I am going to see if I can concentrate the militaria postings into a single post per day if I find anything of note. There are a few links out there that are of interest normally, and today, there are a lot. Rather than just slam up the front page of my blog with post after post of miltech niftiness, I am going to just make it a single, high explosive post. That said, fire in the hole!
(and no, Jason, there's none of that WSMR delay....delay....delay...delay shibbit here)
First up, the US Special Forces are looking at replacing their gunships - the AC-130s with the BFGs - with examples of the next generation USAF bomber! Yep, bomber or so sayeth AvWeek. The SpecFor are more interested in the stealth and time on target. They worry that the AC-130s (or any cargo hauler derived system) will be unsurvivable in the near term: too many inexpensive SAMs.
Also in the advanced tech regime, the US Army has asked Boeing to mount a demonstrator solid-state laser on the back of one of their big logistics trucks. This is a demonstrator. This means it is the step before a prototype. It is not a functional weapon that can be realistically deployed. However, it is a proof of concept. Should the concept be proven, then we'll see this go to prototype and then production. My bet is that we will see this get down to smaller than this, possibly Hummer or MRAP carriable and possibly even on a custom, armored platform. Or even an Future Combat Systems (FCS) chassis. If that program survives.
Speaking of the FCS, the US Army has detailed the spin-outs - that is to say, bits of technology that are going to be integrated into the current equipment prior to the fielding of the FCS. They have also notified the main contractor of the FCS chassis that they should start the long lead item procurement for initial production of the artillery component of the FCS which is set to begin in three years. One of the critiques of the FCS is that based on the lessons from Iraq that it might just be too lightly armoured in view of the threats that we are seeing there. I ahve some opinions of the matter, but they can wait for another time when I have time to articulate them.
(and no, Jason, there's none of that WSMR delay....delay....delay...delay shibbit here)
First up, the US Special Forces are looking at replacing their gunships - the AC-130s with the BFGs - with examples of the next generation USAF bomber! Yep, bomber or so sayeth AvWeek. The SpecFor are more interested in the stealth and time on target. They worry that the AC-130s (or any cargo hauler derived system) will be unsurvivable in the near term: too many inexpensive SAMs.
Also in the advanced tech regime, the US Army has asked Boeing to mount a demonstrator solid-state laser on the back of one of their big logistics trucks. This is a demonstrator. This means it is the step before a prototype. It is not a functional weapon that can be realistically deployed. However, it is a proof of concept. Should the concept be proven, then we'll see this go to prototype and then production. My bet is that we will see this get down to smaller than this, possibly Hummer or MRAP carriable and possibly even on a custom, armored platform. Or even an Future Combat Systems (FCS) chassis. If that program survives.
Speaking of the FCS, the US Army has detailed the spin-outs - that is to say, bits of technology that are going to be integrated into the current equipment prior to the fielding of the FCS. They have also notified the main contractor of the FCS chassis that they should start the long lead item procurement for initial production of the artillery component of the FCS which is set to begin in three years. One of the critiques of the FCS is that based on the lessons from Iraq that it might just be too lightly armoured in view of the threats that we are seeing there. I ahve some opinions of the matter, but they can wait for another time when I have time to articulate them.
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