Technology Research Project Greg Bloom   ITMG 100 Section 07 November 16, 2010

United States Army The United States Army consists of over one million active and reserve personnel. This military branch of the United States armed forces specializes in land-based operations. It is the largest and oldest branch of the U.S. military dating back to 1775. The United States Army is made up of three components: the active component, the Regular Army; and two reserve components, the Army National Guard and the Army Reserve.

United States Army Infantry Weapons The Army’s individual weapons provide light firepower designed for short ranges The Army employs various crew-served weapons to provide heavy firepower at ranges exceeding that of individual weapons. The Army uses land vehicles and aircraft equipped with weaponry for anti-tank or anti-aircraft attacks.

United States Army Individual Weapons The most common weapons in this category are a part of the M16 assault rifle series. The M16 is a lightweight, 5.56 mm, air-cooled, gas-operated, magazine-fed assault rifle, with a rotating bolt, actuated by direct impingement gas operation. (Wikipedia, “U.S. Army Weapons”) The M16 is being phased out in the United States Army and replaced with rifles such as the M4 carbine as of 2010.

Recent changes to the M4 carbine are associated with the rifle name, M4A1. This rifle is fully automatic and intended for special operation use. This allows 700 rounds to be shot per minute versus the original rate of about 5000 round per minute. Although the M4 carbine has been around since the late 20th century, attachments and accessories manufactured by Colt keep the rifle at the top of its class.

United States Army Crew-Served Weapons The M249 is the Army's standard light machine gun. The M240 is the Army's standard medium machine gun. The .50 Cal. BMG. M2 heavy machine gun is used as an anti-materiel and anti-personnel machine gun.

Squad Automatic Weapon New technologies are known as SAW which stands for Squad automatic weapon or section automatic weapon. SAW weapons are designed to give infantry squads or sections a compact and mobile source of suppressive fire. Many SAWs are modified assault rifles that have increased ammunition capacity and heavier barrels to withstand continued fire.

United States Army Vehicle Weapons The weapons mounted on land vehicles provide protection while entering hostile environments and from airborne attacks. The M242 Bushmaster is the most common weapon mounted on Army land vehicles.

The M242 Bushmaster has a firing range of about 3,000 meters, which allows it to hit slower moving targets in the air such as helicopters. It is also used to destroy light armored vehicles and attack enemy positions on the ground such as bunkers, trenches or buildings.

United States Small Arms Table

United States Army Vehicles The U.S. Army spends a sizable portion of its military budget to maintain a diverse inventory of vehicles. While the U.S. Army operates a few fixed-wing aircraft, it mainly operates several types of rotary-wing aircraft.

The Oshkosh M-ATV MRAP The Oshkosh was selected for its proven survivability features including mine-resistant capabilities, off-road function, affordability in both production and maintenance and Oshkosh's modernized and capable production facilities. The beauty of the M-ATVs design is that the turret mounted weapons can be fired from the turret itself or remotely from within the crew cabin, protecting the gunner.

Boeing A160 Hummingbird Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Helicopter The A160 Hummingbird is a rotary-winged unmanned aerial vehicle that supplies the benefits of conventional UAV systems with that of modern battlefield helicopters.

The Hummingbird projects a smaller target, enhanced speed, improved engine efficiency and provides capabilities beyond that of current-generation, full-sized rotary-wing systems. The Hummingbird keeps her flight crew safely away from combat and can provide pinpoint delivery of various payloads to forces in need along a front

United States Army Unmanned Technologies Recent technologies are concerned with the development of a distributed estimation system of collaborating UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) and AGVs (Autonomous Ground Vehicles) that detect, track and estimate the location of a person, vehicle or object of interest on the ground. (Singh, “UAV/UGV Air-Ground Collaboration”) The collaborating team executes search, pursuit and localization strategies to improve the estimate of the target's location. The project goal is to deliver autonomy that increases situational awareness in reconnaissance tasks while reducing operator workload

URBOT Urban Battlefield Unmanned Vehicle The URBOT can perform a series of tasks including examination and destruction of IED (Improvised Explosive Devices). It has seen use in bomb squads during Operation Iraqi Freedom. The system is operated by remote control. Planned variants include a mobile remote controlled battlefield surgeon unit and an armed hunter-killer type system.

REMOTEC ANDROS F6A The RONS - Remote Ordnance Neutralization System is a class of remotely-controlled bomb disposal. In Iraq where the IED is a top killer of American and coalition troops, systems such as the RONS has become a godsend to service personnel and their families. Iraqi military forces are also being trained by American personnel in use of the RONS. http://www.militaryfactory.com/smallarms/detail.asp?smallarms_id=156

Expected Future Technologies The most available information on upcoming technologies for U.S. military are aircraft vehicles, especially Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicles and Unmanned Combat Ground Vehicles. Some field testing is being done for individual weapons but nothing looks to be as efficient or effective as what we have already.

MULE (Multifunction Utility / Logistics and Equipment) Unmanned Infantry Support Vehicle An average 165lb soldier weighs 240 lbs with his rut sack, weapon and water supply. Lockheed Martin has designed a robot vehicle system called the Multifunction Utility/Logistics and Equipment Vehicle (MULE) to help with such actions. The transport MULE is designed to follow and support two squads of infantry in the field and can be loaded with up to 2,000lbs of supplies.

General Atomics Avenger (Predator C) The Avenger is a more potent and lethal version of all previous Predator UAVs and should maintain a long and healthy tenure in service to the American Military should her technology live up to her billing. First flight was completed on April 4th, 2009 and the prime contractor is General Atomics Aeronautical Systems of San Diego, California http://www.militaryfactory.com/aircraft/detail.asp?aircraft_id=757

The “Corner-Gun” The Corner Shot consists of a segmented, assault rifle-type folding stock, pistol-grip contraption, onto which is attached a pistol of choice and a compact, detachable color video camera. A lateral left and right swinging hinge mechanism and a remote trigger control allow the user to drop the hammer on targets from behind the safety and comfort of any right-angled structure.

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References Page ©2010 www.MilitaryFactory.com ( n.d. ) . “REMOTEC ANDROS F6A Remote Ordnance Neutralization System (RONS) Unmanned Remote Bomb Disposal Robot” Content ©2003-2010 MilitaryFactory.com • All Rights Reserved • Site Contact Email: militaryfactory @gmail.com http://www.militaryfactory.com/smallarms/detail.asp?smallarms_id=156 ©2010 www.MilitaryFactory.com ( n.d. ) “General Atomics Avenger (Predator C) Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle” http://www.militaryfactory.com/aircraft/detail.asp?aircraft_id=757 Singh, Sanjiv ( n.d. ) Retrieved November 11, 2010. “UAV / UGV Air-Ground Collaboration” http://www.frc.ri.cmu.edu/projects/agc/Overview.html Wikipedia Foundation Inc. ( November 13, 2010). “United States Army Weapons” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Army#Weapons