It’s 370 feet long and by next year, it will house a supercomputer and surveillance equipment to allow it to look over the Afghan battlefield, 36 square miles at time – from a height of 20,000 feet+. Since it moves slowly, and doesn’t just fly over quickly in a pass, it’s going to be quite useful. It will probably help the US military achieve something called air supremacy.

This is one of two mega-airships that the military is funding thanks to a $211 million dollar investment. How long before Big Brother decides to park a few of these over your city to act as the eye-in-the-sky?

[via Wired]

First let me just try to collect myself as I point out that this 64 player multiplayer combat game has jets! Yes jets. But that’s not all. They have thrown everything but the kitchen sink into this one.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

One of the coolest things that you’ll notice in the trailer is the inclusion of military robots, which i am psyched about, because before Black Ops came out I was hoping that some robots would be in that game. Of course sadly they were not. In this game we have tanks, helicopters, robots, jets and enough explosions to make Michael Bay wet his pants and subsequently dry them with wads of money.

[via Joystiq]

Dolphins are pretty smart, so it makes sense to use them in war theaters, since dogs are already used. The Navy has been studying the use of these mammals since the 1950s. This time around, they actually sent in four bottle-nosed dolphins into the Pacific. They were trained to find underwater mines and demonstrated their abilities during Operation Trident Fury, a joint US-Canadian military exercise earlier this month off the coast of Vancouver.

The dolphins are part of the Navy’s Marine Mammal Program, which has trained sea lions, seals, and dolphins to find mines and enemy divers. They were used successfully during the Iraq War.

[via SeattlePi via Make:]

Slate felt bad for cat lovers with the dogs getting all the glory and offered up its Cats of War series. The slideshow has cats placed strategically into photos that are real, courtesy of Photoshop. I really like the cat watching with Obama as Bin Laden is taken out.

No cats were harmed in the making if this series. Don’t worry about those cats jumping from the airplane with no parachutes. Everyone know cats always land on their feet and if things go bad, they have eight more tries to get it right if they don’t/

But is all that capability worth looking like an über-dorkster? Fighter pilots will probably love this thing, since current technology limits the field of view significantly and since they are in planes, they probably don’t care what they look like, as long as they have an edge in combat.

Maybe someday they’ll come up with a design that will integrate nicely into a functional helmet instead of something this crazy looking. Either way, looking like a fool isn’t a problem if it helps you become more efficient, and safer in war.

[via DVice]

In fact, it still plays – as you can see from the game of Tetris on screen. Hopefully, the troop who owned the miraculous handheld made it out without any harm. This unique bit of Nintendo history is on display over at New York’s Nintendo World if you ever want to see it up close and personal.

[Flickr via Reddit via Gamefreaks]

This warship is the Cheonan, which has an interesting history. The 1,200-ton vessel was split into two after being struck by a North Korean torpedo. It sank into the Yellow Sea on the March 26th, 2010. 46 of the 104 members of the crew perished.

The rear section of the warship was recovered recently, on April 15th. The bow, which is pictured above, was lifted out of the water on April 24th. If you have trouble comprehending the scale of this crane, you’re not alone. It’s most definitely a mega-machine and it’s awesome to behold!

[via DVice]

Brainz showcased some of America’s present and future killing machines, developed in the superpower’s quest to lessen bloodshed. On their side at least. I must say, these warbots look like a bunch of proto-Decepticons.

The white one on the left is Boeing’s X-45 UCAV (Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle). Here’s how Brainz describes them: “Like horrors from a science fiction film, these things are meant to travel in packs, autonomously, and engage targets with lethal speed, maneuverability, and armament.” Sounds like Protoss Interceptors to me.*pees a little*

Uhm anyway the “dwarf-sized autonomous helicopter” on the right is the MQ-8 Fire Scout. Although he looks friendly with his smile and starry eyes, the MQ-8 is a killing machine. It can be fitted with Hellfire missiles and other “laser-guided armaments”; testing is also being done with alternative versions that are equipped with .338 caliber rifles. For pew pew pewing humans.

The one on the left looks like a movie prop, but its actually the US Marine Corps’ Gladiator. Smaller than a Mini, the Gladiator can be fitted to carry supplies for fleshbags, or it can be equipped with “enough mortar tubes to level a building a quarter-mile away.” Wow.

The one on the right isn’t actually autonomous, but I’m mentioning it because it comes closest to being the future infantry. Called TALON, it’s remote-controllable for up to 1,000 ft away, and although it “only comes up to knee height”, the TALON is a remote-controlled nightmare. It can be fitted with an M16, a .50 caliber rifle or an M249 machine gun. In the future, Counter-Strike players will have to choose between terrorists and TALONS.

So Old Snake was right: War has changed. Read the full article at Brainz and be cautiously impressed. I mean it would be stupid to assume that these things can’t be used, hacked or reverse-engineered for evil purposes. Why can’t we all just get along, you know, buy the world a Coke?

[via Switched]

The robot’s maker, Elbit Systems, Ltd., claims that the rugged, dual-treaded robot can climb stairs and challenging surfaces like rubble without a problem. In addition to its fighting duties, the robot can be used for bomb detection and disposal.

I certainly wouldn’t want to run into one of these in a dark alley.

[via Reuters]