Could the Wildcat finally phase out the Hummer that is currently a mainstay military vehicle when it is released? Well, this is a potential candidate for Medium Personnel Carrier (MPC) missons, and here's a short snippet on the Wildcat's capabilities.

IMI says that the Wildcat incorporates the lessons learned in urban combat by the IDF. It uses a 4x4, off-the-shelf chassis from Tatra of the Czech Republic, a 325 hp Cummins diesel engine and an Allison transmission, with an IMI-built welded-steel body. The basic vehicle is C-130-transportable and is protected against 7.62 mm fire, but is designed with two optional armor kits: Kit B handles 14.5 mm and improvised explosive device (IED) threats and Kit C adds slat armor for RPG protection. The kit elements are designed to be installed in the field and handled by a two-man team. Another standard option is the IMI WAVE remotely operated weapon station. The basic vehicle accommodates three crew in front and nine soldiers in the back. Important features include three firing ports on each side, with upward-looking windows for better situational awareness in urban canyons, and powered rear and side ramps for quick entry and exit. The 4X4 chassis is mobile - it can cross a 900 mm trench, ford to 1.5 m and exceed 60 mph on the flat - and agile, with a 17.5 m turning circle. IMI says that it was the only 4X4 to survive the MPC testing. Commercial components also reduce cost: IMI claims that the Wildcat costs half as much as the US Stryker, for equivalent capability.

Sounds like a mean machine to me - too bad the cost will run into the millions (or even billions) for a decent fleet in any self-respecting military.

Publisher’s note: do they call it “wildcat” because of the “moustaches” in the front? I think that it is so ugly that adversaries will run away screaming or laugh to death.

The WASP Knife certainly lives up to its namesake as the moment it stabs something, 24 grams of compressed gas at 800 PSI will enter the wound, regardless of whether you're on land or underwater - opening up a whole new world of hurt to the victim. Apparently, this dangerous knife is sold strictly to the non-civilian market, but you never know just how a careless moment could cause this to leak out for those with more nefarious purposes. The WASP knife retails for $389. My skin crawled while reading up on what this knife can do, and I sure as heck wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of it.

Could war end up more and more like video games? Apparently so, with hacked stuff such as the WiFi-controlled Telepresence Tank. This basically allows you to roam around your home while killing time at the office. I'm not too sure whether this will translate into the military world, but who are we to say that this is impossible? It would be interesting to see whether future revisions are in store for a device such as this - slealthier movement and use of deadly force against pests such as mice and robbers. Oh yeah, not to mention capturing spyshots and videos of those trysts while you're not around.

Talk about an unpronounceable headset name - the Silynx C4OPS GenNext headset system recently went on display at the Special Operations Forces Industry Conference in Florida. The C4OPS boasts ob being the first and only combat headset system able to provide GPS and force tracking capabilities to the dismounted soldier, courtesy of an integrated GPS receiver that locates the soldier's current position, helping him zone in on the target through voice prompt indications. Hopefully this will be more accurate than those GPS maps that were poorly updated, having drivers end up in some rather ridiculous places like a ditch or kissing a tree. Heck, it is tough enough to outlast many of us, capable of functioning well in both High Altitude High Opening parachute operations down to 20 meters below the waterline.

The Nano Air Vehicle could be the smallest UAV in the world, since it does away with a propeller and engine in favor of moving wings instead. So far, AreoVironment has been endowed with over more than half a million dollars from DARPA and given half a year to demonstrate its diminutive UAV to the military. I think this will probably be used to function as a spying device in place of sending an actual double agent. Hopefully the enemy doesn't catch on and continueu thinking that this is some sort of weird insect instead.

DARPA, the Pentagon's research arm, aims to "develop a dynamic putty-like material" which will definitely come in handy healing shattered bone by offering support to the entire body while the patient heals. Being bio-degradable, it will just disappear with time once the entire healing process is over. Dubbed the "Fracture Putty", this could potentially "rapidly restore a patient to ambulatory function while normal healing ensues, with dramatically reduced rehabilitation time and the elimination of infection and secondary fractures." Of course the road to success if not that smooth as there are still considerable challenges to overcome, but I'm sure the brains in that department will get it all figured out soon.

