{ Military }

Video: Boeing Plane Fires Frickin’ Laser Beams

The military has contracted Boeing to come up with a Advanced Tactical Laser (ATL) and the first video footage has been released on the net. It’s not as exciting as one would think, seeing as it’s the first test and all, but it still shows what the military can do with ray guns. I think Dr. Evil would be proud, no?

[Boing Boing via Smithsonian Air & Space]

{ Military }

Guy Wears A Dress To His Friend’s Funeral

For all the guys out there: would you wear a dress to your friends wedding? Probably not. But, what if you made a promise to your friend before you died? I guess that’s a game changer, right? That’s exactly what happen to a man named Barry and here’s how it happened:

Private Kevin Elliott and his friend, Barry Delaney, had agreed that whoever survived the other should wear a dress to the dead man’s funeral. Mr Delaney duly fulfilled the pledge as a tribute to Private Elliott, who was killed aged 24 while on foot patrol in the southern province of Helmand on August 31.

Mr Delaney wept on his knees at the graveside in Dundee as shots were fired during the military funeral. His dress plans are believed to have been known about in advance by other mourners.

Kudos to Barry for being a true friend keeping the promise he had made. I also salute Kevin for fighting for us in Afgan. God bless the both of them.

[Neatorama via Times]

{ Military }

U.S. Army To Create A 2.3 Gigapixel Camera

Remember that 1.5 gigapixel Obama inaguration picture? Yeah, that was child’s play. Apparently, the United States Army wants to take technology like this and create a 2.3 gigapixel camera. What they want to do with it is put it to use on drones — heck, eve manned aircraft  — and use it for surveillance. This camera would give “continuous coverage of area of around sixty-two square miles at 0.3m resolution with a single sensor,” according to Wired. Oh, and that’s not all either. This new camera would also have the ability to see infrared. So, if the Army decided to strap this thing to an unmanned helicopter and fly it over a valley with both good and bad-guys, they could see every single one, in the dead of night.

[Wired via Engadget]

{ Military }

How To Build A Fighter Jet In 3.5 Minutes

Whenever we see military fighter jets, we almost never think of its initial creation. The time when hundreds of people work diligently to built one of the most technologically advanced machines of all time. And, if you think of it right now (as in before you watch the video), you’re probably thinking its all built in one spot. That’s not the case. There’s many different areas for building each piece, as seen in this time-lapse video of constructing a Super Hornet fighter jet. The video is really cool. Go pop in a couple of Hot Pockets — they’ll be done just as the video ends.

[Live Leak via Crunch Gear]

{ Military }

Video: Navy Seal Extraction

Ok — ‘I got this video in my e-mail. The video is of a Navy Seal Extraction, also known as “picking up the boys.” Kidding… Anyway, it’s actually a pretty sweet video. A MH-47 Chinook helicopter hovers over the water and starts its decent. It it eventually makes it into the water, which requires precise handling of the helicopter, so koodos to the pilot. Once in, the other Navy Seals ride into the helicopter at top speed in a life boat. Awesome.