The image above comes from Aeronvironment, and shows what it wants the prototype in the video below to ultimately look like. DARPA's goal is to have a 10 gram aircraft with a 7.5-centimetre wingspan. They want it to get into tight hiding spaces and send back GPS and image data.

Aeronvironment's progress is also notable because such robots previously couldn't carry their own batteries, and had to use guide wires.

"It is capable of climbing and descending vertically, flying sideways left and right, as well as forward and backward, under remote control," says the company.

[New Scientist]

At the moment, cybersecurity is incredibly important (Obama compared it to nuclear and biological weapons in terms of its danger to national security) and, from the looks of it, incredibly badly managed. To start with, the Department of Homeland Security is officially in charge of cybersecurity, except when they aren't. For example, the National Security Agency has been exerting more power and controlling more and more of the cybersecurity efforts, and the Department of Defense sometimes either manages it themselves or contracts it out to private companies.

Some of these private companies aren't so great at it, which is how the last breach happened: A firm in Turkey and one other unnamed ally nation screwed up and allowed the maybe-Chinese-maybe-not hackers to copy terabytes of data on the $300 billion fighter jet project. That's not even getting into the myriad other organizations that run their own separate cybersecurity, from the Air Force to the CIA.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates plans to announce the creation of a Cyber Command to orchestrate all of these separate entities and impose some kind of order and standards on the whole bureaucratic mess. The Cyber Command (we will never get tired of typing that) will be under the umbrella of the Department of Homeland Security, and Homeland Security will probably receive a lot of extra funding for the additional unit.

Likely to head the Cyber Command is current NSA director Gen. Keith Alexander, who recently spoke at a cybersecurity conference promoting a sort of team strategy wherein the NSA would handle certain aspects and Homeland Security certain others.

We know military reorganization isn't as sexy as HACKERS HACK FIGHTER JET (WITH HACKING!) stories, but this kind of work will hopefully get our cybersecurity up to speed so we don't have to worry about the safety of our secret awesome fighter jets. [Wall Street Journal, CNET]

- Beer-filled USB flash drives
- Fetus USB flash drives
- Sawed-off USB flash drives
- Carabiner USB flash drives
- USB flash drives shaped like obsolete equipment
- Food-shaped USB flash drives
- Arty meta-storage USB flash drives [AP]

Full-motion video can zoom in on people and their behavior in public, from handshakes to kisses on the cheek. Resolution ranges from a foot to four inches, depending on the collection methods and environmental conditions at the time. Existing systems can also track moving targets under forest and other cover. Future collection systems are going to provide even better, more detailed footage. Yep, the government has eyes everywhere—but not enough analysts to make sense of all the info.

That's where the contracts come in. Kitware and its partners are going to figure out an algorithm for activities that the military would be interested in looking into, such as U-turning cars that could be readying to make an attack. That's well and good when it's focused on the battleground, but does anyone else feel a little nervous about this kind of tech being available to be used at home? [Washington Post]

Combine that with the fact that high-end Predator pilots are severely fatigued from round-the-clock duty, and you can see why the DoD is making this move. It would expand the fleet of armed UAVs and make them cheaper to operate overall. Sure, the thought of 18 or 19 year old pilots fresh out of basic behind the controls of these machines is a bit unsettling—but it's not like this would be the first time the US threw a teenager into battle. Plus, we are taking about unmanned vehicles looking for specific, high-value targets. There is probably less chance of major incidents involving friendly fire or civilian casualties. [Inside Defense via Danger Room]

"The next generation of airborne drones won’t just be small and silent," says the multidisciplinary group, "they’ll alter their wing shapes using morphing techniques to squeeze through confined spaces, dive between buildings, zoom under overpasses, land on apartment balconies, or sail along the coastline."

The researchers behind the project view the pterodactyl as one of the most successful flying creatures to ever soar above the Earth—so, naturally, a robotic version might prove useful in gathering information and maybe even conducting military strikes somewhere down the line. Nothing would strike fear into the hearts of terrorists like a squadron of pterodactyls swooping down and devouring their comrades one by one. [Science Daily]

[Danger Room via Dvice and M Ship Co]

Holy crap! It's The White House! Never mind that the "dragon fire" is a spell from Everquest. Mount the griffins and arm the bunker busters! And somebody ask Mommy for $14 because my WoW subscription just ran out!! [Danger Room]

Northrop Grumman calls the individual components "laser chains," and say they've managed to successfully link two of them together (out of eight). Moreover, they have them running at peak power (30kW) for 5 minutes continuously and 40 minutes non continuously. Wired writes that a laser of this caliber should be able to knock mortars and rockets out of the sky.

