Sock Puppet Theatre

The guardian.co.uk is reporting that the US military has contracted a Californian corporation to create software which would allow military personnel to create and maintain multiple online persona, up to 10 identities each, based all over the globe. In other words a single person would maintain, monitor, and distribute comments to and from 10 online personalities, sock puppets, in order to spread propaganda misinformation.

Centcom spokesman Commander Bill Speaks said: "The technology supports classified blogging activities on foreign-language websites to enable Centcom to counter violent extremist and enemy propaganda outside the US." Claiming that none of the interventions would be conducted in English as it would be unlawful to "address US audiences" in such fashion. Interventions would be conducted in Arabic, Farsi, Urdu and Pashto.

While it is very noble of them to strike English from their vocabulary, if you've followed any of the coverage coming out of the recent unrest abroad, you'll have undoubtedly noted that many if not all of the media outlets are heavily relying on Twitter and Facebook accounts of the situations on the ground to report the "news". What's to say that the news being reported to us is not coming from Centcom?

Interesting, scary, and not surprising all at the same time.  

US Military Capable Of Restoring Internet Access

If a government intent on thwarting a social uprising of it's populous choses to cut communications, such as Egypt's early response to the recent demonstrations, the U.S. military could conceivably restore services in order to maintain internet access an inviolable human right. 

John Arquilla, a leading military futurist tells Wired that while it might not be that difficult of a challenge technically for the U.S. military which "has a great deal of expertise on rebuilding communications network, but that's ... very different when the government is interested in resisting," Arquilla says. "This is far less an engineering problem and far more a political one." 

It makes total sense that a country facing internal strife might consider such an action as a hostile act, especially if perpetrated by a foreign power. I guess it really should not surprise anyone that the technology already exists, and as an average citizen I am finding some comfort in the fact that does. 

Face Masks For Soldiers?

When I think of soldiers with full face masks I think Stormtroopers and countless other faceless fighters from movie lore. A recent study however suggests that adding a face guard to modern soldiers standard helmets could substantially reduce the shock wave affect of nearby blasts and thus reduce the number of traumatic brain injuries.

A study by MIT researches suggest that face protection is critical. “The face shield contributes a lot to deflecting energy from the blast wave and not letting it directly touch the soft tissue,” says lead researcher Raúl Radovitzky. “We’re not saying this is the best design for a face shield, but we’re saying we need to cover the face.”

Speaking about today's technology “These helmets weren’t designed to stop a pressure wave; they were designed to stop bullets,” says Albert King, director of the Bioengineering Center at Wayne State University in Detroit. “Just like a football helmet wasn’t designed to stop a concussion, but to stop skull fracture.”

Seems like natural progression, however I can see concerns being raised over cooling and peripheral vision, as advanced as we are becoming with our weaponry I don't know that we are necessarily keeping pace with the protection of our boots on the ground, though I'm not well informed enough to really weigh in here. In any case the more of this type of research that we conduct the better our troops are apt to be moving forward, though it would be nice if we lived in a world where none of this were necessary.


Source: Wired

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange Deflects Accusations For Now

The founder of Wikileaks, Julian Assange, has been cleared for now of allegations of rape but may still face charges of molestation though the Chief Prosecutor has not had time to investigate that claim yet. In a brief statement Eva Finne said: "I don't think there is reason to suspect that he has committed rape."

Last month Wikileaks published about 77,000 secret US military documents on the war in Afghanistan and US officials demanded the return of the materials. "If doing the right thing is not good enough for them, then we will figure out what other alternatives we have to compel them to do the right thing," department spokesman Geoff Morrell said at the time. hmmm?

According to the BBC "In a series of other messages posted on the Wikileaks Twitter feed, the whistle-blowing website said: "No-one here has been contacted by Swedish police", and that it had been warned to expect "dirty tricks"."

Perhaps I've been listening to too many conspiracy theorists but something doesn't feel right here.

See: BBC and this previous post citing CNN.

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Tiny Robot Handles Tough Terrain

From the folks at iRobot comes a little device that deploys from your pocket and is capable of handling itself over rough terrain. I envision a mounted/embedded camera for surveillance, though the video makes no mention of it's intended uses.

iPhone - iPod Touch Becoming Part Of Soldiers Kit

According to News Week the U.S. military is turning to Apple to help equip it's soldiers with portable computing devices in the form of heavy duty iPhones and iPod Touches.

"Using a commercial product for such a crucial military role is a break from the past. Compared with devices built to military specifications, iPods are cheap. Apple, after all, has already done the research and manufacturing without taxpayer money. The iPod Touch retails for under $230, whereas a device made specifically for the military can cost far more. (The iPhone offers more functionality than the iPod Touch, but at $600 or $700 each, is much more expensive.) Typically sheathed in protective casing, iPods have proved rugged enough for military life. And according to an Army official in Baghdad, the devices have yet to be successfully hacked.

