Important Innovations

  Pentagon's DARPA Seeking JetPack Prototypes                                                       Source:  Carbon Fiber JetPack Wing Source:  JetPack Stock Image Portable Personal Mobility Vehicles The US Pentagon's DARPA, or Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, wants to equip the US military with highly advanced and reliable flying jetpacks, also known as portable personal air mobility systems.  They have invited companies to send their prototypes for jetpacks and other unique, personal, portable flying technologies for development. Technologies of Interest DARPA's level of interest for new forms of personal air mobility is fascinating.  Beside jetpacks, technologies of interest include powered wing suits, powered gliders and powered parafoils which, according to DARPA, "can leverage emerging electric propulsion technologies, hydrogen cells or conventional heavy fuel propulsion systems." No Pilots License Required DARPA wants these vehicles to be extremel

  Flying Carriers With Swarming Gremlin Drones                                                          Source:  DARPA Flying Aircraft Carrier Rendering                    Source:  DARPA's Flying Carrier and Gremlin Drones DARPA R&D Project Stranger Than Science Fiction The Pentagon's DARPA (the Defense Department's Advanced Research Projects Agency) is working at forever changing the face of warfare.  They are developing for the US military huge, flying aircraft carriers.  The carriers would be loaded with highly advanced drones, called Gremlins, instead of fighter jets.  Military officials believe the carriers would be safer in the the sky than on the ocean where they are becoming increasingly vulnerable to long range missile attacks.  The Pentagon is particularly concerned about new maneuverable, ballistic missile technology from China. The Gremlins The US Navy currently has 11 nuclear powered carriers.  Each carrier contains up to 80 fighter jets and 6,000 personnel

DARPA Program to Develop AI Capable of Accessing Its Own Expertise Source:  DARPA - AI Making Machine Learning Systems Trusted, Collaborative Partners The Pentagon's Advanced Research Projects Agency DARPA has just kicked off a four year program to develop AI systems capable of knowing when they don't know and letting humans know they are not up to the task at hand.  DARPA views this as vital, particularly for the US military, in situations where the margin of error is zero.  For a great news blog on this, go to Important Innovations Collection: AI that Knows When It Doesn't Know : DARPA's Latest Artificial Intelligence Development Program Source:  DARPA Artificial Intelligence AI Capable of Accessing Its Ex...

Laser Innovation for the US Military Source:  Raytheon HELWS MRZR Raytheon's Laser Shooting ATV It's a powerful laser on a dune buggy for the US Military.  Raytheon's HELWS MRZR laser-shooting dune buggy, all terrain vehicle. Once the human operator confirms the target, a fiber optic electric laser fires a controlled beam that instantly destroys the target. Battery or Electric Powered A simple battery charge enables 30 blasts.  If there's an electrical hookup, the magazine can last indefinitely.  This laser weapon developed by Raytheon for the US military has been cited as one of the most important innovations of 2018.  Raytheon has mounted the laser on a Polaris ATV.  For more laser and other energy news, go to my colleague Ed Kane's Amazon Author Page  amazon.com/author/ekane

DARPA's EXACTO for US Military DARPA's EXACTO Bullet US Government Bulls-Eye Project with Classified Technology The US Defense Department's Advanced Research Projects Agency DARPA is developing a smart bullet for the US Military.  The project EXACTO ammunition is a matter of public record.  But the guidance system, that's apparently so successful, is top secret.  It's a bullet that changes and corrects its direction after being fired and in flight to accurately hit the target. No More Misfires  This is a real-life project that could soon end misfiring problems caused by shooter errors, bad weather conditions and wind.  The goal is to save the lives of US troops by arming them with smart bullets with bulls-eye guidance systems. EXACTO Ammunition EXACTO uses a built-in guidance system to keep the bullet on target and be bulls-eye.  The specifics on how the guidance system works are classified.  This is a DARPA government project to provide the US mil