Marines Test Killer Hovercraft, Wooden Glider & 3D Printers For The Battlefield

[rangerrebew]

 Marines Test Killer Hovercraft, Wooden Glider & 3D Printers For The Battlefield
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr. on March 27, 2017 at 11:09 AM


QUANTICO: A hovercraft that shoots salvoes of rockets. A speedboat that turns into a submarine. A mobile 3D printing factory. A big wooden box with wings (yes, really). And, of course, more drones than you can shake a stick at (because they swarm).

These are just a few of the roughly 100 technologies the Marine Corps will check out in its upcoming experimental wargame at Camp Pendleton. About 50 are ready for real-world demonstrations. Another 50 will just be on display, this time, though they might be ready for field tests by the next “S2ME2 ANTX” (that’s Ship To Shore Maneuver Exploration and Experimentation Advanced Naval Technology Exercise 2017).

http://breakingdefense.com/2017/03/marines-test-killer-hovercraft-wooden-glider-3d-printers-for-the-battlefield/

[thackney]

I like this one:

... the big wooden box with wings. In essence, it’s an unmanned update of the wood-and-canvas gliders used by airborne troops in World War II. Formally known as RAIN, for Revolutionary Airlift Innovation, it’s basically a cargo crate that delivers itself (once). You can fill the box with almost a ton of cargo (1,600 lbs), load it on a transport aircraft — CH-53 helicopter, MV-22 tiltrotor, or KC-135 turboprop — and kick it out the back in flight. Then the wings pop out, turning the box into a glider, and a computer brain guides it to its destination, up to 75 miles away. Even if you’re resupplying a unit in a city, no worries. The glider can pop a parachute to land between the buildings.

It’s crude, it’s ugly — and it’s brilliant. The entire prototype cost $600, manufacturer Logistics Gliders Inc. says, “less than 1/3 of the cost of nylon used in today’s cargo parafoils,” which can’t deliver cargo 75 miles away from the aircraft that dropped them....