The iPod also fulfills the U.S. military's need to equip soldiers with a single device that can perform many different tasks. Apple's online App Store offers more than 25,000 (and counting) applications for the iPhone and iPod Touch, which shares the iPhone's touchscreen. As the elegantly simple iPods—often controlled with a single thumb—acquire more functionality, soldiers can shed other gadgets. An iPod "may be all that they need," says Lt. Col. Jim Ross, director of the Army's intelligence, electronic warfare and sensors operations in Fort Monmouth, New Jersey."

And let's not forget you can play all of your tunes and movies too...

US Army Invests In Sticky Foam Weaponry... Again

According to Wired's Danger Room blog the US Army has issued a contract to Albuquerque, New Mexico contractor Adherent Technologies for the development of a "foam-based vehicle arresting system," which is intended to stop a vehicle in it's tracks before it puts soldiers or civilians in harms way. According to the blog "In theory, the foam would "instantly disable" the oncoming vehicle by clogging up the engine intakes and blocking the steering mechanism. The foam would absorb the vehicle's kinetic energy, bringing it to a stop. "Lastly," the company says, it "will leave the driver trapped inside an encapsulated vehicle, with no means of orientation."" This sounds like one of those attempts to stop the Road Runner by Wille E. Coyote. Meep meep!

Pentagon Tests Missile Shield

The Pentagon is calling their test of the missile defense shield on Friday, a "smashing success,". A long-range ballistic missile launched from Kodiak, Alaska was successfully intercepted by a ground-based interceptor missile, launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The test was however not a complete success as a decoy failed to deploy. "Countermeasures are very difficult to deploy. We have had trouble deploying them in the past," said Lt. Gen. Patrick J. O'Reilly, director for the Missile Defense Agency. But O'Reilly said that the interceptor did differentiate between the actual missile target and the upper stage of the missile it had detached from.

CNN story.

US Military Charters Kite Powered Ship To Deliver Equipment

While I think the motivation here is strictly cost savings, I'll applaud the choice of the US Navy's Military Sealift Command (MSC) which has chartered the MV Beluga, a "kite-assisted" 400 foot cargo ship, to deliver Air Force and Army equipment from Europe to the US. MV Beluga uses a paraglider-shaped, SkySails-System, which supplements its conventional, internal combustion engines potentially reducing fuel costs by as much as 30 percent, or roughly $1,600 a day. The system utilizes a computer-controlled kite that flies from 100 to 300 yards into the air, using the wind to tow the ship. "MSC values innovation that leads to cost savings," said Captain Nick Holman, of Sealift Logistics Command Europe. CNet Story.

UK Hacker Facing Extradition To The US To Face Charges

Gary McKinnon aka "Solo", a Glasgow-born systems analyst is facing extradition to the United States to face charges that he gained access to 97 US military and Nasa computers from his London home in 2001 and 2002. Lawyers working on McKinnon's behalf say that US authorities had warned McKinnon that he faced a life sentence rather than a couple of years in jail unless he agreed to plead guilty and to extradition. McKinnon has never denied accessing the networks saying he was motivated by curiosity. I guess it's not really a question of guilt but rather can he receive a fair trial in a US court? BBC story here.

Robotic Insects On Horizon For Military?

British Weapons giant BAE Systems is creating an army of tiny robotic spiders, insects and snakes that potentially could become the eyes and ears of soldiers on the battlefield. The UK's Daily Mail is reporting that prototypes of the tiny robots could be deployed into action by the years end. BAE has secured a £19million contract to develop the robots for the US Army and have ambitions to equip every front-line soldier with them enabling the boots on the ground to detect danger from insurgent fighters, chemical, biological or radioactive weapons. Check out this animated scenario. As the Daily Mail points out its reminiscent of Minority Report.

The Real Ironman

Check out this Telegraph TV segment on exoskeleton research being conducted in the US.

And here is the story that goes with it. Cool!

Sensitive US Military Items Offered For Sale Online

A report by the US Government Accountability Office says that investigators were able to purchase a dozen prohibited military items on popular online selling sites eBay and Craigslist. Components for the retired F-14 fighter jet, night vision goggles that allow the user to identify U.S. troops at night, army combat uniforms were among the items purchased, and special "enhanced" body armor vests. "Do we have a serious theft problem, or do we not even know if we have the ability to know we have a serious theft problem?" asks Rep. Chris Shays. Craigslist says they rely on users to police the site but eBay representatives say "We created prohibited and restricted items policies and built tools using state-of-the-art technology to enforce those policies" The fact remains that items can be purchased. CNN has the story.

