Free Republic

Clip 1) US B-1B Lancer drops a 2000 pound JDAM on Taliban hide-out in Afghanistan in support of British troops. Clip 2) Super high-def Vietnam compilation.

With all the exciting news this summer of upcoming new plug-in hybrids and EVs, it was easy to overlook a fascinating new vehicle that almost none of us will ever drive but will have a significant impact on each and every one of our lives. That vehicle is the Oshkosh M-ATV. These clever, capable vehicles were designed, tested, approved and put into production in record time, with the first of them hitting the ground in Afghanistan this week (check out the video below). Geoff Morrell, the Pentagon press secretary, told reporters that at least 6,644 of the M-ATVs would go...

The Swedish armed forces have been hit by a major equipment problem, according to reports. Flimsy military brassieres are unable to stand up to the strains imposed when female Swedish troops perform "rigorous exercises", routinely bursting open or even catching fire - so forcing busty young conscripts to hurriedly strip off in the field. The revelations come courtesy of the Gothenburg Post and English-language Swedish journal The Local. The Post reported yesterday on concerns raised by the Swedish Conscription Council, an organisation concerned with the rights of conscript troops in the Swedish forces. Council spokesperson Paulina Rehbinder told The Local...

<p>The Navy's need for speed is being answered by a pair of warships that have reached freeway speeds during testing at sea.</p> <p>Independence, a 418-foot warship built in Alabama, boasts a top speed in excess of 45 knots, or about 52 mph, and sustained 44 knots for four hours during builder trials that wrapped up this month off the Gulf Coast. The 378-foot Freedom, a ship built in Wisconsin by a competing defense contractor, has put up similar numbers.</p>

Navy sea trials of LCS Independence are completeDailyTech previously published an article noting the United States Navy was planning on testing its Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) in trials after an aborted attempt and months of delay. During testing, the General Dynamics-created Independence had an average speed of 44 knots, with a top speed of 45 knots.  The ship, which was tested in the Gulf of Mexico, endured 25-knot winds and eight-foot waves. Previously, engineers expected the ship to top 44 knots -- during testing in July, engine issues stopped maximum speed tests before Independence could reach 44 knots.  Exact engine...

Eurojet proposes thrust-vectoring upgrade for Typhoon By Andrew Doyle Eurofighter and engine supplier Eurojet are stepping up their efforts to interest Typhoon customer nations in a thrust-vectoring upgrade that promises to bring substantial operational benefits and pay for itself through lifecycle cost reductions. Equipping the twin-engined Typhoon's EJ200s with thrust vectoring nozzles (TVN) could reduce fuel burn on a typical mission by up to 5%, while increasing available thrust in supersonic cruise by up to 7%, the engine consortium says. Eurojet partner ITP benchtested a TVN several years ago, and EADS earlier this year equipped its Typhoon cockpit simulator to...

Navy to soon declare unmanned craft operational for patrols Oct. 4, 2009 Yaakov Katz , THE JERUSALEM POST The Israel Navy plans to begin using unmanned naval craft in the coming months for patrols along the Mediterranean coast, senior IDF officers said on Sunday. Called unmanned surface vehicles, the ships are operated by remote control from a land-based station and are highly maneuverable, allowing them to conduct a wide range of missions, including patrols of the coast, without endangering navy personnel. One system that the navy has already purchased is the Protector, which was developed by Rafael Advanced Systems Ltd....

The Pentagon has brought forward to December 2009 the target-date for producing the first 15-ton super bunker-buster bomb (GBU-57A/B) Massive Ordinance Penetrator, which can reach a depth of 60.09 meters underground before exploding. DEBKAfile's military sources report that top defense agencies and air force units were also working against the clock to adapt the bay of a B2a Stealth bomber for carrying and delivering the bomb. The Pentagon has ordered the number of bombs rolling off the production line increased from four to ten - a rush job triggered in May by the discovery that Iran was hiding a second...

The history of warfare and the history of disease are unquestionably interwoven. Throughout the history of warfare, disease and non-battle injury have accounted for more deaths and loss of combat capability than from actual battle in war itself. The most striking example is the great influenza pandemic during World War I that killed 20 million people or more worldwide in 1918.1 Although this was a naturally occurring event, what if a country could create a biological agent that could yield the same catastrophic loss of life on the enemy? That, in essence, is the potential effect of applying genetic engineering2...

