandahar, Afghanistan In the shadow of a heavily fortified enemy building, US commanders call in a chemical robot, or what looks like a blob. They give it a simple instruction: Penetrate a crack in the building and find out what's inside.
Like an ice sculpture or the liquid metal assassin in "Terminator 2," the device changes shape, slips through the opening, then reassumes its original form to look around. It uses sensors woven into its fabric to sample the area for biological agents. If needed, it can seep into the cracks of a bomb to defuse it. Skip to next paragraph Subscribe Today to the Monitor Click Here for your FREE 30 DAYS ofThe Christian Science MonitorWeekly Digital Edition Soldiers hoping to eavesdrop on an enemy release a series of tiny, unmanned aircraft the size and shape of houseflies to hover in a room unnoticed, relaying invaluable video footage.
Welcome to the battlefield of the future. DF-21. Originally developed as a strategic weapon, the DF-21's later variants were designed for both nuclear and conventional missions. As well as a nuclear warhead of around 300 kt, it is thought that high explosive and submunition warheads are available. The latest DF-21D was said to be the world's first anti-ship ballistic missile (ASBM).
The DF-21 has also been developed into a space-capable anti-satellite/anti-missile weapon carrier. DF-21 (CSS-5 Mod-1)[edit] The basic variant DF 21 has a range of 1,770+ km,[3] and a payload of 600 kg. The missile can carry a single 500 kt nuclear warhead, with an estimated CEP of 300~400 m. This version did not enter operational service.[6] DF-21A (CSS-5 Mod-2)[edit] The DF-21A was operational by 1996 and has improved accuracy with an estimated circular error probable (CEP) of 100~300m, with both GPS and a radar-based terminal guidance system in a redesigned nose.[6] This version is reported to have a similar range of 1,770+ km.[3] DF-21C (CSS-5 Mod-3)[edit]
Space warfare and the future of US global power - Opinion. It's 2025 and an American "triple canopy" of advanced surveillance and armed drones fills the heavens from the lower- to the exo-atmosphere. A wonder of the modern age, it can deliver its weaponry anywhere on the planet with staggering speed, knock out an enemy's satellite communications system, or follow individuals biometrically for great distances. Along with the country's advanced cyberwar capacity, it's also the most sophisticated militarised information system ever created and an insurance policy for US global dominion deep into the 21st century. It's the future as the Pentagon imagines it; it's under development; and Americans know nothing about it. They are still operating in another age. "Our Navy is smaller now than at any time since 1917," complained Republican candidate Mitt Romney during the last presidential debate.
While the technological changes involved are nothing less than revolutionary, they have deep historical roots in a distinctive style of American global power. New Scientist Technology Blog: Squeeze bots. Remember the morphing robot T-1000 from the film Terminator 2? Could something like that ever become a reality? The folks at DARPA apparently think so. Last week they issued a request for proposals on developing so-called Chemical Robots (ChemBots), which would change shape in order to squeeze through tiny gaps. The DARPA request states that ChemBots should be "soft, flexible, mobile objects that can identify and manoeuvre through openings smaller than their static structural dimensions".
True enough, but it seems like a very tricky challenge. Labels: robots. Unmanned drone attacks and shape-shifting robots: War's remote-control future. Meet 'Flame', The Massive Spy Malware Infiltrating Iranian Computers | Threat Level. Map showing the number and geographical location of Flame infections detected by Kaspersky Lab on customer machines. Courtesy of Kaspersky A massive, highly sophisticated piece of malware has been newly found infecting systems in Iran and elsewhere and is believed to be part of a well-coordinated, ongoing, state-run cyberespionage operation. The malware, discovered by Russia-based antivirus firm Kaspersky Lab, is an espionage toolkit that has been infecting targeted systems in Iran, Lebanon, Syria, Sudan, the Israeli Occupied Territories and other countries in the Middle East and North Africa for at least two years.
Dubbed “Flame” by Kaspersky, the malicious code dwarfs Stuxnet in size — the groundbreaking infrastructure-sabotaging malware that is believed to have wreaked havoc on Iran’s nuclear program in 2009 and 2010. Kaspersky Lab is calling it “one of the most complex threats ever discovered.” Technology - X-47B stealth drone targets new frontiers. The US Navy's cutting-edge robot fighter plane aims to be the first unmanned aerial vehicle to take-off and land at sea. As a fighter plane prepares to take off from a naval carrier at sea, the pilot and deck crew go through a tightly choreographed series of hand signals to tell each other they are ready to launch.
It ends with a final “salute” from the pilot to indicate that the aircraft is ready to be catapulted off the deck. But when the X-47B, the US Navy’s newest prototype combat aircraft, prepares for its first carrier launch early next year, there will be no salute. That’s because there will also be no pilot. Instead, the X-47B will blink its wingtip navigation lights, a robotic nod to the human salute (and mimicking what the Navy does for night launches), before the catapult officer presses the launch button, and the robotic aircraft is flung off the front of the ship Forward fire The craft was revealed in 2008 but is only now undergoing sea tests aboard the USS Harry S.