Israeli Army Limits Social Network Usage

In a story reminiscent of a recent post about similar actions taken by the Canadian military, the Israeli defense officials have produced a new set of rules aimed at preventing it's soldiers and Defense Ministry staff from revealing classified information on social networking sites, like Facebook. According to the Globe and Mail "The rules allow soldiers to create pages on networking sites as long as they do not identify themselves as soldiers or reveal any information about what they do." The issue appears to be the posting of sensitive information and images to the sites, government officials are concerned that some soldiers have uploaded pictures of themselves with classified equipment.

Military Gives Praise To Robots In The Field

The U.S. Army's civilian director of ground combat systems, Kevin Fahey kicked off the fifth annual RoboBusiness conference in Pittsburgh, PA. The gathering of robotics company insiders heard praise during Fahey's keynote address. "Any time you can get out of harm's way, you're interested," he said. "Even though I'm trained to go into that cave, I'd much rather have that robot go in." In 2004 the army was using 162 robots, the number grew to 5,000 in 2007 and will be up to 6,000 in total this year. iRobot's Chief Executive says "We really don't have the killer application yet to drive things," he said. "There is obviously the opportunity here to do more." As a very satisfied owner of an iRobot Roomba I'll add that "Even though I'm trained to vacuum the living room floor, I'd much rather have the robot go in" Now when is iRobot going to release a lawn mowing robot? CBC story here.

Canadian Military Warns Soldiers Not To Post Info Online

The Canadian Defence Department is warning soldiers about the dangers of posting information to sites such as Facebook and of posting photos from the battlefront in Afghanistan. In a memo obtained by CBC News the military says "Al Qaeda operatives are monitoring Facebook and other social networking sites," and that "This may seem overdramatic … [but] the information can be used to target members for further exploitation. It also opens the door for your families and friends to become potential targets as well." Some question the motives and whether or not this is prudent advice or just the military's attempt at controlling the imagery of what is really happening on the ground. I think that if I were in the forces I'd be thinking long and hard about what I was publishing, we are all aware (or at least we are lead to believe) that there are cells operating within our borders, regardless of where we live in.

US Navy Ship Shoots Down Failing Spy Satellite

CNN is reporting that the US Navy has successfully hit a dying spy satellite that it feared would survive reentry and pose a threat due to it's hazardous payload of fuel. "At approximately 10:26 p.m. EST today, a U.S. Navy AEGIS warship, the USS Lake Erie, fired a single modified tactical Standard Missile-3, hitting the satellite approximately 247 kilometers (133 nautical miles) over the Pacific Ocean as it traveled in space at more than 17,000 mph." a Department of Defense statement said. "Debris will begin to re-enter the Earth's atmosphere immediately," the department said. "Nearly all of the debris will burn up on re-entry within 24-48 hours and the remaining debris should re-enter within 40 days." Apparently the navy gunners had a 10 second window in which to fire the missile, if they had missed there would have been another 10 second window each day for the next 8 or 9 days. Good shooting guys! Hitting the target does not ensure that earth will not be struck by falling debris but it enhances the chances. There are plenty of conspiracy theories floating around suggesting that this was just a test of the US ability to take down a target in space, or that the real concern was the technology and data contained on the bird and not the fuel... whatever the reason it's a pretty incredible feat and the stuff that movies are made from.

Navy Rail Gun Tests

Here is an interesting Discovery Channel segment on the US navy's trials of Electro-kinetic Rail Gun technology that they are developing as a mid range ship fired ordinance. The projectiles are fired at extreme speeds and the sheer impact causes immense damage meaning there is no requirement for arming them with explosive charges. Neat!

Exoskeleton a military reality?

Wired brings us an interesting and impressive look at exoskeleton technology developed by Sarcos, recently purchased by defense contractor Raytheon. I've seen many of these type videos but this looks like it's very close... The video is really impressive, and I suspect it's only a matter of time before we start to see battlefield images of this technology.

Robotic gun emplacement goes wild, kills 9 injures 14

Wired is reporting that a South African military exercise involving a robotic Oerlikon 35mm Twin Field Air Defence Gun - Type GDF-005, went horribly wrong earlier this month killing 9 soldiers and seriously injuring 14 more. The automated dual gun cannon is designed to use passive and active radar, as well as laser range finders, to lock on to high speed, low flying aircraft and cruise missiles. The South African National Defence Force is investigating the possibility that a software glitch may have caused the malfunction. The gun has the ability to reload itself and apparently only stopped firing when it had expended all of the available rounds. So much for the 3 laws!