Dropping out of a perfectly good airplane — that’s something than only those with a few screws loose can do. While I may be quoting the guys from Band of Brothers a bit, the fact remains; it’s hard to mentally justify such a thing and only the brave men and women in the military world are performing such tasks on a weekly basis.

Canada had hosted a military exercise called the Maple Flag a few weeks ago. Established in 1978, Maple Flag is one of the largest of such exercises in the world, as it makes use of the extensive Cold Lake Air Weapons Range (CLAWR) which is co-existent with Canadian Forces Base Cold Lake. Occurring annually, the military exercise takes place during a four-week period, where the Royal Canadian Air Force takes up their mission status readiness type drills, together with different allied nations from around the world.

It is yet unclear who screwed up in this jump. While the region mostly forested, there was a big patch of clear fields visible in the video. But as military parachutes are somewhat difficult to navigate with, its no wonder that, in combination with the prop blast, heavy winds and onset air flow above the landing area, all resulted in this scary situation. Luckily, the paratrooper has utilized his training well. Affording him a safe landing, except revealing to the world that even Canadians can curse in such situations. Check out the complete drop right below.

Image: Canadian Air Force Hercules C-130 Photo By BriYYZ

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Plenty of rumors have been floating around the T-14 Armata, Russia’s new main battle tank design. Overall, the tank should be a completely new platform. It will also be a first new one since the introduction of the T-72 and also a completely new approach to tank design by the Russian military.

Earlier today, a video surfaced showcasing what is possibly the  new tank. With the Armata scheduled to make its first public appearance at the May 9th Victory Parade, this might be the first look of this vehicle afforded to the general public worldwide.

The tank looks utterly modern. It features seven road wheels last seen on the now defunct Black Eagle tank prototype of the past. The tank also features a turret bustle. This is probably casing the tanks main ammo. While this may be a big step forward in terms of crew safety for the Russian military, it also means the tank will be longer as well.

Russian tanks have a bad habit of cooking off when hit by anti tank weapons. This means that when a tank is hit, the ammunition and propellant store inside the tank and the autoloader would cook off due to the immense heat or simply being pierced by the melting metal from Armour-piercing discarding sabot (APDS) or similar ammo penetrating the inside of the tank. With a turret bustle (found on many contemporary western tanks like the M1A1 Abrams) the ammunition is stored in a safe compartment in the rear of the tank. This removes any high-explosive contents sans the round in the gun from inside of the actual interior of the tanks themselves.

Overall, the tank seen in this video is longer than contemporary Russian designs, warranting the probability rectifying any past issues with the tanks like the T-72 in service with the Russian military. This tank is also seen without the sideskirts and any ERA modules, as it is either tested or prepared for transportation.

The video above was probably shot at the location of the Uralvagonzavod factory. This is a road where tanks are taken for testing and/or transportation, so you might want to check out the Google Streetview showcase of it.

Russian military announced that the Armata would make its public debut at the Victory Day parade alongside some other, high-profile and profoundly interesting pieces of brand new military tech. In the past few years, the Russian military embarked on a high-spending path of modernizing their forces that has resulted in a complete overhaul of their ground, air and naval forces in certain aspects, creating a renewed threat to the Western nations and their military capabilities. The introduction of a new tank, self propelled guns, airplanes and combat navy ships is scheduled to be completed, adding a much better punch to the Soviets Russians overall.

The “Armata” Universal Combat Platform is a Russian prototype of an advanced next generation heavy military tracked vehicle platform. It is, in reality, a basis for a a main battle tank, a heavy infantry fighting vehicle, a combat engineering vehicle, an armoured recovery vehicle, a heavy armoured personnel carrier, a tank support combat vehicle and several types of self-propelled artillery under the same codename based on the same chassis. It should also provide the basis for for artillery, anti air-craft defense systems and NBC defense systems.

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Whether you like it or not, the B-2 bomber is probably the only stealth bomber that will stay that way for a long, long time.

Even though we’re seeing plenty of stealth technology being implemented, the sheer scale and size of the B-2 is overwhelming. It has the capacity to carry close to 40,000 lbs of ordnance. This includes the B61 and B83 nuclear bombs; the AGM-129 ACM cruise missile was also intended for use on the B-2 platform. Some people may argue that newer Russian bomber designs will have similar capabilities, I wouldn’t agree. Not for the fact that Russian bombers wont be able to provide the same (or greater) amount of stealth or carry the similar ordnance packages, the deployment of stand-off weapons like cruise missiles is what Russian air-force is putting a big emphasis on these days.

