DARPA Wants Ideas On Weaponizing Off-the-Shelf Tech (ieee.org)

An anonymous reader writes: The good news is that some of today's most advanced technologies are cheap and easy to find, both online and on the shelves of major chain stores. That's also the bad news, according to DARPA. The defense agency is nervous that criminals and terrorists will turn off-the-shelf products into tools and devices to harm citizens or disrupt American military operations. On Friday, DARPA announced a new project called 'Improv' that invites technologists to propose designs for military applications or weaponry built exclusively from commercial software, open source code, and readily available materials. The program's goal is to demonstrate how easy it is to transform everyday technology into a system or device that threatens national security. See also this story about transforming into weapons items commonly found in the purportedly secure area of U.S. airports.

Comments

Re:I got one

[khasim]

Better yet, how about mounting sharks with frickin' laser beams in the back of a pickup truck?

Tried that.

Cats came to chase the laser beam and ended up eating the shark.

v2.0 will have a truck-mounted-aquarium for the shark. With laser-transparent walls. And a guy shaking a can filled with quarters to scare the cats away.

Re:I got one

[amicusNYCL]

Here's my idea:

1. Walk into a gun store.
2. Take a gun off the shelf and buy it.
3. Boom, a weapon using off-the-shelf parts.

Re:I got one

[K. S. Kyosuke]

Or strap a laptop or iPad to your chest and back for instant body armor.

Or a suicide vest, if it's a Dell.