Textron AirLand’s Scorpion Shows Off ISR Options in DC

The show floor at last week’s Air Force Association Air & Space Conference, held just outside Washington, was chock full of representatives from industry both big and small. Almost every defense contractor looking to do business with the Air Force had officials circling the floor, ready to ambush anyone wearing stars on their shoulders with a business pitch.…

VIDEO: Inside Raytheon’s SM-3, SM-6 Missile Interceptor Factory

HUNTSVILLE, ALA — In a one-story gray building with a bright red pin striping about two-thirds of the way up its side, a nondescript 70,000 square-foot factory sits behind three 21-foot tall missiles. Tucked inside the fences of the Redstone Arsenal — a sprawling Army base just minutes from downtown Huntsville — is where defense giant Raytheon assembles ship-launched missile interceptors,…

Mabus to Colbert: Arctic Melting Means More Ocean to ‘Navy’ On

  It’s Fleet Week in New York City, so that means warships parked at Hudson River piers on Manhattan’s west side, sailors in their dress whites frolicking through the city streets and the Blue Angels performing at Long Island’s Jones Beach Airshow. And this year it meant Navy Secretary Ray Mabus went on Comedy Central’s Colbert Report for an entertaining interview…

VIDEO: DARPA Developing Prosthetic Limbs

When most folks think about high-tech DARPA research projects, lasers and light sabers would probably enter your mind before prosthesis development. But in fact, the agency has a prosthesis office, developing artificial limbs that can mimic the movement of the real thing and could soon allow the user to feel senses. DARPA showed off two prosthetic arms at the Pentagon on…

Roberts Gates Discusses Vladimir Putin’s Intentions in Ukraine

Drawing down military forces in Europe sends the wrong signal to Eastern European nations, particularly as Russian forces have massed on Ukraine’s eastern border, former US Defense Secretary Robert Gates says. In an interview with Military Times videographer Mike Morones, Gates discusses his past interactions with Russian President Vladimir Putin and what he believes are…

Video: Griffin missile launches from patrol ship, blasts target, goes operational

The US Navy’s Mark 60 Griffin missile system was declared operational March 25 after successful live-fire tests from patrol coastal (PC) ships assigned to the Fifth Fleet. The weapon gives the small PCs a punch they’ve sorely lacked. This newly-released Navy video shows Griffin launches from tests on March 20 and 21, along with the…

Rand Paul Says Passing Any Budget Deal ‘May Be Impossible’ (Video)

“im·pos·si·ble adjective (ˌ)im-ˈpä-sə-bəl : unable to be done or to happen : not possible” That’s according to Merriam-Webster, the dictionary folks. And it’s also the odds Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., is giving for Congress to pass a budget resolution. “It may be impossible,” Paul said during a major economic speech in Detroit when asked about…

VIDEO: Beechcraft AT-6 Attack Plane Begins World Tour

DUBAI — Beechcraft has launched a three-month demonstration tour of its AT-6 light-attack plane at the Dubai Airshow this week. Company officials are optimistic that they will soon have a launch customer for the plane, which they have been developing for several years. In the meantime, they’ll be showing it off in the Middle East,…

Friday Video: A Rocket Launch, Seen From On High

Friday blues got you down? We here at Intercepts have the answer. Below the fold is video of SpaceX’s experimental Grasshopper rocket hitting a new record height, 744 meters up into the sky. What differentiates this from most rocket launch video is the angle. SpaceX had a remote controlled camera hovering above the rocket, giving…