The B-2 is capable of all-altitude attack missions up to 50,000 feet (15,000 m), with a range of more than 6,000 nautical miles (11,000 km) on internal fuel and over 10,000 nautical miles (19,000 km) with one midair refueling. The last part is the main theme of this video, ensuring the public stays rather profoundly interested in these air-planes, somebody at U.S. DoD released a rather interesting showcase of the bomber’s capabilities.

As stealth is the main aspect of this airplanes, the retractable fuel cover that seemingly vanishes into pin-point precision alignment with the rest of the bomber’s exterior skin is simply staggering. It seems like the bomber is alive and the part once open to receive a bunch of fuel – simply joins with its exterior shell almost without a single line being seen. To see how this thing works, please take a look at the video shown below.

Images: First B-2 Image by U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Bennie J. Davis III, second B-2 image by USAF

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As the Russian Airforce is deploying its TU-22M3 ‘Backfire’ aircraft into the recently incorporated area that is Crimea, there are several things changing for the NATO and other military forces in the region. While the political situation has everything to do with these being added to the might of the Russian air and sea fleet over there, the relevance to the whole situation is not that important at all. The idea behind this is to show how the Russian military, albeit strapped for cash in more ways than one since the Soviet Union took a nose dive, does have more than capable military hardware to mess up plans for United States Navy, let alone some other, smaller forces around the world that are part of NATO for example.

What the TU-22M deployment means

The TU-22M was part of Russia’s quest for a strategic bomber, capable of carrying more than enough firepower to make any military or navy cringe. This swept-wing strategic bomber might look rugged and rather simplistic in shape (compared to modern day western bombers), but this supersonic beast has all the firepower to mess up any navy captain’s day in a hurry.

The Tupolev Tu-22M (Russian: Туполев Ту-22М; NATO reporting name: Backfire) is a supersonic, variable-sweep wing, long-range strategic and maritime strike bomber developed by the Tupolev Design Bureau. Significant numbers remain in service with the Russian Air Force, and as of 2014 more than 100 Tu-22M are in use. Several are now modernized into the TU-22M3 version, allowing for all sorts of goodies like upgraded avionics, Shompol side looking airborne radar and other ELINT (electronic intelligence) equipment. Just what the doctor ordered, specially in today’s naval warfare: ELINT

Stick to the skies

The title says it all: the Russian airforce and navy never really bothered with countering United States Navy in carrier might. Simply, there was no reason to do that. On the other hand, they had more than enough firepower to protect themselves from any and every carrier strike group out there: land based TU-22M airplanes, SLAVA class missile cruisers and other, preferably missile equipped vessels (above and beyond the surface) like the Kirov class battlecruiser or the Akula class submarines. The main idea behind this was to use their supersonic and hypersonic missiles, but also cruise missiles, all in the idea to destroy a U.S. naval carrier and eventually (after the carrier destruction, when the air power is defeated) the rest of the support group as well.

The TU-22M was well countered by the usage of the F-14 Tomcat air wings, found on the aircraft carriers for the duration of the cold war, providing air cover for the fleet ships overall. These, with enough range and the Phoenix missile, could engage the Mach 1.6 capable strike groups of the said plane with a great deal of effect at distance that allowed to carrier group to stay safe entirely. The Tomcat is (sadly) long gone from the carriers. Replaced by the capable (albeit not in the same way realistically) F/A 18 Hornet for the defense and attack capabilities.

This means that the carrier groups, even though shielded by the AEGIS on board navy ships, still lacks the stand-off defense capability, offered by the F-14 Tomcat and the above mentioned Phoenix missile. Anything carried by the F/A 18 Hornet, in terms of air-to-air missiles, cannot combat these air squadrons before they launch their deadly contents on the groups. This, when the carrier attack group discovered the incoming bogies of any type, could engage these at distance, thanks to the missile available, projected range and overall, with greater efficiency as well.