Man, and I thought that explosive detectors normally came in the form of highly-trained dogs or high-tech gizmos, but scientists at the University of California, San Diego have managed to come up with a spray-on explosive detector. This non-invasive method will glow blue under UV light in the presence of nitrogen-containing explosives, where its silafluorene-fluorene copolymer is sensitive enough to detect just a billionth of a gram of explosive. Now that's really something and could prove important in the fight against terror as you never know when the next attack might come along and in what form. Also, this is pretty much an instant method of knowing whether things are going to go ka-boom around you.

The iRobot might sound cute, but it is actually a killing machine that is capable of spitting out a million rounds (theoretically) in a single minute - definitely the perfect device for "crowd control", at least where dictators are concerned. These bullets will be fired electronically - hence the speed, ditching the traditional pins and primer method. As for ammunition, those are stacked instead of reloaded mechanically, making ammunition to be the only moving part in the weapon. It's 40mm weapons mount will be able to deliver both high-explosive and less-lethal rounds, making this one versatile machine that the military would love to have. All that money poured into "security" makes me wonder whether it could be put to better use for peaceful purposes.

Folks at Israel's Fisher Institute for Air and Space Strategic Studies are currently working on the first unpiloted battlefield resupply and evacuation aircraft in the world known as MedUAV. It bears a design that harks back to 1960s science fiction, but the purported performance specifications are nothing to sneeze at. Landing-to-evacuation time could potentially be as short as 45 seconds, while the patient pod is adequately equipped with sensors and a communications system, enabling doctors to interact with the patient en route to the hospital. Initial test flights will happen within a couple years' time, and it will have a 4-person payload, hitting the skies at 10,000 feet with speeds of up to 150 knots.

The C4OPS Combat Headset from Silnyx Communications claims to be the one and only (to date) combat headset system that offers GPS and force tracking abilities to the dismounted soldier, helping them navigate to the target through voice prompt indications. I sure hope the software is updated along with the latest co-ordinates, as we wouldn't want the poor soldier to wander into a secret military encampment, outgunned and outnumbered. It would also be nice if this came with some sort of super mine detector lest your soldier lose his limb, or even worse, his life. The C4OPS is tipped to retail between $1,000 and $1,500 when it is released to the US military.

Cops in Washington DC might see their pistols fitted with cameras in the near future, assuming a draft local bill is passed by the DC judicial committee. This would mean gunsight video is recorded every time the weapon was drawn. While gun camera technology isn't exactly rocket science and can be purchased off the shelf already, equipping the entire force with this system will introduce a whole new bunch of tasks to the department, as somebody has to keep track of all those videos. Do you think this will help heal community relations with the cops? Has anybody purchased GunTube.com already?

I know that many people who have watched Star Wars will secretly ask themselves, "How can these X-Wings and B-Wings actually fly when they're shaped so weirdly?". The same question can be applied to the Z-shaped Odysseus from Aurora Flight Sciences, but somehow or rather through the clever study of physics, flight is possible. In fact, this aircraft is actually three separate machines which are smart enough to change their combined shape in order to maximize their solar energy capture rate, flattening out at night in order to operate on as little battery power as possible. This behemoth has a wing span of almost 500 feet, and is constructed using advanced composite materials and double-sided solar panels. Groovy.

What better way to sneak upon an enemy than in a disguise? British defence giant BAE Systems is working on a bunch of small tiny electronic spiders, insects and snakes which could eventually end up as the eyes and ears of soldiers on the battlefield, with the potential to negate the loss of life. Prototypes are tipped to be released at the end of the year, helping troops overcome booby traps with additional eyes thanks to these robots. Each soldier is said to carry such robots into combat, where they will be used as the first line of reconnaisance. According to BAE Systems, these tiny robots won't be too expensive to manufacture once they're in full swing, retailing for approximately £100 ($197) each.

The Guardium is an unmanned ground vehicle commissioned by the Israeli military, making it a robotic soldier that holds the honor of being the first in the world to be operational. Meant to take over the role of soldiers in dangerous situations, the Guardium will definitely have no fear factor unlike ordinary humans, but I wonder whether it is able to be as flexible as a real soldier on the battlefield. This four-wheeler can be operated from a command room and mounted with various accessories such as cameras, night-vision equipment and sensors, and machine guns. One main advantage of the Guardium is it will never be sleepy and can patrol borders 24/7 without suffering from fatigue (other than requiring the occasional maintenance routine). Too bad the Guardium has an exorbitant price tag of $600,000 for the hardware alone, while the inclusion of an operating system will push the final figure to several million dollars.