Hill To Navy: Hurry Up On Rail Guns, Lasers

Hill To Navy: Hurry Up On Rail Guns, Lasers
Hill To Navy: Hurry Up On Rail Guns, Lasers

WASHINGTON: Rail gun bullets move seven times the speed of sound. Laser beams fire at the speed of light. But Pentagon procurement? Not so fast. But with both Congress and the Navy Secretary expressing impatience, the Navy is accelerating its efforts to move both lasers and rail guns from the test phase into the fleet. “We’ve…

Learning From Termites: Navy, Marines Seek New Breed Of Drones

Learning From Termites: Navy, Marines Seek New Breed Of Drones
Learning From Termites: Navy, Marines Seek New Breed Of Drones

NATIONAL HARBOR: Navy Secretary Ray Mabus may want to move drones to the top of his priorities, but what kind of unmanned systems do the Navy and Marine Corps want to buy? Don’t think Predator or even the Navy’s new 131-foot-wingspan Triton. Imagine a swarm of buzzing, scuttling or swimming robots that are smaller but smarter. While a…

Secretary Of Drones: Mabus Creates DASN For Unmanned

Secretary Of Drones: Mabus Creates DASN For Unmanned
Secretary Of Drones: Mabus Creates DASN For Unmanned

UPDATED: Sen. McCain & Rep. Forbes Comment NATIONAL HARBOR, MD: Navy Secretary Ray Mabus announced today that he’s reorganizing his department to increase emphasis on unmanned systems, from aerial drones to robotic mini-subs — a move which met with rapid approbation from Congress. “I’m going to appoint a new Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Unmanned…

X-47B Drone Set For Refueling Test Tomorrow

X-47B Drone Set For Refueling Test Tomorrow
X-47B Drone Set For Refueling Test Tomorrow

UPDATED Thursday with test results NATIONAL HARBOR, MD: “Tomorrow, actually, the weather looks good,” said Capt. Beau Duarte, the Navy’s head of carrier-launched drone programs — at least, he added cautiously, as of “right now.” If the weather holds, the Navy’s experimental X-47B drone will refuel in mid-air — the first time an unmanned aircraft has…

Tablets & Tomahawks: Navy, Marines Scramble To Innovate

Tablets & Tomahawks: Navy, Marines Scramble To Innovate
Tablets & Tomahawks: Navy, Marines Scramble To Innovate

NATIONAL HARBOR, MD: Amidst unabated budget gloom, Navy and Marine leaders aren’t looking for salvation in big new programs. They’re “repurposing and reusing existing capabilities” to get the maximum out of existing hardware for minimum cost. It’s a vision of the future in which a junior Marine Corps officer might call for fire support from a…

No Man’s Sea: CSBA’s Lethal Vision Of Future Naval War

No Man’s Sea: CSBA’s Lethal Vision Of Future Naval War
No Man’s Sea: CSBA’s Lethal Vision Of Future Naval War

WASHINGTON: The seas are shrinking. As missiles grow longer-ranged and more precise, as sensors grow ever sharper, there are ever fewer places for a ship to hide. “A ship’s a fool to fight a fort,” goes an old naval adage, because a land base can carry more ammunition and armor than anything that floats. Admirals…