The XSR military interceptor is the fastest boat ever built and is set to take to the water in the battle against pirates and drug smugglers. The British-designed vessel travels at almost 100mph, carries a retractable heavy machine gun and would not look out of place in a 007 film. With a maximum speed of 85 knots (97mph) and carrying a .50 calibre machine gun hidden under the deck, the boat will be able to overhaul “go-fast” drug smuggling boats in the Caribbean and pirate ships off the coast of Somalia. The vessel is part of a raft of new...

Spc. Rachael Potts and an Iraqi engineer prepare to run dirty water through a solar-powered water filtration system at Forward Operating Base Hammer, Sept. 5. Photo by Pvt. Jared N. Gehmann, 82nd Airborne Division. BAGHDAD — In an effort to provide a better quality of life for the citizens of Iraq's Ma'dain region, U.S. paratroopers here put their time and energy into learning how to set up and operate a solar-powered water filtration system, Sept. 5. Paratroopers assigned to 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Multi-National Division- Baghdad implemented a self-powered, energy efficient water filtration system to provide the...

The next-generation surveillance package for the Air Force's MQ-9 Reaper drones, named for Medusa's stony glare, will provide an unprecedentedly broad view of the battlefield spanning time and space The military’s unblinking eye in the sky, which keeps watch over operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan, is about to get even beadier. A new multi-camera sensor the U.S. Air Force is adding to its killer spy drones will exponentially broaden the area troops can monitor, and the technology lets a dozen users simultaneously grab different slices of the image. Called the Gorgon Stare, it represents the next big step in...

RAY GUNSApplied Energetics Receives US Army Contract For Laser Guided Energy Laser Guided Energy (LGE) is a transformational weapon technology by which a controllable high voltage electric charge can be precisely guided by a laser through the atmosphere to induce a range of effects against a variety of targets. by Staff Writers Tucson AZ (SPX) Aug 21, 2009 Applied Energetics has announced it has been awarded a $3.1 million Contract from the U.S. Army's Research, Development and Engineering Command (U.S. Army RDECOM - Picatinny, NJ) for the continued development and advancement of the company's Laser Guided Energy(TM) (LGE) technology. Regarding...

KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan, Aug. 6, 2009 – As U.S. forces fight insurgents in the southern and eastern regions of Afghanistan, officials are working to protect them with new technology, equipment and vehicles. Soldiers of the 2nd Infantry Division’s 5th Brigade, Stryker Brigade Combat Team, equip their common remotely operated weapon station II with an M2 .50-caliber machine gun during training. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Elisebet Freeburg  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. One of the newest tools in their arsenal is the common remotely operated weapon station II, known as CROWS II, which enables soldiers to acquire and engage...

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems has released the first public images and the new name of its Predator C "Avenger" unmanned air vehicle. The pictures reveal a stealthy design powered by a Pratt & Whitney Canada PW545B; the same engine that powers the Cessna Citation XLS business jet. The UAV's 20m (66ft) wingspan is swept at 17°, allowing a maximum speed of over 400kt (740km/h), General Atomics says. Operating altitude can exceed 60,000ft, the company adds. Further details about specifications and performance are not being released. But company officials acknowledge that a second aircraft is already in production with a 0.61m...

The White House today flags Defense Secretary Gates’s speech yesterday to the Economic Club of Chicago in which he makes a case against additional funding for the F-22. "The F-22, to be blunt, does not make much sense anyplace else in the spectrum of conflict," Gates said. "Nonetheless, supporters of the F-22 lately have promoted its use for an ever expanding list of potential missions. These range from protecting the homeland from seaborne cruise missiles to, as one retired general recommended on TV, using F-22s to go after Somali pirates who in many cases are teenagers with AK-47s – a...

An internal Pentagon oversight board has found that the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program is two years behind the publicly announced schedule, say multiple congressional aides familiar with the findings, sparking a sharp response from those invested in the debate over the F-22.As Congress has debated the future of the F-22 fighter program, lawmakers have used the promise of the F-35 plane’s completion as a key plank in their argument that the F-22 line could be ended without a significant risk to national security. Now, senators and aides are lamenting that the Pentagon oversight panel’s more pessimistic view on the...

