Now this is my kind of porn!

Future Combat Systems 2005

Watching this makes me wish I was 17 and just enlisting again. Seeing concepts that were science-fiction just a few years ago reaching the point of being deployable is just far too cool. Take the HUD display showing where all your friendlies are and their status. I first read that in Starship Troopers when I was eight, and now it is reality.

I've been reading up on the FCS program, and one of things they're trying to do is figure out a way to incorporate weapons status into the system. Say I'm carrying a M-4 carbine with seven 30-round magazines. (One in the weapon, six in pouches.) The system would be told what I'm carrying, and the weapon would know how many rounds it has fired. So my platoon sergeant or squad leader will be able to tell how many rounds every man has left for his primary weapon. Add in health monitors (like a simple pulse/blood pressure system) and both the chain of command and the medics will be alerted if something suddenly goes haywire (i.e. and sudden spike in pulse rate accompanied by loss of blood pressure.)

The use of robots is especially exciting. Skinny as I am, I was always the guy elected to crawl down the corridor and see what was going on in MOUT (Military Operations in Urbanized Terrain) situations. Having a little robot do the job would have been much easier on my nerves. Same thing for UAVs. Intelligence is everything in a firefight. You cannot imagine how confusing even a battle between two squads in broad daylight can be - even in training! Anything that increases our ability to know what is going on around us is a good thing.

Of course, all this has to pass the "kick test." (Can it survive being drop-kicked across a football field?) and is several years away from operational deployment, but the future seems to be arriving. Next step: powered armor!

My next drop will be at Deep 13.

How evil are you?

The end of an era

Winchester Rifles to Be Discontinued

The traditional Winchester rifles carried by pioneers, movie stars and Wild West lawmen will be discontinued in March, a Belgian manufacturer said Wednesday, confirming the end of an American icon that became known as "The Gun that Won the West."

Once the U.S. Repeating Arms plant closes March 31, the only new rifles carrying the famous Winchester name will be the modern, high-end models produced in Belgium, Japan and Portugal. The older models, including the famous Winchester Model 94, will be scrapped.

"The name will continue, but not with those traditional products," said Robert Sauvage, a spokesman for the Herstal Group, the Belgian company that owns U.S. Repeating Arms and the right to the Winchester name.

Herstal announced Tuesday that the U.S. Repeating Arms factory in New Haven would soon close, capping 140 years of Winchester manufacturing in the city.

Damn.

1,2,5!

You post a topic, list, category, whatever, in my comments section. (examples: "5 Sexiest Things About Erica Hill" or "Top 5 things about Canada"). Then, in a separate post, I'll post the answers to all your Top 5 ideas, according to me. Then you post this offer in your own journal. (That last part is only if you want.)

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