ADVERTISEMENT, sponsored by Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel gives viewers unprecedented access to the latest military weapons in the second season of FUTUREWEAPONS, including several that are exclusive to Discovery Channel cameras. Host and ex-Navy SEAL, Richard Mack Machowicz, goes to manufacturing sites around the world to test weapons, detail the science behind the hardware and explain how it gives soldiers strategic advantages during combat. FUTUREWEAPONS premieres Monday, January 15, 2007, at 9 PM (ET/PT).
Some of the exclusive weapons featured in the series include two that are currently being used by soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Boot Banger neutralizes car bombs and improvised explosive devices (IEDs), and the Gatecrasher breaches walls so that troops can shoot or climb through. Throughout the second season, more than 15 featured weapons will be exclusive to Discovery Channel, in addition to a look at more than 15 different weapons that are currently being used by soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan.
FUTUREWEAPONS gives viewers a unique perspective on wartime strategy that no one else is offering, said Jane Root, EVP and GM of Discovery Channel, The Science Channel, Military Channel and Discovery Times Channel. We are pulling back the curtain on 21st century weapons to bring viewers to the cutting edge of technology.
Viewers looking for more information about Mack and the hardware featured in the series can go to readyaimfuture.com for an exclusive interactive weapons gallery, games, behind the scenes footage and a video diary where Mack discusses his favorite weapons, his experience as a Navy SEAL and his history.
In addition to a robust website with exclusive content and in-depth information, Discovery Channels sister network, The Military Channel, will air WEAPONOLOGY at 10 PM (ET/PT) on Mondays immediately following FUTUREWEAPONS. In this new series viewers learn about the history to develop better, faster and stronger weapons. The line of fire from basic weapon to modern super weapon is far from straight, and WEAPONOLOGY brings together the great leaps that designers have made in military technology over the last century. During the FUTUREWEAPONS broadcast, viewers will be prompted to The Military Channel for WEAPONOLOGY with in-program promos.
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Geeeze, next time put the words “ADVERTISEMENT” next to your articles, won’t be so confusing.
So does Boeing get to write the next blog-post?
So this:
http://www.defensetech.org/archives/002019.html
apparently doesn’t apply to pushing tv shows? Even tv shows, like “FutureWeapons,” that are basically infomercials for defense contractors’ pet projects? Have the overlords signed a new sponsorship deal?
I have no problem with commercial ventures making money. So it’s an ad. Deal with it.
“So it’s an ad. Deal with it.”
Yes, correct, it is an advertisement, which is how commercial ventures such as this make money. Unfortunately, in journalistic circles, it’s considered a faux pas to pass one off as an article.
In the last week or so I saw a FW program about a British weapons expert who had invented a simple but devastatingly effective anti tank weapon. The following week the news was full of accounts of American forces being targeted by such a device deployed by Iran. What???? Is our greed for money such that we develope arms, sells them to our enemies so they kill our own citizens and solders? The thought of it makes me sick. Put the arms makers on the front line. Let the greedy bastards get slaughtered with their own WMD’s.
If FW can’t help me please direct me to the proper department. #1. There has got to be a way we can stop the IED’s in Iraq. #2. I have a great idea. We have polic robots which are used to detonate bombs. We use Sonar to detect metal submarines. Why not use a portable sonar unit attached to a robot to detect Ied’s in fake rocks beside the road or under the road. Then we can clear the area and detonate the Ied’s. #3 It is not rocket science, if I can figure this out.
Please get on this project to safeguard our soldiers both men & women. Thank you.
Sincerely
D.K.Dover
If FW can’t help me please direct me to the proper department. #1. There has got to be a way we can stop the IED’s in Iraq. #2. I have a great idea. We have polic robots which are used to detonate bombs. We use Sonar to detect metal submarines. Why not use a portable sonar unit attached to a robot to detect Ied’s in fake rocks beside the road or under the road. Then we can clear the area and detonate the Ied’s. #3 It is not rocket science, if I can figure this out.
Please get on this project to safeguard our soldiers both men & women. Thank you.
Sincerely
D.K.Dover
I recently saw a re-enactment of a firefight in Iraq during which a soldier miraculously endured at least two grenade blasts inside a small room. One of the blasts was from his own grenade which was tossed back at him. There are several reasonably low-tech solutions to this using a chip with a miniature sensor array to detect patterns of motion/rest, body-inductance, and/or sound (either from landing after tossed, bootsteps, or language). Based upon combinations of these interpretted by a fuzzy-logic algorithm, the grenade could detonate without the liability of extra-time left on the fuse.
On a recently broadcast episode of Weaponology, there was a story on the Barrett .50 semi-auto rifle. The host first held up the .223 round and said it was the primary cartridge for our military rifles (true enough if you are talking about the M-16). He then held up a cartridge he referred to as “.308″ and said it was the cartridge used in the AK-47! I was very surprised that an ex-Navy Seal would say such a thing. The AK-47 uses the 7.62X39 not the 7.62X51 (military cousin to the .308). Also, then he compared the semi-auto Barrett to a bolt-action sniper rifle saying that more rounds could be fired per minute. This is hardly a fair comparison. It would have been more appropriate to compare the Barrett to the sniper-modified M-14.
Michael