Once thought to be significantly less powerful, electric lasers have progressed to the point that they're close to being a suitable chemical laser alternative. Not only that, they're also much safer in real world scenarios, evil villains notwithstanding. With Northrop Grumman assuring the Pentagon these will be ready by the end of the year, I'm getting kinda excited. [Danger Room]

DARPA hopes that the SRVS technology "will provide 90% accurate facial recognition of a moving individual from 1 km away (.62 miles), using a 6 cm lens." That represents a 3-fold improvement over current technology under more favorable conditions. However, the technique does not currently operate in real time, so the goal for researchers is to achieve a refresh rate of one frame per second. A finished product should weigh in at no more than 4.4 pounds with a length of around 14-inches and be available to Special Ops units by 2011. For once, I actually believe that might happen. [SRVS via New Scientist]

At this point it's little more than wishful saber rattling, of course, but if there's one way to prove your mettle as a nation, it's to blast something big into space. But it would take a fool to think that space program could somehow help develop long-range ICBM systems, I mean, come on guys. Our space race with the Soviets was totally about the science. Right? [Reuters, Image: Giz's Iran Photoshop Contest Winner]

The FAST system consists of a hardened pouch that can hold three spring-loaded 30-round M-16 magazines. It's currently in a prototype phase, but a review by Mil-Spec Monkey deemed it to be a decent piece of equipment. However, they were a bit miffed by the bulk and the flimsy Velcro strap connecting it to the body. Hopefully they can get things worked out before you are forced to wage war with the undead. [Defense Tech and Mil-Spec Monkey]

The fear is that a king-sized EMP generated from a nuclear blast detonated in the sky could send this country back to the stone age. Even if the possibility of such a scenario occurring is remote, the Navy doesn't want to take chances. If all goes well, the generator is expected to be completed sometime in 2010. [Defense Industry Daily via Danger Room]

Well, given the fact that the Airknife design is actually a parody of a UAV dubbed the AirSniper, I think not. That drone was discovered by a Wired editor in an ad placed in a recent issue of Unmanned Systems magazine. Apparently, the AirSniper is an unmanned quadcopter that doubles as an assault rifle—and it is being developed by a suspiciously mysterious company named AUS International.

It may be a joke, but I get the feeling that a gigantic flying bowie knife would be even more intimidating than a UAV loaded with missiles or guns. Talk about a surgical strike! [Danger Room]

In an interview with CNN, Captain Matt Dean noted that "Seeing bad guys on the screen and watching them possibly get dispatched, and then going down to the Taco Bell for lunch, it's kind of surreal." In fact, their entire workday is fairly normal with shifts that rotate around the clock to prevent fatigue. Seems pretty cushy...if blowing terrorists up doesn't make you lose your appetite for the cheesy gordita crunch, that is. [CNN]

Obviously, that would streamline a process that currently requires a second aircraft to take the plane up to the supersonic speeds necessary to engage a CVC "scramjet" engine. Like all of DARPAs projects, the Vulcan engine is definitely an ambitious undertaking—and the 2012 date they set to have a working prototype doesn't help matters. Check out Aviation Week for more technical details on Vulcan. [Aviationweek via Crave via DVICE]

The device still requires about 5% of the diesel fuel needed to power traditional generators, but that means that fewer fuel runs are necessary. And, as as Army biotech scientist Dr. James Valdes pointed out , "Those convoys that carry fuel are also known as targets." It also means that fewer garbage trucks and their drivers are put in harm's way. Not quite Bact to the Future style garbage-fueled fusion power, but it is a step in the right direction.[CNET via Danger Room]

While it may seem weird that iRobot would work on such an ambitious project, it is important to point out that this is not the first time the company has been involved with a military device, and the type of robots they design make them as good a candidate as any. Whether they can actually pull it off or not remains to be seen, but they will have a brain trust at Harvard and MIT backing them up—so you never know. [Danger Room]

The audit also uncovered that the most significant of these lapses involved the DoD's handling of London-based weapons maker BAE Systems. According to the report, DSS failed to collect the company's internal audits—information that is crucial to determining potential weaknesses at the plant. The DSS responded saying that they have "a thorough and fundamentally sound facility inspection process which was only marginally diminished by the failure to systematically collect, analyze, and retain BAE's required reports" and that they have "taken action to resolve this shortcoming." However, a recent House Armed Services Committee hearing revealed that the DSS has been significantly understaffed for some time. Currently, around 750 people work for DSS and a rep claimed to be short staffed by "well over a hundred" persons.

So rest easy folks. Once again, you can be secure in the knowledge that our government has everything under control. UPDATE: BAE systems has responded to claims that their facility is not secure stating that "there is no basis whatsoever for that conclusion." [Wired]