Artillery hasn’t been all that helpful in the Iraq counterinsurgency. Even in trained hands, heavy, indirect fire is pretty indiscriminate. Bystanders often get killed, while intended targets slip away. Which is why the Army has been bankrolling “Excalibur,” a Raytheon effort to build a 155mm artillery shell that’s guided by GPS. Think of it as […]
September 2005
It took twenty years and $19 billion. But at 4pm today, I’m told, the Pentagon’s Defense Acquisition Board will announce its recommendation to go ahead with “full rate production” of the once star-crossed, accident-prone Osprey V-22 tiltrotor craft. The fate of the hybrid aircraft has been very much in question, ever since a pair of […]
* Rocket-powered blimp drawn up * LAW reinstated * G-Men, Chinese tag team * U.S. to Israel: No copters for you * Marines’ green fuel * GPS fat cat finder * Maxwell Smart, Semper Fi * Number two? Not! * Back to even (Big ups: Xeni, RC)
The Army’s Future Combat Systems overhaul is FUBAR, we all know. But it’s just the latest in a long line of big-ticket Pentagon programs to burn cash and squander expectations. So it there any way for the Defense Department to buy next-gen gear without picking taxpayers’ pockets and leaving soldiers ass-out? Pentagon insider Dave has […]
You can hear me stammering through another interview on BBC/Public Radio International’s “The World” this afternoon. I’ll be talking about my favorite $450 billion science project. THERE’S MORE: It’s online now, here.