The ultra-precision of high-energy lasers soon may be the pinpoint, measured response that will keep threats a safe distance from U.S. Navy ships. Under a new Navy initiative called the Maritime Laser Demonstration, Northrop Grumman will apply its solid-state laser systems expertise and successes to demonstrate a laser weapon system to defeat a wide range of current threats. "Naval forces face a wide range of challenges from small surface craft to advanced aerial threats. New solutions are required to meet these challenges within cost and force structure constraints," said Steve Hixson, vice president of Advanced Concepts - Space and Directed...

It's the year 2030. As a soldier enters a crowded marketplace, sensors mounted on his helmet automatically scan faces in the crowd, identifying a known insurgent; a cursor in the heads-up display highlights the target and cues the weapon, which can be set to stun or kill; a simple voice command unlocks the trigger. Aided by "smart drugs," enhanced with prosthetics, and protected by a lightweight suit of armor, this soldier of the future possesses near super-human capabilities and weapons that would make even Iron Man jealous. He's suited up in an "exoskeleton" - essentially a Storm Trooper-esque external shell...

Boeing displays manned F/A-XX concept jet By Stephen Trimble Boeing Phantom Works has released a new concept image for a "sixth-generation" fighter to replace the F/A-18E/F fleet after 2025. The two-seat, twin-engined tailless concept jet is being offered for F/A-XX, a notional US Navy strategy that has not yet become a formal requirement. Although the image shows a tandem cockpit, Boeing says the aircraft could be manned or unmanned "depending on the missions assigned and technology maturity". © Boeing Boeing's latest concept image for F/A-XX The new image features a blended wing and a conventional fighter shape from the cockpit...

TEL AVIV, Israel (UPI) -- The day Osama bin Laden's suicide squads attacked the United States, Maj. Gen. Uzi Dayan, who in 2001 headed Israel's National Security Council, was conducting a "strategic dialogue" in New Delhi with his Indian counterpart, Brajesh Mishra. Dayan's presence in the Indian capital on Sept. 11, 2001, was, of course, pure happenstance. But the events of that fateful day cemented a strategic relationship that has never stopped growing and has strengthened Israel's burgeoning influence in southern and central Asia. Today, Israel has overtaken Russia as India's leading defense supplier. Both Israel and India, one Jewish,...

> The military has said it needs a hybrid armored vehicle to provide the same type of protection as mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicles that have been used in Iraq. But it must be far more agile, lighter and provide increased maneuverability to handle Afghanistan's rocky terrain. The Defense Department has previously said it could buy between 2,080 and 10,000 of the so-called MRAP-All Terrain Vehicles for use by the Army and Marine Corps. >

Defense official tells Hunter that modern warfare limits troop-on-troop contactIs high-tech warfare making combat safer and leading to fewer Medal of Honor winners from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan? That's the suggestion of a Defense Department official in a letter to Rep. Duncan D. Hunter, R-El Cajon, who says there are more deserving troops from America's current conflicts than the five who have won the honor. Gail McGinn, undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, wrote Hunter a letter earlier this month suggesting electronic warfare may be one reason why only a handful of U.S. troops have been awarded...

Crew chiefs 'coined' for their artistic endeavor SHAW AIR FORCE BASE — The Air Force has a new weapon. For marketing and recruiting, that is. As part of Shaw Air Force Base's Viper East F-16 Demonstration Team, Senior Airman Anthony J. Modugno and Staff Sgt. James A. Griggs, both crew chiefs, spent two weeks of their personal time transforming an F-16 travel pod into a work of art. The pod, which went from the standard dull gray to a shiny black with yellow and gold flames, will function as an advertisement for the Air Force, along with the F-16 Viper...

U.S. Army Tests Flying Robot Sniper The Autonomous Rotorcraft Sniper System (ARSS) during testing. The gun turret is on the right side of the craft. (Pic in URL) It could be the best Xbox 360 game ever, and a real kick in the ARSS. The U.S. Army is testing the Autonomous Rotorcraft Sniper System (ARSS) — a remote-controlled unmanned Vigilante robot helicopter equipped with a high-velocity sniper rifle. Its RND Edge semi-automatic gun is mounted on a self-stabilizing turret with built-in zoom camera, and fires 7 to 10 precisely aimed .338-caliber rounds per second. Back on the ground, a human...