The logic stands, where the TU-22M would dash along the Russian borders, achieve its top speed, launch its BVR missiles at the carriers, then scoot back to safety of the Russian airforce’s anti-air and other protection capabilities that would grant it safety after the attack happened. While the carrier or any other navy cluster of vessels does have anti-aircraft capabilities, deploying a swarm of either one of the anti-ship stuff found in Russian inventory would be a tough pill to swallow for any CIWS or other means of defense within the ships present.

Flight of the Phoenix

There’s one lethal counter to the TU-22M: the AIM-54 Phoenix. The AIM-54 Phoenix is a radar-guided, long-range air-to-air missile (AAM), carried in clusters of up to six missiles on the Grumman F-14 Tomcat, its only launch platform. With several guidance modes, the Phoenix is a worthy opponent and a classy match for Russia’s strategic bomber force – primarily the TU-22M and TU-160 airplanes then. The Phoenix achieves its longest range by using mid-course updates from the F-14A/B AWG-9 radar (APG-71 radar in the F-14D) as it climbs to cruise between 80,000 ft (24,000 m) and 100,000 ft (30,000 m) at close to Mach 5. The Phoenix uses this high altitude to gain gravitational potential energy, which is later converted into kinetic energy as the missile dives at high velocity towards its target. At around 11 miles (18 km) from the target, the missile activates its own radar to provide terminal guidance.

The minimum engagement range (the minimal distance for the missile to hit the target efficiently) for the Phoenix is around 2 nautical miles (3.7 km) and active homing would initiate upon launch. With an operational range of up to 190 kilometers, this would prove to be a better fit to target combat aircraft coming in from Crimean air bases.

Denial of the seas

How is this possible? The Russians, as stated earlier, always liked to counter the US Navy and its carrier forces with anti ship missiles. With the TU-22M, there are two significant aircraft based anti-ship missiles used.

These are the fastest anti-ship missile in service today, the Kh-15, NATO name ‘Kickback’ which can plow in to an altitude of about 40,000 m (130,000 ft) and then dives in on the target, accelerating to a speed of about Mach 5, which makes it the fastest aircraft-launched missile to date. Some believe that even without it’s high-explosive contents it would still do a lot of damage to the ships with kinetic energy alone. With a 300 kilometer operational range, there isn’t anything the current air wing airplanes found on the US Navy carriers can throw at them, before they launch their missiles – when you count in the distance to target seen there.

The second one is the The Raduga Kh-22, NATO name ‘Kitchen’ that is a cruise missile, a ship destroying thingie that flies in at mach 4.6 to its target.

The Kh-22 uses an Isayev liquid-fuel rocket engine, fueled with TG-02 (Tonka-250) and IRFNA (inhibited red fuming nitric acid), giving it a maximum speed of Mach 4.6 and a range of up to 600 km (320 nmi). It can be launched in either high-altitude or low-altitude mode. Both modes can be used in a swarm type of an event, allowing several TU-22M bombers to launch their missiles in various modes and overwhelming a possible target. In high-altitude mode, it climbs to an altitude of 27,000 m (89,000 ft) and makes a high-speed dive into the target, with a terminal speed of about Mach 4.6. In low-altitude mode, it climbs to 12,000 m (39,000 ft) and makes a shallow dive at about Mach 3.5, making the final approach at an altitude under 500 m (1,600 ft).

The missile is guided by a gyro-stabilized autopilot in conjunction with a radio altimeter. With, let’s say six of the TU-22M’s attacking the particular navy group, this would mean that each carries four of these, totaling 24 missiles headed in various configurations, probably overwhelming any CIWS it encounters. if both the high-altitude and low-altitude modes are used, the ships and their defenses might prove to be overmatched for the swarm of missiles headed into their hulls that way.

This means that, with swarms of TU-22M’s hurdling at 1.6 mach, unleashing either the long range or short range anti-ship missiles, any and every carrier battlegroup would be pressed to combat these attacks. In other words regarding this, that the current Black Sea deployment from NATO, consisting of the Standing NATO Maritime Group Two (SNGM2) vessels the flagship USS Vicksburg (CG 69), HMCS Fredericton (FFH 337), TCG Turgutreis (F 241), FGS Spessart (A 1442), ITS Aliseo (F 574) and ROS Regina Maria (F 222), might be too little too late to combat Russia’s power over there. With the probable Kilo-class diesel-electric submarines lurking around, all armed with similar destructive means, the overall firepower the Soviets Russians are capable of launching at any NATO task group – is impressive.

