Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
Lethal Frisbee UAV Robots
Modular Disc-Wing (Frisbee) Urban Cruise Munitions, also called Lethal Frisbee UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles), are under development by Triton Systems at the behest of the US Air Force.
(Robotic Frisbees of Death)
It is believed that the 3-D maneuverability of the Frisbee-UAV format will provide "revolutionary tactical access and lethality against hostiles hiding in upper story locations and/or defiladed behind obstacles to direct observation and fire."
According to the company:
"The fuzing mode of the MEFP warheads will be controllable so as to provide a single large fragment (bunker-buster) or tailorable pattern of smaller fragments (unprotected infantry or light utility vehicles)."
MEFP (Multiple Explosively Formed Penetrator) warheads have been under development since the 1980's. The intent is to provide a technology allowing not just single munition loads, but many individual penetrators to attack light materiel area targets. Initial MEFP warhead concepts utilized a steel case, LX-14 explosive billet and a tantalum, iron or copper liner embossed or formed to produce the individual penetrators.
The design spec for the Lethal Frisbee UAVs requires that they may be directed wirelessly by an operator, or run in fully autonomous mode - "autonomous target classification routines." All flight data will be transmitted back to the controllers.
If you think that maybe you've heard something about Frisbees and the military before, you're right. The Navy spent hundreds of thousands of dollars experimenting with six-foot diameter frisbees in the early 1990's.
As far as I know, the military has given relatively little thought on how the enemy might stop this weapon. Fortunately, the "outside-the-box" thinkers at Halfbakery.com have been working on this problem for years. In the comments on Giant Frisbee Warfare, one reader suggested that the perfect counter-weapon would be a "really big dog."
It turns out that DARPA is working hard on the BigDog robot (see Bradbury's Mechanical Hound and DARPA's BigDog Robot and No Runts In BigDog Robot Litter). This muscular bot may be just the counter-weapon to Lethal Frisbees that enemy combatants might be looking for - assuming that somebody is getting to work on a suitable set of robotic jaws.
U.S. military strategists are advised to take note.
Read more about Lethal Frisbee UAV robots here and here.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 9/7/2006)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 5 )
Related News Stories - (" Weapon ")
Can A Swarm Of Deadly Drones Take Out An Aircraft Carrier?
'The border was defended by... a swarm of quasi-independent aerostats.' - Neal Stephenson, 1995.
Has Turkey Been Stealing Rain From Iran?
Can one country take another's rain?
We Need To Build Anti-Drone Systems For Civilian Spaces
'the real border was defended by ...a swarm of quasi-independent aerostats...' - Neal Stephenson, 1995.
Bullet Steers Itself! The Advanced Low-Cost Munitions Ordnance ALaMO
'You've heard of a bullet that has your name on it.' - Michael Crichton, 1985.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
Chaffeur Robot Musashi Will Drive Your Regular Car
'What would you do,' Eric asked the robot cabdriver, 'if your wife had turned to stone, your best friend were a toad, and you had lost your job?'
Space Exporers! Now, You Can Drink Your Own Urine
'those suits they wear -- call them 'stillsuits' -- that reclaim the body's own water...'
SpaceX EVA Spacesuit Tested By Polaris Dawn Crew
'Now, except for weight and heat, the same conditions prevail in this chamber as in space.'
Automatic Bot Traffic Is 38 Percent Of HTTP Requests
'there were so many worms and counterworms loose in the data-net...'
Shanghai Guidelines For Humanoid Robots
'Now, look, let's start with the three fundamental Rules of Robotics...'
Desktop TARS Robot From Interstellar
What's YOUR sarcasm setting?
Robots Can Now Have Smiling Faces With Human Skin
'I am a cybernetic organism...'
Virtual Rat Predicts Actual Rat Neural Activity
'..the synthetic intellects at the Place of Knowledge had far outstripped the minds of men.'
GoSun EV Solar Charger Drapes Onto Your Car
'...six square yards of sunpower screens.'
Rizon 4 Ironing Robot
'But after washing and drying clothes had to be smooth - free from fine lines and wrinkles ...'
Cognify - A Prison Of The Mind We've Seen Before In SF
'So I serve a hundred years in one day...'
Robot With Human Brain Organoid - 'A Thrilling Story Of Mechanistic Progress'
'A human brain snugly encased in a transparent skull-shaped receptacle.'
Goodness Gracious Me! Google Tries Face Recognition Security
'The actuating mechanism that should have operated by the imprint of her image on the telephoto cell...'
With Mycotecture, We'll Just Grow The Space Habitats We Need
'The only real cost was in the plastic balloon that guided the growth of the coral and enclosed the coral's special air-borne food.'
Can A Swarm Of Deadly Drones Take Out An Aircraft Carrier?
'The border was defended by... a swarm of quasi-independent aerostats.'
WiFi and AI Team Up To See Through Walls
'The pitiless M rays pierced Earth and steel and densest concrete as if they were so much transparent glass...'
