[B]The Next Generation of Silent Submarines Could Defeat Radar and Sonar Sensing[/B]
[QUOTE]Defense systems can detect stealth submarines using two methods: sonar, which bounces sound waves off a craft, and radar, which can identify subtle disturbances on or below the ocean’s surface that can indicate a sub at depth. Now scientists are developing acoustic and fluid cloaking methods that could defeat both tactics.
The acoustic cloak would use metamaterials—engineered composites designed to display certain natural properties, such as magnetism or refraction—to bend sound waves around the craft, making it undetectable to sonar. A fluid cloak would alter the flow of water over a craft, concealing any wake or turbulence and eliminating the threat from radar. Both kinds of material could, in theory, be fashioned into a sheath that would slip over an existing attack submarine. The Office of Naval Research declined to comment on any new cloaking programs, but it is clearly aware that other militaries may be working on them—the Navy began a Metamaterial Countermeasure and Defeat Program in 2009.
[I]COMPLETE CLOAKING[/I]
A material that combines acoustic and fluid cloaking systems is possible, says Yaroslav Urzhumov, an assistant research professor at the Center for Metamaterials at Duke University, but won’t happen for a while. If and when it does, Urzhumov speculates that the final product would appear as a housing of fine, water-permeable mesh.
[I]ZERO WAKE[/I]
A fluid cloak would consist of hundreds of small water jets, similar to those found on Jet Skis, housed within a mesh sheath. The jets would accelerate water as it entered the sheath [red and orange] and slow it as it left [green and blue]. With no net change in speed, the water would close around the sub seamlessly, generating no disturbance.
[I]SUBTLE GIVEAWAYS[/I]
A sub traveling at depth can still broadcast its location. The bulges on the ocean surface made by an object moving underwater, called the Bernoulli hump [red, in the image above], may be detectable from a craft as deep as 1,000 feet. Like any vessel, subs leave a V-shaped trail [green], known as a Kelvin wake, which can also be detected on the surface. Fluid cloaking would eliminate both the Bernoulli hump and Kelvin wake.
[I]BETTER SOUNDPROOFING[/I]
Scientists can engineer metamaterials that bend sound waves around an object by combining materials of different densities. Waves speed up when they hit the cloak and slow on departure, creating no net distortion. So far, scientists have cloaked simple shapes such as cones and cylinders. But, Urzhumov says, more complex shapes could be cloaked as well.
[img]http://www.popsci.com/files/imagecache/article_image_large/articles/waterbulgeB.jpg[/img][/quote]
Source: [url]http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2011-12/next-generation-silent-submarines[/url]
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[B]Future Tanks Will Be Cooler, and Thus Invisible to Thermal Detection[/B]
[QUOTE]Tanks are easy to see by day and, since they generate a lot of heat, they are also easy to spot at night, at least for those equipped with infrared imaging equipment. In August, the British company BAE Systems unveiled its new Adaptiv system, which hides a tank’s heat signature beneath hundreds of electrothermal cells bolted to the vehicle’s exterior.
Infrared sensors detect the pattern of heat reflected by a tank’s immediate surroundings and, just as a processor guides pixels in a computer screen to form an image, adjust the temperature of individual cells to collectively form a heat signature that matches the environment. In infrared, the tank appears to disappear into the background. BAE says the system will be battle-ready in two years.
[I]HEAT-SENSITIVE CELLS[/I]
The Adaptiv system’s hundreds of 5.5-inch hexagonal cells are heated or cooled with electric current to create customized heat signatures. The system is dynamic, meaning a tank operator could match the vehicle’s heat signature to its surroundings when stationary but assume the signature of a preprogrammed object, such as a car or a cow, when moving. When friendly fire is a concern, operators could also exaggerate a tank’s signature to prevent confusion. BAE has already started testing its next generation of cells, which will include an undisclosed coating that can change color and brightness.
[I]FAST-COOLING EXHAUST[/I]
Engine exhaust may be too hot for Adaptiv to conceal completely. But borrowing techniques from stealth aircraft construction, tank manufacturers could incorporate broad and flat vents that produce ribbons of exhaust, which mix more rapidly with cool air. The vents would also be low to the ground so that exhaust would be disguised by the heat signature of the surrounding vegetation.
[I]QUIETER ENGINES[/I]
The Army has been testing hybrid engines in combat vehicles. In tanks, a silent electric engine could be flipped on for stealth combat missions.[/QUOTE]
Source: [url]http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2011-12/future-tanks-will-be-cooler-and-thus-invisible-thermal-detection[/url]
The Navy is really on a roll.
First telekinetic dildos and now cloaking submarines.
I already knew about both of these stories, but it is nice to see them on FP, rather than just dissappearing into obscurity like I thought they would.
[QUOTE=valkery;34171135]I already knew about both of these stories, but it is nice to see them on FP, rather than just dissappearing into obscurity like I thought they would.[/QUOTE]
I try to find cool stuff to show around.
Makes the news section look a lot less hostile to dilute the political threads.
Still nothing compared to the British light tank that is literally invisible and has a large electric engine to make it quieter.
[QUOTE=codemaster85;34171395]Still nothing compared to the British light tank that is [b]literally invisible[/b] and has a large electric engine to make it quieter.[/QUOTE]
I find this hard to believe. Is there a source?
[QUOTE=Hiurst;34171728]I find this hard to believe. Is there a source?[/QUOTE]
I doubt he'll find pictures to prove it
Oh great, invisible tanks.
Surely this won't bite us in the ass later on. (Still really cool, though.)
You know something is wrong with the human race when weapons are always front of the line when it comes to cutting edge technology.
[QUOTE=PhetusPhantom;34171823]You know something is wrong with the human race when weapons are always front of the line when it comes to cutting edge technology.[/QUOTE]
I don't know if 'cutting edge' is the right term.
Moon landing gear was pretty cutting edge and that wasn't military
[editline]12th January 2012[/editline]
well, figuratively it might as well have been lol
[QUOTE=Hiurst;34171833]I don't know if 'cutting edge' is the right term.
Moon landing gear was pretty cutting edge and that wasn't military
[editline]12th January 2012[/editline]
well, figuratively it might as well have been lol[/QUOTE]
Developed by kidnapped V2 nazi rocket scientists :v:
[QUOTE=Hiurst;34171728]I find this hard to believe. Is there a source?[/QUOTE]
Sure, here, you can see platoon of several tanks during training.
[img_thumb]http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_5gFc5p12xP8/TLH_NIM_aNI/AAAAAAAAA9k/jSjMsdKOH1I/s1600/1010+field.jpg[/img_thumb]
Just buy our swedish Gotland class submarines. It deluded the entire us Navy.
[QUOTE=Hiurst;34171728]I find this hard to believe. Is there a source?[/QUOTE]
[url]http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1567934/MoD-tests-technology-to-turn-tanks-invisible.html[/url]
I think the superfriends already beat them to it
[img]http://popperfont.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/invisiblejet.jpg?w=500&h=319[/img]
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