Warfare

Britain's armed forces take a look into the future with young engineers predicting what the Royal Marines in 2050 will look like.

The military is always ahead of the civilian world when it comes to new technologies, and it's staggering to look back and see just how advanced aviation was as early as the 1950s and 60s, with supersonic jets, long-range remote-control helicopters, and other tech that feels way before its time.

In 2018 we witnessed developments that pave the way for a future where AI systems could heal us, harm us, or even teach us. Here are the highlights from a fascinating year of advances in artificial intelligence.

A team of scientists from the University of Reading has found that the bombing raids against the Axis powers by Allied forces during the Second World War were so intense that their effects were detected on the edge of space.

MacGyver is alive and well and living in Austin Texas, where researchers have come up with a simple and affordable chemical weapons detector, made out of an iPhone, a UV lamp, a standard 96-well test plate and … a bunch of Lego bricks. ​

​After unveiling it in February, Milrem and ST Kinetics have conducted the first live fire tests of their weaponized UGV, the THeMIS ADDER. Armed with a heavy machine gun, the UGV aced the tests, paving the way for robots that may eventually support or even replace ground troops on the battlefield.

​​According to a new study accepted for publication in the journal Space Weather, the US was taken to the brink of war with the Soviet Union in 1967, when a powerful solar storm wreaked havoc with early warning systems designed to detect incoming Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles.

The Mine Kafon Drone is designed to seek and destroy buried landmines. Its creator, Massoud Hassani, hopes to rid the world of such mines within 10 years.

An Enigma machine, used by Germany to send encrpted communications during World War II, has been sold at auction in London. The machine, which was constructed in 1943, is one of few that survived the conflict intact, as the German military was given orders to destroy the machines as it retreated.

When a major natural disaster or nuclear war strikes, survival will be the main priority for most us. For some, though, the biggest problem will be deciding whether to watch a movie or go for a swim. Residents at the luxury Survival Condo resort will be safe, secure and not short of entertainment.

SAIC has published a conceptual video that demonstrates how its DARPA-funded unmanned drone ship will hunt and track enemy submarines.

Scientists are developing breathable military uniforms that can also repel toxic substances, when needed.