Ecuador finalises big Super Tucano order By Stephen Trimble Ecuador has finalised a contract to become the fifth Latin American nation to buy the Embraer EMB-314 Super Tucano trainer and light attack aircraft. The Brazilian manufacturer on 23 March announced that negotiations over a nine-month-old agreement with the Ecuadorian air force have finally been completed, following reported difficulties with the financing arrangements. The deal covers the supply of 24 turboprop-powered Super Tucanos, with these to replace Ecuador’s ageing fleet of Cessna A-37 strike aircraft, and help re-assert control over the country’s airspace. Last March, Ecuador strongly objected to Colombian air...

Star Wars-style laser weapons have taken another step closer to reality with Northrop Grumman reporting that it has produced a 105 kilowatt (kW) light ray from an electric laser in the final demonstration milestone of Phase 3 of the U.S. military's Joint High Power Solid State Laser (JHPSSL) program. At this energy level such a "weapons grade" laser would be capable of taking out cruise missiles, rockets and artillery from land, sea and airborne platforms, but Han Solo won't be slipping this still hefty device into his side holster anytime soon. Northrop Grumman's scalable modular system uses "laser amplifier chains"...

Science fiction fans and generals alike have long fantasized about what it'd be like to have a laser weapon at their command. Now at last such dreams are nearing reality. After years of steady milestone progress, military contractor Northrop Grumman has reached a significant mark -- the first 100 kW steady-state laser. The laser is part of the Joint High-Powered Solid State Laser Phase 3 Program, which combines 8 lasers in chain fashion to create a "superlaser" of sorts. Each laser can deliver up to 15.3 kW individually and is about the size of a large briefcase. Together they form...

Boeing and Air Force officials, along with international dignitaries, celebrate the riveting of key parts in a C-17 plane that is the first of three to be shared by 12 nations. (Stephen Carr / Staff Photographer) LONG BEACH -- On the floor of the C-17 manufacturing plant Friday, Boeing Military Aircraft President Chris Chadwick noted the unique ownership of the aircraft behind him. "As all of our employees and suppliers will tell you, there's nothing more exciting than handing over the keys to a new C-17," Chadwick said, addressing military and international dignitaries and Boeing Co. employees. "Usually, we're turning...

The fate of the F-22 Raptor fighter jet, assembled by Lockheed Martin Corp. in Marietta, won’t be known until April when President Obama details his budgetary priorities, administration and congressional officials said Thursday.The president’s budget includes $534 billion for the Department of Defense, a four percent increase over the current budget. Obama and other administration officials have hinted recently, though, that money for big-dollar weapons systems like the F-22 will be cut. The president, in his Tuesday address to Congress, promised “to reform our defense budget so that we’re not paying for Cold War-era weapons systems we don’t use.” Rep....

On the face of it a layer of orange jelly may not sound the best way to protect a soldier's head from high velocity bullets and shrapnel.But the British Army's standard-issue combat helmet is set to be upgraded with a liner made from gooey miracle gel, which responds to a sudden impact by locking instantly into a solid form - absorbing huge amounts of energy harmlessly.A UK-based technology company was today celebrating a £100,000 contract from the Ministry of Defence to develop its D3O shock-absorbing gel to help save the lives of British troops fighting on the frontline in Afghanistan.

Two years ago the UK Ministry of Defence's Strategic Trends depicted an alarming futuristic scenario in which middle-class radicals could engage in revolutionary activity with violent 'flashmobs', threatening the authorities with lawless disorder.here are growing signs that these predictions may turn true. Remember the Greek riots following the police shooting of a teenager? Recently, police confronted demonstrators protesting deteriorating economic conditions and political corruption in Latvia, Lithuania and Bulgaria. There have been smaller demonstrations in Spain, Turkey, Denmark and Italy. 'These disturbances are another consequence of the bursting of the speculative capitalist bubble and the illusion of unlimited prosperity that...

Introducing the gel-filled army helmet that will crush bullets as they penetrate it By MATTHEW HICKLEY 26th February 2009 On the face of it a layer of orange jelly may not sound the best way to protect a soldier's head from high velocity bullets and shrapnel. But the British Army's standard-issue combat helmet is set to be upgraded with a liner made from gooey miracle gel, which responds to a sudden impact by locking instantly into a solid form - absorbing huge amounts of energy harmlessly. A UK-based technology company was today celebrating a £100,000 contract from the Ministry of...