New Scientist Technology Blog: Soft-bodied robots squeeze closer. The US defence agency DARPA decided last year that it needed "Chemical Robots" (ChemBots) that could change shape in order to squeeze through small gaps. It's now chosen the people to provide them - US firm iRobot. The company makes the Roomba robot vacuum cleaner (video) and the 'Packbot' used for bomb disposal. The DARPA programme manager overseeing the project gave a hint at what the robots could be used for: "During military operations it can be important to gain covert access to denied or hostile space... But as we noted in a special report on DARPA's 50 years of pioneering ideas - many of its projects have made most impact in civilian arenas. According to the original proposal from DARPA, in just 2 years a prototype approximately the size of a softball - i.e. 10cm across - must achieve all this: That's quite a challenge - I wonder how they'll do it?
Tom Simonite, online technology reporter (click to enlarge) Labels: military, robots, weapons. "Flame" computer virus strikes Middle East; Israel speculation continues. (AP) LONDON - A massive, data-slurping cyberweapon is circulating in the Middle East, and computers in Iran appear to have been particularly affected, according to a Russian Internet security firm. Moscow-based Kaspersky Lab ZAO said the "Flame" virus was unprecedented both in terms of its size and complexity, possessing the ability to turn infected computers into all-purpose spying machines that can even suck information out of nearby cell phones. "This is on a completely different level," Kaspersky researcher Roel Schouwenberg said in a telephone interview Tuesday. "It can be used to spy on everything that a user is doing. " The announcement sent a ripple of excitement across the computer security sector.
Flame is the third major cyberweapon discovered in the past two years, and Kaspersky's conclusion that it was crafted at the behest of a national government fueled speculation that the virus could be part of an Israeli-backed campaign of electronic sabotage aimed at archrival Iran. SquishBot Soft Shape-Changing 'Chembots' SquishBot Soft Shape-Changing 'Chembots' SquishBots, also known as GummiBots (by me), also known as Chembots (by DARPA) are back in the news today.
(SquishBot from Boston Dynamics) SquishBot is a program to develop a new class of soft, shape-changing robot. The goal is to design systems that can transform themselves from hard to soft and from soft to hard, upon command. Another goal is to create systems that change their critical dimensions by large amounts, as much as 10x. Such robots will be like soft animals that can squeeze themselves through small openings and into tight places.
As I have written previously, DARPA "...is seeking innovative proposals to develop Chemical Robots (ChemBots): soft, flexible, mobile objects that can identify and maneuver through openings smaller than their static structural dimensions; reconstitute size, shape, and functionality after traversal; carry meaningful payloads; and perform tasks. " (SQUISHBot from MIT) Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy. Revolution 101. Shape-Shifting Blob Bots - Chemical Robot Prototypes to Enter Inaccessible Spaces. The Gaza Strip Cyber War. As military strikes between Israel and Gaza continued with the deaths of 11 Palestinian civilians on Sunday, a complicated internet battlefront has appeared. A virtual info-war is just beginning, and it exists on multiple fronts.
There is an unprecedentedly transparent wave of social media propaganda by both sides, a fairly predictable backlash of Israeli website defacement from Anonymous, and an effort to bring open internet access for civilians affected by the strikes from a group called Telecomix. On Wednesday, the IDF released an infographic-filled video describing the methods the IDF uses (phone calls and precision strikes) to minimize civilian casualties. The IDF is also live-tweeting the strikes on Gaza using their shiny new Twitter account, @IDFSpokesperson. The Twitter feed for Al Qassam, the military branch of Hamas, has responded by tweeting numerous photos of dead children killed by Israeli strikes.
The Telecomix logo. @patrickmcguire. The Future US Army Soldier!! South Korea to field gun-cam robots on DMZ. Technological colossus South Korea is pressing ahead with efforts to join Israel and America in the white-hot field of killer robots. Korean sources have announced that Samsung, a company better known for its consumer goods, is manufacturing the SGR-A1 sentry unit for deployment on the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) between South and North Korea. The robots will be in place later this year, according to reports. The SGR-A1 is a stationary system, enabling its designers to ignore the power, communications, and traction issues which tend to plague its mobile counterparts.
Furthermore, unlike some other machines, it has a defined mission which it should genuinely be able to accomplish. The robot's primary usefulness lies in its camera systems and software, enabling it to pick out genuine intruders and – according to Samsung, anyway – ignore false alarms. That response can be delivered by the SGR-A1 itself in some cases. Samsung SGR-A1. The Samsung SGR-A1 is a South Korean military robot sentry designed to replace human counterparts in the demilitarized zone at the South and North Korea border.[1][2] It is a stationary system made by Samsung defense subsidiary Samsung Techwin.
History[edit] In 2006, Samsung Techwin announced a $200,000, all weather, 5.56 mm robotic machine gun and optional grenade launcher to guard the Korean DMZ. It is capable of tracking multiple moving targets using IR and visible light cameras, and is under the control of a human operator. The Intelligent Surveillance and Guard Robot can "identify and shoot a target automatically from over two miles (3.2 km) away. " The robot, which was developed by a South Korean university, uses "twin optical and infrared sensors to identify targets from 2.5 miles (4 km) in daylight and around half that distance at night. " It is also equipped with communication equipment (a microphone and speakers), "so that passwords can be exchanged with human troops.
" Sentry gun. Invisible: Covert Operations and Classified Landscapes: Trevor Paglen, Rebecca Solnit: 9781597111300: Amazon.com. Robot sentinella. Vietnam’s Undersea Anti-Access Fleet. One Visible Future — You note the development of a new kind of robotic... Alfred McCoy, Super Weapons and Global Dominion.