UGCV PerceptOR Integration (UPI)Field Tests at Fort Bliss, Texas
Nancy Ott of CMU's National Robotics Engineering Center writes, "Here's the latest on the DARPA UPI program's Crusher robot (including pictures and video). Crusher is coming off a round of field tests at Ft. Bliss, TX, where it planned and executed missions designed by ordinary soldiers" The autonomous 6 wheeled Crusher robot is part of DARPA's Future Combat Systems (FCS) program. The current field test are based on NERC's UGCV PerceptOR Integration (UPI) program which combined the original Crusher UGCV robot with the PerceptOR autonomous perception and navigation system. See also our previous stories on outdoor robot navigation systems that were tested on the Crusher robot. 
France and Gulf allies in war games amid Iran tensions
http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSL2545241220080225
DUBAI (Reuters) - Forces from France, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar began their first joint war games on Monday in the Gulf amid lingering tensions between Iran and the West.
The "Gulf Shield 01" exercises took place on UAE territory and in international waters near key oil shipping lanes in the Strait of Hormuz, with combined operations to include mock attacks on a "hostile" island, the French military said.
"The main scenario involves a large fictitious island in the Gulf that threatens the UAE and Qatar, so we intervene in the framework of defense pacts to protect these two countries," Lieutenant-Colonel Thierry Fusalba told Reuters.
The exercises last until March 5 and involve 1,500 French, 2,500 UAE, and 1,300 Qatari troops operating on land, at sea, and in the air. Around a half dozen warships, 40 aircraft, and dozens of armored vehicles are involved....
High-tech war games put premium on readiness
http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2008/feb/25/hightech_war_games_put_premium_readiness/?city_local
Fort Leavenworth — Army Maj. Jake Peterson pondered his next steps after his armored battalion led the capture of a communications center and road network.
That victory came at a price. The battalion, one of two under Peterson’s command, took a beating.
“They threw everything they had at it,” Peterson said of the enemy troops trying to protect what maps on his computer screen labeled Objective Bravo. “That unit was rendered combat ineffective.”
The year is 2013. The country of Azerbaijan has been invaded by neighboring Ahuristan, a breakaway province from Iran. Azerbaijan asked the U.S. and its coalition allies, Great Britain and Turkey, for help in repelling the invaders.
In reality, Ahuristan doesn’t exist, and the war scenario was played recently over five days at Fort Leavenworth’s Command and General Staff College and Combined Arms Center. Participants used an elaborate computer system called Command Post of the Future and PM Battle Command........
The U.S. and U.K. are planning computerized war exercises that will have them working together while each stays on its side of the Atlantic. A major exercise is planned for 2010, Collett said.....
"Operation Fowl Play"
Virginia Beach prepares for the possibility of a pandemic flu outbreak
http://www.wavy.com/Global/story.asp?S=7912475&nav=menu45_2
VIRGINIA BEACH, VA.(WAVY.com) -- How prepared is the city of Virginia Beach to deal with pandemic influenza?
City departments, military representatives and hospital staffers met for a table top exercise on the subject Friday morning at the city's convention center. The health department's Erin Sutton tells WAVY.com, "We want to make sure the city is prepared to deal with this because it's unlike any other emergency."....
General Dynamics to build robot vehicles
http://www.washingtontechnology.com/online/1_1/32325-1.html
General Dynamics will build robotic vehicles to conduct surveillance and other security tasks for the Army under a five-year contract that could be worth as much as $40 million.
The semi-autonomous security vehicles are designed to perform a number of surveillance activities without the aid of a human driver, including checking for intruders and monitoring stored ordnance.
The contract calls for General Dynamics Robotic Systems of Westminster, Md., to produce 24 vehicles, spare parts and training and technical services – all part of the Army’s Robotic Mobile Detection and Assessment and Response System. ....
The big bucks from DHS http://www.washingtontechnology.com/print/23_03/32299-1.html
$562M Integrated Coast Guard Systems
$360M IBM Corp.
$347M L-3 Communications Corp.
$315M Unysis Corp.
$292M SAIC
$265M Boeing Co.
$240M Booz Allen Hamilton Inc.
$192M Accenture Ltd.
$191M Lockheed Martin Corp.
$188M General Electric Co.
*Integrated Coast Guard Systems is a joint venture of Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman Corp.
SAIC gets urban warfare research work http://www.washingtontechnology.com/online/1_1/32280-1.html
Science Applications International Corp. will assist the Army in developing technology that will allow troops to see inside buildings during urban military operations under a $5.2 million contract, the Defense Department announced Feb. 19.
Under the contract, SAIC will help the Army develop and test technology for the concept known as VisiBuilding.
VisiBuilding is a project by the Strategic Technology Office in the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency. In urban warfare, warfighters no longer have the advantages of traditional surveillance and reconnaissance methods after enemy forces retreat indoors. The goal is to find ways to help troops determine building layouts, find unusual quantities of materials inside structures and locate people in buildings. To accomplish this requires using signal, sensor and modeling technologies, according to DARPA....
Lockheed Martin Donates to Purdue! (home to SWS, and fraudulent WTC simulation)http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080222/BUSINESS/80222021
Purdue University officials today announced that Rick and Cheryl Kosdrosky, engineers at Lockheed Martin's Aeronautics Company in Fort Worth, Texas, have pledged a combined $2.2 million to the university's college of engineering and college of technology....
LEPC prepares for disaster drill (OK)
http://www.pryordailytimes.com/local/local_story_056094316.html
Laser Weapons Better Against Rockets?http://blog.wired.com/defense/2008/02/israelis-demand.html
Has America started a new arms race? http://news.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/hi/technology/newsid_7257000/7257215.stm
* Please ignore previous post, lengthy run of the flu and some entanglements with internet trolls had me down. It was momentary, this information is too important to not continue...
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