The Northrup Grumman Hellhound, which has a 30mm remote- controlled cannon mounted on top and a laser that
can shoot down enemy drones, was on display Tuesday at the Special Operations Forces Industry Conference.
Posted on 05/25/2016 3:56:42 AM PDT by Iron Munro
TAMPA — Packed with robots and trucks and guns and drones, the Tampa Convention Center's exhibition hall this week has been transformed into a showroom for the latest in war gadgets.
It's all part of the Special Operations Forces Industry Conference, a major annual confab that brings military commanders together with defense contractors to figure out what commandos need in a dangerous and ever-changing world.
The anchor, of course, is U.S. Special Operations Command, which has an annual budget of several billion dollars to spend on commando-specific goods and services.
This year, about 350 companies set up shop at the conference, hoping to attract SoCom, headquartered at MacDill Air Force Base.
"This conference is important to give people a look at what we have," said Jeff Givens, president and chief executive officer of Graystone Defense LLC, makers of the Motoped Survival Bike.
A souped-up motorcross bike, it's designed to allow operators to quietly traverse rugged terrain.
The motorized bikes, which cost about $4,000 each, can travel about 200 miles on a gallon of gas and have a top speed of about 30 mph, Givens said.
The bike can give commandos the ability to go a long distance and avoid roads.
On the other side of the hall, a company that spun off from iRobot, creator of the Roomba vacuum-cleaning robot, was pitching a line of robots that can detect improvised explosive devices, chemical, biological and radiological weapons or even fire a 12-gauge shotgun or other weapons.
"This is a throwable robot," said Gary Stair, a former Army bomb squad technician, as he put his right hand on the Endeavor Robotics 110 First Look. A small, black device with treads, it weighs about 5 pounds and can be tossed into a window or motor across rough surfaces to detect bombs.
A slightly larger version can fit in a backpack. At 22 pounds, it weighs about a quarter of similar devices.
"It can even do a pull-up," said Stair, senior robotics product manager for Endeavor Robotics.
A larger model, the 510, can be outfitted with an array of sensors and allows one soldier to do the work of six or seven, all while trying to deal with an IED, Stair said.
"This was the one I used in combat in Afghanistan and Iraq," said Stair.
The robots range in price from about $20,000 for the smallest model to $120,000 for the 510, Givens said.
The devices have been used by the military since 2002, he said.
There are plenty of large contractors on site as well.
Among other items, Northrup Grumman is pitching something called the Hellhound, designed to be a light reconnaissance vehicle.
Made of carbon fiber, it was designed to carry six people.
The goal is to have a light, fast vehicle that can rumble over rough terrain and have enough firepower to stave off enemies, said Jeff Wood, the company's director of business development. It comes with a remote controlled cannon mounted on top that is operated with a joy stick inside the compartment. There is also a laser that can be used to counter enemy drones or whatever else the military wants to use it for, Wood said.
He declined comment on the cost of the Hellhound, which is currently a prototype with no customers yet.
Not everything on display is hardware.
DigitalGlobe, a geospatial intelligence business with an office in Tampa, offers data, modeling and predictive analytics by combining its satellite imagery with propriety software to accurately identify and measure trends and understand connections to economic, environmental and human activities.
DigitalGlobe will launch its latest satellite — WorldView 4 — in September. The company also launched what it calls Uber for imagery analysis, a crowdsourcing system called GeoHIVE, which allows users to earn money by analyzing DigitalGlobe satellite imagery. All you have to do is log on, get validated and when that's completed, earn money by identifying images. To take part, go to geohive.digitalglobe.com
The Northrup Grumman Hellhound, which has a 30mm remote- controlled cannon mounted on top and a laser that
can shoot down enemy drones, was on display Tuesday at the Special Operations Forces Industry Conference.
Wonder if that Hellhound’s laser can shoot down doves and ducks? Maybe cook ‘em on the way down...
“a major annual confab that brings military commanders together with defense contractors to figure out what commandos need in a dangerous and ever-changing world”
—
Like the pudgy one in the photo? Headshake
Now, I don’t know the newspaper that is reporting this. The reporter is probably like the normal who sees an AK47 every time he sees a rifle.
