US Army's Perfectly Functioning Eye in the Sky

Both the MOP bomb and the B1 bombers have received modifications recently and now Raytheon's announced they are fielding another well-suited tool for a for a battle in someplace like the Strait of Hormuz.

The Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensor System (JLENS) is an 243 helium filled balloon that Raytheon says is ideal for monitoring, "Swarming boats, anti-ship cruise missiles, and mine laying ships."

If that combination of attacks sounds familiar, it should. Iran's Republican Guard is famous for its swarming speed boat attacks, array of anti-ship missiles, and its proclivity for mining the Strait of Hormuz.

The JLENS system can track these threats for 30 days at a time, from hundred of miles away, and at 10,000 feet above the ground.

Army soldiers have been trained to use the system and it's prepared to be moved into the field and used in unnamed locations.

Read more: Business Insider
Photo: Raytheon

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US Army unveils 1.8 gigapixel camera helicopter drone

[ via BBC Technology ] 29 Dec

New helicopter-style drones with 1.8 gigapixel colour cameras are being developed by the US Army. 

The army said the technology promised "an unprecedented capability to track and monitor activity on the ground". A statement added that three of the sensor-equipped drones were due to go into service in Afghanistan in either May or June.

Boeing built the first drones, but other firms can bid to manufacture others.

"These aircraft will deploy for up to one full year as a way to harness lessons learned and funnel them into a program of record," said Lieutenant Colonel Matthew Munster, product manager at the US Army's Unmanned Aerial System Modernization unit.

Read more: BBC Technology

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Women Veterans More Likely To Disapprove Of Iraq, Afghanistan Wars Than Male Counterparts

[ via Huffington Post ] 22 Dec

Women veterans are more likely to be critical of the U.S. involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan than their male counterparts, according to a new survey by the Pew Research Center.

Sixty-three percent of female veterans say the war in Iraq was not "worth fighting," and 54 percent say the same of Afghanistan. Among male veterans, only 47 percent criticized the Iraq war and 39 percent disapproved of the efforts in Afghanistan, according to the poll.

Pew noted that the gender gap among veterans is wider than in the general public, where narrow majorities of both men and women believe the two wars were not worth fighting.

Kayla Williams is a linguist and former intelligence specialist in the U.S. Army, whose book Love My Rifle More Than You: Young and Female in the U.S. Army detailed her experiences during the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Read more at: Huffington Post

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