IBM has filed a patent (US 7484451) for Bionic Body Armor, that could essentially allow us to dodge bullets like Neo in The Matrix. The armor would scan areas for incoming projectiles and when one is detected the system would deliver a shock to the muscles causing a swift reflexive action away from the projectile. Here's what the patent describes the body armor as: A method of protecting a target from a projectile propelled from a firearm comprises detecting an approaching projectile, continuously monitoring the projectile and transmitting an actual position of the projectile to a controller, computing an estimated...

Carrying heavy combat loads is taking a quiet but serious toll on troops deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, contributing to injuries that are sidelining them in growing numbers, according to senior military and defense officials. Rising concern over the muscle and bone injuries -- as well as the hindrance caused by the cumbersome gear as troops maneuver in Afghanistan's mountains -- prompted Army and Marine Corps leaders and commanders to launch initiatives last month that will introduce lighter equipment for some U.S. troops. As the military prepares to significantly increase the number of troops in Afghanistan -- including sending as...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 30, 2009 – Soldiers should have full confidence in the quality of a particular series of Army-issued body armor plates that has come under recent scrutiny, Army officials said. Scores of Army tests and an independent evaluation have determined the effectiveness of three types of ceramic plates manufactured by Armor Works of Chandler, Ariz., said Army Brig. Gen. Peter Fuller, one of the officers who oversees equipment as part of the Army’s Program Executive Office Soldier. “Those plates being worn on the backs and fronts of soldiers all around the world are quality product,” Fuller said in...

It sounds like science fic­tion, but it is fact: On the battlefields of Iraq and Afghan­istan, robots are killing America’s ene­mies and sav­ing Ameri­can lives. But today’s Pack­Bots, Preda­tors, and Ravens are rela­tively prim­itive machines. The coming generation of “war-bots” will be im­mensely more sophisti­cated, and their devel­op­ment raises troubling new questions about how and when we wage ­war. There was little to warn of the danger ahead. The Iraqi insurgent had laid his ambush with great cunning. Hidden along the side of the road, the bomb looked like any other piece of trash. American soldiers call these ­jury-­rigged bombs...

Modern conventional weapons, deadly as they are, have no monopoly on terrorizing soldiers and civilians. Many military innovations of the past scared the enemy senseless — especially when only one side got to use them. "When you defeat someone psychologically, that's really how you win battles," says Pentagon spokesman and artillery officer Lt. Col. Mark Wright. "If [enemy forces] think they've been beaten, they're going to turn and run." Here, then, are five of the most terrifying conventional weapons of all time. Each was effective because it was a surprise introduction to a conflict, permitted essentially no defense, and only...

The research arm of the US Department of Justice is working on two portable non-lethal weapons that inflict pain from a distance using beams of laser light or microwaves, with the intention of putting them into the hands of police to subdue suspects.The two devices under development by the civilian National Institute of Justice both build on knowledge gained from the Pentagon's controversial Active Denial System (ADS) - first demonstrated in public last year, which uses a 2-metre beam of short microwaves to heat up the outer layer of a person's skin and cause pain.'Reduced injuries' Like the ADS, the...

Today, however, mobile lasers can be fielded for low-power weapons, (approximately 25 KW). Such weapons, while not very powerful, would be effective for addressing a range of threats. They could, for example: Disable the engines of small boats and planes; Detonate shoulder-fired missiles before they strike their targets; and Trigger IEDs from a safe distance before they threaten passing convoys.

The US Army and Navy have both hired experts in the ethics of building machines to prevent the creation of an amoral Terminator-style killing machine that murders indiscriminately. By 2010 the US will have invested $4 billion in a research programme into "autonomous systems", the military jargon for robots, on the basis that they would not succumb to fear or the desire for vengeance that afflicts frontline soldiers. A British robotics expert has been recruited by the US Navy to advise them on building robots that do not violate the Geneva Conventions. Colin Allen, a scientific philosopher at Indiana University's...