In a way, the Black Sea security situation changed quite a bit with the introduction of these weapon systems, entirely changing the possibilities of any country, even the United States to engage Russian targets in that area. With the geographical situation making the Black Sea Russia’s own little pond, these airplanes, together with the naval might of the Black Sea fleet together with these weapon impacting the strategic relations, might provide the naysayers with the final shut up about the Russian military power alltogether. At least in this aspect.

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Hackers sympathetic to the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) took over the United States Central Command’s Twitter (NYSE: TWTR) and YouTube accounts for about an hour on Monday and posted a number of inflammatory comments, photos, and videos before the Pentagon was able to disable its accounts.

Using the alias “CyberCaliphate,” the hackers tweeted repeated threats that ISIS would be coming for American soldiers and their families. The group also released several documents on Pastebin.com, including a list of work phone numbers of current Army officers as well as the email and mailing addresses of dozens of retired generals.

Most of the files appear to have already been publically available online. Noting that the pro-ISIS hackers did not compromise CENTCOM’s operational military networks and have had no operational impact, the U.S. Department of Defense said it was treating the incident “purely as a case of cybervandalism.”

While the Department of Defense’s effort to downplay the cyberattack is unsurprising, its failure to use common security measures to protect its social media accounts is troubling. According to the Wall Street Journal, the DoD manages the Twitter accounts of the nine U.S. combatant commands but the CENTCOM account allegedly did not even have two-factor verification enabled.

With Central Command responsible for overseeing the American air strikes against ISIS, the cyberattack amounts to a propaganda victory for the militants. Most embarrassing for the administration, CyberCaliphate carried out the security breach while President Barack Obama was busy giving a speech to the Federal Trade Commission on cybersecurity and identity theft.

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Instead of implants under the skin that turned Steve Austin into the $6 million man, the Soft Exosuit fits outside the user’s body. It boosts a soldier’s ability to walk longer distances carrying heavy gear with less fatigue and improved resistance to injury.

Exosuits are a new class of applications for soft robotics. Soft, elastic sensors in an adjustable suit made of nylon, polyester, and spandex provide well-timed bursts of power intended to reduce the energy a soldier uses to walk. The suit mimics the action of the wearer’s leg muscles and tendons. Sensors embedded in the insoles of a boot send a signal to a computer processor in an actuator box on a backpack or waist belt. Cables transmit force to the joints. The system is continuously monitoring various data signals, including the suit tension, the position of the wearer, be they walking, stooping, or crawling. All the components, including a battery that gives out 50 watts of power for 4 hours, weigh about 13 pounds.

The US military’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) funded Harvard’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering with a $2.9 million contract from their Warrior Web program.

The Warrior Web  says troops patrolling for long periods in rugged, hilly terrain usually are carrying 100 or more pounds of equipment. Musculoskeletal injuries can occur while bending, crawling or running, especially to ankles, knees and lumbar spine. Fatigue is common. The suit worn beneath the uniform promises to enhance strength and endurance of the wearer.

In the lab, scientists monitor the biomechanics and physiological implications from people interacting with these types of machines. This exosuit differs from others in that it is soft, not rigid as in the past.

Robot suit and its human wearer are monitored in the laboratory

Conor Walsh is Assistant Professor of Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. Walsh is also a Core Faculty Member at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard. Additionally, he founded the Harvard Biodesign Lab. He illustrates the operating principle of the robotic suit with this explanation: If you have a person in a swing, and “you start them swinging, then you just have to give a little tap at the right time, and the swing will keep moving.” Similarly, if a person begins walking, swinging their legs, the sensors give a boast of energy to the participating muscles.

Mapping coordinates for the Exosuit

Team Leader Walsh is working with Wyss Institute faculty Robert Wood, Yong-Lae Park, and George Whitesides; Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences; Harvard University graduate students and postdoctoral fellows; Terry Ellis and Ken Holt of Boston University’s College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences; and Sang-bae Kim of MIT. New Balance known best for their Made in America athletic shoes provides expertise in textile and apparel innovation.
The military isn’t the only segment of the population that may profit from the wearable robotic suit. Alternative versions of the suit could eventually assist those with limited mobility, such as individuals who have suffered a stroke or have cerebral palsy.

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