A week ago, I posted a video showcasing some of the features of the new radar being installed on F-15E Strike Eagle aircraft. Today, I’ve got another one, this time showcasing the AESA radar’s somewhat niftier air-to-ground capabilities – tracking moving targets, automatically identifying and classifying targets, and even a rudimentary BDA ability after the weapons have impacted (in this video, it’s WCMDs). It’s pretty slick eye candy, courtesy of Raytheon, who designed and manufacture the AESA system.
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An intriguing article in Israeli newspaper Haaretz describes a new gizmo recently developed to allow wireless communication underwater, between divers. The underwater text-messaging device, according to the article, works using ultrasound and has been provided to U.S. Navy “special forces”.

I tried to find more details of this interesting device, but couldn’t. It’s not cheap – around $1200 per device – and I doesn’t appear to use any sort of encryption or other keying mechanism to ensure privacy. Then again, the range is undoubtedly pretty limited, and the simple, pre-programmed codes most likely aren’t exactly a huge intelligence bonanza for the world’s spy agencies. Still, I expect that some Chinese or Russian boffins are already at work, developing a hull-mounted submersible ultrasonic detector to help detect devices like these; that is, after all, the way the technology race works…