This is hypothetical, but if there is a building with known terrorist activities, it could automatically be pushed to the phone when the soldiers get near that area. If there was another platoon that was supposed to arrive, and they were delayed, or ahead of schedule, you could adapt your plan. If one of the units you are counting on is redirected, you know that in real time.

He points out that it can also be used for police, firemen, and emergency services too. The iPhone itself is being retrofitted for battlefield operation by Raytheon, which is adding a ruggedized case that includes a larger battery and a special scrambler that will secure communications with other military units. [NYT]

Raytheon's new Android application, appropriately named the Raytheon Android Tactical System, lets soldiers set up buddy lists that can track the location of other soldiers or unmanned vehicles. For example, a soldier can set a UAV as a buddy, find its location on a map, and watch video from the UAV's camera on his handheld.

Update: It sounds a lot like the iPod Touch Apps that soldiers have been using for a while, now available on Android. (Thanks, Dante!)

It all sounds like pretty cool stuff that could be a huge help on the battlefield. Update 2: And for all of you worried about what might happen if this app falls into the wrong hands, reader Derek wrote in to say that Raytheon obviously has a system ready to handle the situation. You can read more details here. The app should be deployed in the next month or two.

We asked Android's mother, Geoorgia, for comment on how she feels about her son joining the armed forces. A bittersweet look of remembrance spread across her face. "It seems like only yesterday that I put him on the G1," she replied. "Everyone said he'd never beat that iFellow, but look at him now."

As she showed us pictures of Android's young, slightly acned green dome, a tear fell onto the photos. For a moment, silence. Then words broke through: "Good thing my little Hero has a teflon coating." [Forbes]

Image via The U.S. Army

[PopMech]

• Throwbot: A small camera on wheels that can enter rooms where a gunman might be hiding
• SkySeer: a UAV with a camera meant for urban police work
• PepperBall: Think paintball, but with pepper powder
• Bola Ball: A bolo that cops would use to trip up assailants (proved a tad hard to master)

The piece covers some sweet demos, like Raytheon's Active Denial System pain ray (which we've mentioned), the TigerLight pepperspray-shooting flashlight, and a blinding laser cannon meant to "visually dissuade" assailants.

At the end, the author and Heal visit to the HQ of one of the most successful non-lethal weapons: MAD, or magnetic acoustic device. It's not new, but it's only now being explored as a device for police forces. It's a sound projector that can shoot audio up to a mile in distance, and when it projected the sound of .50 cal machine-gun fire, the author says it sounded like it came from a gun "the size of a backhoe," and mentioned that all the birds in the vicinity took off in fear.

The link will give you a digest of the piece; I think you'll need to find an actual paper copy to read the full story. (What's up with that, New Yorker?? No love for the internet?) [New Yorker]

Sure, it doesn't have rocket boots built in, but it's still amazing. When wearing XOS you can lift a 200-pound weight and feel like it's just 20 pounds, or throw a punch and have the suit's metal fist follow through onto the target.

Basically the suit has an array of sensors that track the pilot's movements, echoing them with its hydraulic muscles at the same speed. This takes some pretty fancy math so that the machine can react quickly enough to avoid introducing a very limiting motion-lag. Using XOS the pilot can run, walk, cope with stairs and ramps and chuck heavy weights around like there's no tomorrow. It's been in development for a while, and as you can see it has one major hurdle to overcome: that tether.

XOS can run off batteries, but only for 40 minutes: for now, a military-grade portable power source that would fit in its backpack is not practical. But one day it will be, especially with $10 million of new Army research money behind the project. Imagine what the system would look like fitted out with armor, running across a battlefield? Scary.

If the photos and description of what it can do doesn't send chills down your spine, and it should, then check out the video at PopSci. [Popsci]

The video above pretty much says it all, but to put things into perspective, the CIRT can take down a concrete barrier in about 13 minutes—which is about 16 minutes quicker than conventional methods. That may be a little slower than Juggernaut, but it is not too shabby. Plus, it is not much of a burden for two burly dudes to handle. A price point for the device has yet to be determined. [Boston]

It sounds impressive, but with Boeing's ScanEagle having already proven itself, it won't be an easy sell. But if it ever came down to aesthetics, the Killer Bee would win hands down. It looks menacing, like some sort of underwater predator. A decision on the matter should be ready by June or July of this year with a rollout planned for 2001. [Popular Mechanics]

Now you know why.

Hit the jump for my sad list of rejected one-liners.

No military entity should be allowed to name their own weapons, ever.

Why Osama traded in his pink RAZR.

Developed by the guys who still make compasses.

Yeah, but can it show me the nearest Starbucks?

New from OnStar, the following is an actual conversation..."Ahhhhh!!!"

– Mark Wilson

XM982 Excalibur [via navigadget]

Not to be outdone, Northrop is aiming to build the world's first 100kW solid-state laser, with 100kW being the threshold where these things start getting dangerous enough to be called weapons. Supposedly if you focus these laser beams in a certain way, you got yourself a battlefield-strength ray gun. But don't worry, this is all done To Serve Man. – Charlie White

Electric Lasers Shoot Mortars, Gain Strength [DefenseTech]

Revolutionary New Cockpit for UAVs [via GizMag]