air force
Science
Astronomers And The Air Force Face Off Over Lasers
5:20PM Rosa Golijan | Astronomers are arguing with the Air Force over being allowed to use lasers pointed at the sky to adjust telescopes. The Air Force fears that satellites could be accidentally blinded while astronomers are concerned about missing significant heavenly observations. More »
Weapons
This Is How Boeing’s Airborne Laser Takes Out Ground Targets
12:30AM Danny Allen | You might remember that the US Air Force and Boeing have equipped a C-130 plane with an Advanced Tactical Laser for initial air-to-air tests. In September it was aimed at a ground target — the “defeated” truck in this video: More »
Vehicles
Runaway Drone Shot Out Of Sky
12:20PM Rosa Golijan | An MQ-9 Reaper drone’s fail-safe programming failed and it rushed toward Afghanistan’s airspace on Sunday. The US Air Force simply responded by sending a manned plane to shoot it down. Turns out this isn’t all that uncommon. More »
Gadgets
This Is Where Each Of Your 1421 Trillion Dollars Is Going In 2010
12:30PM Jesus Diaz | Want to know where your tax money is going next year? Here’s more than you can handle in the new 2010 edition of the Death and Taxes poster. Zoom in to see how much those F-35 fighters and lasers cost. More »
Weapons
US Air Force Successfully Tests Tactical Laser From A C-130 Plane
9:20AM Adrian Covert | According to Boeing, the U.S. Air Force tested an oxygen-iodine laser with a 15km range in the New Mexico desert, calling the trial run a success. More »
Vehicles
USAF Boeing C17 Globemaster Is One Heck of a Machine
2:00AM Jesus Diaz | We take these huge military aeroplanes for granted, but listening to an expert describing the technology—like titanium heat dissipators and thrust reverters mounted on top—is quite enlightening. Best thing, however: Furry pilot seats. More »
GPS
Air Force Twitters on GPS Outage Reports: Calm Down, Civilians
6:03PM John Herrman | When the U.S. Government Accountability Office released a report saying that worldwide GPS performance is likely to degrade in the next few years, lot of people, public and private, kinda flipped. Cue the inevitable about-face, right about…now. More »
Random Stuff
West Point Training Hackers
11:30PM Mark Wilson | What happens when you put a hacker in camouflage? He only grows more deadly. More »
Weapons
New Boomerang Missile Can Destroy Enemy Fighters Behind Combat Jets
9:20AM Jesus Diaz | Score another one for Australians after inventing the didgeridoo and koala teddies: Their Air Force just got the first missile that can kill enemy fighters behind their F/A-18s, converting the hunter to (dead) prey. More »
Weapons
