To be able to instantly detect contraband like this would be a game-changer in Iraq, where the (effectively) free transit of roadside bombs and IEDs is a constant threat, so the Iraqi government is willing to pay a premium for devices that promise as much — they’ve already bought 1500 of the detectors at a price of $US16,500 to $US60,000 each. Despite the steep price and fierce user loyalty though, US government officials say the devices don’t work at all:

Dale Murray, head of the National Explosive Engineering Sciences Security centre at Sandia Labs, which does testing for the Department of defence, said the centre had “tested several devices in this category, and none have ever performed better than random chance.”

Capital “S” Sceptical organisations like the James Randi Educational Foundation have joined the cause too, flagging the ADE 651’s manufacturer’s claims that the device works with spooky-sounding “electrostatic magnetic ion attraction” and offering a (rhetorical) bounty to anyone who can prove they actually work.

ATSC, the company that manufactures the device out of the UK, wouldn’t even talk to the New York Times, cementing an already obvious conclusion: This is a case of a bogus company taking advantage of credulous, vulnerable consumers by selling a device that seems like it works by virtue of being many users’ only means of bomb detection, meaning that they never notice when it doesn’t work — it’s just another car passing through a checkpoint; who knows if the bombing later that afternoon had anything to do with it!— and always notice when it does, even if by pure chance.

You may have failed miserably at designing a universal contraband detector, ATSC, but hey, at least your scam was well engineered. [NYT]

We know we have the capability, but we’ve never had the opportunity to use it before.

Those are the words of Corporal Phillip Cheng, who—together with Staff Sergeant Jerry Rhoades and Specialist James Pegg—controlled the robot to engage the enemy, fire ze missiles, and “neutralised both targets.” This probably means that professional pilots are going to be out of the game, with plain soldiers having full control over infantry’s aerial support. That’s pretty cool.

And with “cool” I mean “we are fucked” the same way that “neutralised” means “killed.” [Multinational Force via Wired]

Just in case you’re blanking out, here’s some more information, courtesy of the LA Times and the Bush Administration’s now not-so-secret Special Ops missions in Pakistan:

As part of an escalating offensive against extremist targets in Pakistan, the United States is deploying Predator aircraft equipped with sophisticated new surveillance systems that were instrumental in crippling the insurgency in Iraq, according to U.S. military and intelligence officials.

Super drones? See through walls? Something even crazier than that? You decide.

Winner gets a visit from men in dark suits and a trip to the Caribbean! [CNN, Bruce Schneier, LA Times]

UPDATE: Lots of legitimate leads (aka not guesses of anti-terrorist iPhone apps) in the comments. The “gadget” may really be a whole combination of technologies and techniques as opposed to some awesome James Bond weapon. Lame!

There are a few Wings currently manned by Predator UAVs, which can indeed carry Hellfire missiles, but unlike the Reaper, their main mission is reconnaissance. Quite the contrary, the Reaper is the first true hunter-killer UAV, and its 20-metre wingspan and the ability to carry up to 1.5 tons of laser-guided bombs and other ordinance makes the Predator look like a fluttering sparrow.

And over Iraq, the Reaper can do the targeting-pod recon and close air support that manned jets most commonly find themselves tasked with at a fraction of the cost (Reapers cost US$18 million each, compared to three times that much for an F-16). Not to mention without the operational expenses or potential danger to the pilots, who can be in Las Vegas munching Taco Bell with their families. [Strategy Page via /.]

UPDATE: The photo of the Humvee has been removed because of the request of an army major citing a violation of “Operational Security restrictions.” While we have doubts about the officialness of his request—especially since it was followed by the too-frequently-heard accusation that running this sort of image was a tactic of “our enemy”—we do not wish to be detained at Guantanamo Bay for questioning, so we have complied.

The first episode opens with tons of booms and fire–Michael Bay-esque even–with Humvees streaking across the shimmering dessert strafing enemy tanks with 50-cal. machine guns and calling in support from Cobra helicopter gunships. Then you realise it’s all just a training mission, and that the tedious desert hours that follow are the real meat of this show.

On the tech side, these Marines are struggling. Yes, there is in fact a Blue Force tracker console in the lead Lieutenant’s truck, showing satellite maps of the battlefield and tracking friendlies and enemy units via GPS. But at the same time he’s showing it off, other drivers are bargaining for salvaged hoses and gaskets for their busted Humvees, and grabbing smuggled batteries brought in by an embedded reporter from Rolling Stone for their NVGs. “It’s like Gilligan’s Island–they’re giving us rocks and coconuts to make radios with,” says one. Yes, recon Marines are legendary for gettings things done quick and dirty, but when low-rank Marines are spending US$500 or more of their own money for parts for their own trucks–damn. That may come as no surprise to anyone who has been or knows someone who has been deployed, but for us sitting here watching HBO in our living rooms, it’s something we can’t be reminded of enough.

Generation Kill was created by David Simon and Ed Burns (based on the book of the same name), the minds behind the just plain fucking brilliant The Wire. To Iraq they bring their same absolutely no bullshit treatment they gave to the Baltimore streets, with no clean-cut, by-the-book plots, practically no background music, and no warm and fuzzy morals or bleeding heart polemics. Just the straight stuff, which unfortunately includes Marines ordering titanium armour for their Humvees’ turrets off of eBay and hoping they’ll get Fedexed to the Kuwaiti desert. With all the far-out DARPA concepts you see online every day, it’s important for everyone to remember that despite a lot of leaps forward, here in the 21st century, the shit is still the shit.

The device still requires about 5% of the diesel fuel needed to power traditional generators, but that means that fewer fuel runs are necessary. And, as as Army biotech scientist Dr. James Valdes pointed out , “Those convoys that carry fuel are also known as targets.” It also means that fewer garbage trucks and their drivers are put in harm’s way. Not quite Back to the Future style garbage-fuelled fusion power, but it is a step in the right direction.[CNET via Danger Room]

The two ships, the MV Hounslow and MT Ann, were rounded up back in February by the UAE police and coastguard after Reliance Globalcom, the parent company of Flag Telecoms, whose snapped cables they were, provided satellite pictures of shipping in the area of the cables at the time they were severed.

The Korean ship was allowed to go over the weekend, having paid a rather large fine (thought to be around US$60,000) to Flag Telecom, whose customers suffered two weeks of disruption to their internet services. Meanwhile, two crew members of the Iraqi boat have been arrested, and their boat looks nowhere closer to being released. [The Economic Times via National Terror Alert—thanks Mike Wahlman]