CAMP STRIKER, Iraq, Nov. 21, 2008 – Navy Cmdr. Ed Fischer and Air Force 1st Lt. E.J. Wong would seem to be out of place in an Army heavy brigade combat team conducting operations in Iraq. Navy Cmdr. Ed Fischer, left, and Air Force 1st Lt. E.J. Wong inspect a Warlock-equipped Humvee. The Warlock system is a countermeasure against roadside bombs. U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Evan Loyd  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Fischer, whose career field is nuclear engineering, and Wong, an air battle manager, are electronic warfare officers for the 1st Armored Division’s 2nd Brigade Combat...

Northrop Grumman Corporation today introduced the Firestrike™ laser, a ruggedized, high-energy, solid-state laser designed as a line replaceable unit (LRU) for battlefield applications. The Firestrike™ laser offers warfighters a 15 kilowatt (kW) fieldable laser as well as a combinable LRU building block for much higher power, based on a laser beam combining architecture validated by Northrop Grumman over many years with the Joint High Power Solid State Laser program, Vesta and Vesta II. The Firestrike™ laser LRU system is uniquely designed for scaling high-energy lasers to desired power levels. Each 15kW LRU can be combined with multiple units to fit...

Pterodactyls may have gone extinct millions of years ago, but a newly designed spy plane could bring the flying reptiles to life, albeit replacing blood and guts with carbon fiber and batteries. "The next generation of airborne drones won't just be small and silent," the design team announced recently. "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."

A joint Russian-Indian company has started the development of a cruise missile capable of flying at Mach 5, which will make it 'impossible to intercept'. BrahMos-2 will be the next generation of the highly successful the BrahMos missile already used by Indian military.

Here's the first look at the final version of the deadly XM25. We learnt this morning about the weapon's destructive power, but now we have all the details, starting with the key for its destruction power, a built-in fire-control system that can program each of the weapon's 25 millimeter rounds wirelessly, in real time, so soldiers can take down enemies around obstacles:As you can see in the schematics, the fire-control system uses thermal optic, day-sight, laser range finder, compass and IR light to exactly measure the distance to the target, programming each of the rounds' fuses so it explodes next...

June 19, 2008 -- IRobot, best known for their cute Roomba robotic vacuum cleaner, has teamed up with Metal Storm, purveyors of the million-rounds-per-minute electric gun, to create a slick, Terminator-like war robot for the U.S. military. The as yet unnamed war bot is being marketed for "border patrol" and "crowd control" scenarios, although other military situations are also under consideration. "We want our soldiers to have the option of controlling a robot that could go ahead and investigate, engage or deter an enemy and not put human soldiers at risk," said a spokesman for Metal Storm who wished to...

Another Agosta submarine ready By Our Reporter KARACHI, Sept 22: SM Hamza, the second indigenously built Agosta 90B submarine, will be commissioned in the Pakistan Navy on Sept 26, giving a qualitative boost to its capability to defend the country’s maritime boundaries. This was stated by Commodore Hassan Naser Shah, general manager of the submarine construction project, and Commodore Shah Masood at a background briefing at the PN Dockyard on Monday. The commissioning of SM Hamza was termed a historical moment because it has a special feature of air independent propulsion system which increases the diving autonomy of conventional submarines....

Two strategic Tu-160 bombers of Russia’s Air Force completed the flight in accordance with the plan to patrol remote geographical territories and returned to the airbase in Russia’s Saratov region from Venezuela, RIA Novosti reports with reference to a senior Air Force official, Lieutenant Colonel Vladimir Drik. The two planes landed Friday at 01:16 a.m. Moscow time. Alexander Anfinogentov, Deputy Commander of the Russian Air Force, told the news agency that the two bombers set two world records during the flight from the Russian air base to Venezuela and back. The flight duration of the planes made up over 15...

They're blinding them with science. U.S. Marines fighting in Iraq have been issued low-power laser weapons designed to temporarily blind enemy forces, the Washington Post reported Monday. "Dazzlers," as they're called, shoot green beams designed to "warn or temporarily incapacitate individuals," according to a Defense Science Board report extensively quoted in the Post's story. The Geneva Conventions ban weapons meant to cause permanent blindness, but a Pentagon spokesman explained two years ago that "Dazzlers" didn't fall into that category. "They don't blind people," Army Lt. Col. Barry Venable told reporters. "It's like shining a big light in your eyes." The...