A motorcycle that quietly crosses terrain?
Gadget porn.
:-)
Yes please.
Plenty of Barney Fifes there hoping to beef up their department when the new budget comes in.
“Heh, heh...Grandma’s gonna pay that overdue book fine after we roll up in her yard in one of these Hellhound babes at 3 o’clock in the morning. Pay up Citizen!”
Hey...let’s take it for a test drive in..mexico!!!!!
Tampa Bay Times, formerly the St. Petersburg Times.
AKA "Pravda On The Bay"
Notice the characterization in the title "Merchants Of War"?
Leftist bias? What leftist bias?
As I suspected.
Wow, a robot that can do a pull up. Big deal.
I coached a US FIRST high school robotics team. A few years ago, our robot which weighed over 150 lbs and cost less than $2000 could shoot Frisbees and do pull ups.
We had to tone down the Frisbees. Before we slowed the motor, they were shooting at well over 50 mph.
You’ve never seen a “pudgy” defense contractor before?
3 posted on 5/25/2016, 7:05:31 AM by Tex's Fossil
Dear Fossil,
I was born and raised in Tampa. Here's what happened. Tampa had the Tampa Tribune and St. Petersburg had the St. Pete Times, AKA Pravda On The Bay. Eventually, the Tribune was purchased by the Times.
The Times is owned by the Poynter Institute which has had the point position ever since I was a boy. It was de facto commie for generations and is so today.
Across Florida, and likely across America, the progs have been expanding their control of Old Media and silencing conservatives where they can.
Given their desperation at the Trump political wave, and with their close relationship with the Muslims, I expect a nation wide attack with the non-whites attacking the whites.
Yes, the IQ scores are both accurate and do have predictive capability, in that the minorities do have lower scores. In a cognitively demanding society, that inferiority may well be the salvation of the whites. War is one situation which demands ‘smarts’.
As the old Jewish saying went, “So soon old, so late schmart.” My prediction is that the present generation of the non-white cohort will not age well.
Additionally, the first subject taught in Race Wars 101 is “Make sure you are in the majority.” Those who live in the shallow end of the IQ pool, and who are easily visually ID’d at a distance, are ill advised to start such conflicts.
Is it possible, perhaps even probable, that those who believe in the pseudo-religions of the Prog World would have been better to have remembered Deuteronomy and the admonition against ‘false gods’.
Alas, those who read poorly, or are functional illiterates have a history of finding their career as cannon fodder.
Thanks for the explanation.
None of it surprises me.
I live in the Big Nothing. Intend to continue to live here.
That depends on the position the Defense Contractor inhabits.
Special Ops? No.
Support tech? Yes.
Have you ever been to one of these conventions before? Probably not since you teach at a high school. I went to one once since we were interested in developing wearable sensor technology and wanted to learn what the military wanted/needed.
Yes, some companies show some older technology that is adapted to military specs and some technology that is outdated, but that is what they do. Others show technology that is not yet completely mature, but could be in 5 years. Much of what you see is a clever solution to a problem, but how practical it is is another story. You don’t get to see the really good stuff since it is a public meeting and the competition is there, but you can learn quite a bit about what the military is looking for, so I got a lot out of the meeting and made some good contacts.
It shouldn’t surprise you that a reporter mentions something mundane. That’s a reporter who couldn’t understand or appreciate what they were seeing.
I don’t teach at a high school. I was a volunteer team coach.
I was just making a joke about how impressed the sales guy was that a 22 lb robot could do a pull up when a bunch of high school kids did the same with one that was 8 times heavier.
Of course they don’t bring the good stuff.
Need more coffee.
“The Merchants Of War Sell Their Wives At Tampa Convention Center”
Without the “MERCHANGS OF WAR” the sweetie, Howard Altman would be speaking, German, Japanese, Russian or Farsie. It’s because of the Merchant’s of War ingenuity we have been able to keep American soil safe, for the likes of these anti-war dupes.
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