Slashdot Mirror


Military Device Will Sense Through Concrete Walls

Juha-Matti Laurio writes "DefenseLINK News is reporting that 'troops conducting urban operations soon will have the capabilities of superheroes, being able to sense through 12 inches of concrete to determine if someone is inside a building.' By simply holding the portable, handheld device named a "Radar Scope" up to a wall, users will be able to detect movements as small as breathing. The Radar Scope hopes to eventually give troops the ability to see up to 50 feet beyond a concrete wall to decrease losses in urban combat."

9 of 325 comments (clear)

  1. Watch put for the false ceilings... by Skiron · · Score: 5, Funny

    ... as the beeps get nearer and nearer... then THEY should be in to room... look UP to the false ceiling!!!!

  2. Terahertz Imaging by mustafap · · Score: 5, Informative

    For anyone interested, do a google on Terahertz Imaging.

    Once the transmission technology comes down in price it's going to be great for the 'metal detecting' hobbyists. No more digging up rubbish. You'll be able to see the object. This is one technology that I cant wait for!

    --
    Open Source Drum Kit, LPLC deve board - mjhdesigns.com
  3. WALLHACK! by know1 · · Score: 5, Funny

    oh my god america is tottally wallhacking, kickban them from the server
    *kicked from international conflict*

  4. Older... by BrynM · · Score: 5, Funny
    Images of older models Mmmmmm... military grade hardware.

    (someone had to say it)

    --
    US Democracy:The best person for the job (among These pre-selected choices...)
  5. Re:Wrong. DARPA would love that. by patio11 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It would also be a good publicity tool, and the military is perfectly capable of using those (and, I might add, comprised of much better people than the grandparent apparently believes). Look at the thousands of lives they saved with relief efforts in the wake of the South Asian tsunami, among any number of similar incidents. Much of the technology used for that operation was developed with military purposes in mind, too (ships capable of creating water onboard, worldwide logistics systems which are "fault tolerant" when the fault involves literally wiping entire cities off the map, helicopter airlift of supplies and medevac, the best first responder medical teams in the world, etc).

  6. Re:Curse the war as you want... by Max+Threshold · · Score: 5, Insightful

    No, fuck you, you piece of shit armchair patriot. I served in the Marine Corps, so don't tell me about taking care of our troops. I scavenged parts from the trash to make working equipment, because working equipment wasn't in the budget. Wanna talk about extreme case modding? I saw guys design and build electronic test equipment inside old suitcases because we couldn't get real stuff. Our aircraft were so old that the parts to maintain them simply weren't made anymore. Yet those same aircraft are still flying in Iraq and Afghanistan.

  7. Re:Curse the war as you want... by Cal+Paterson · · Score: 5, Funny

    SUITCASES??? YOU LUCKY BASTARD!! We only had rucksacks! I had to scavenge parts from the sewer to get it working, because working equipment wasn't in the budget, and our equipment was a 486 and a gumball machine. Our aircraft were mainly comprised of half a stolen Russian MiG, and an old Lada.

  8. Re:Urban rescue? by damian+cosmas · · Score: 5, Insightful

    That would explain the GPS navigation system in your Jeep or Hummer (or even Saab) which you drive on the Interstate Highway System, the pilots (a non-trivial fraction of whom are air force/navy retirees) who fly commercial aircraft, your electricity from nuclear power plants, the internet (arpanet) you used to post this tripe, and, of course, the freedoms you enjoy. Yeah, the military-industrial complex has never done anything for civilians.

  9. More 'defense dividends'... by Kadin2048 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Mod parent up.

    I'll add to that list; the automotive industry is full of them. First of all there's the night-vision cameras (arguably invented by the Germans pre WWII), radar parking aids, and heads-up displays.

    At home you can cook using a microwave oven (invented by a researcher at Raytheon), which probably itself uses a Liquid Crystal Display (much of the development of which was done at the UK Radar Research Establishment at Malvern, formerly the Army Radar Establishment). Or maybe you'd like to listen to some music on a set of flat-panel loudspeakers (offshoot of research done by the British DERA into quiet 'stealth' helicopters).

    A list like this could go on practically forever; in fact it's hard to find a product -- any product -- which hasn't been touched by military R&D at some point in its history. To be honest, dollar for dollar, I think it is quite possible that the American public (and other countries too, but particularly the U.S. because we consume so much technology) gets as much if not more out of the money spent on military research by contractors, than we do out of pure research at universities. Not to say that pure research doesn't have it's place, and is almost always inventive in nature, military research is usually directed and innovative, and produces useful devices in relatively short timescales.

    Take a look around your home, unless you live on an Amish farm, you're probably surrounded by things, the initial development of which were paid for with defense dollars.

    References:
    http://www.achtungpanzer.com/ir.htm Infrared and Night Vision Scopes
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquid_crystal_displa y#Brief_history LCDs
    http://www.mod.uk/issues/diversification/diversifi cation_gp.htm#The%20Defence%20Industry Flat Panel Loudspeakers (and many others)

    --
    "Ladies and gentlemen, my killbot features Lotus Notes and a machine gun. It is the finest available."