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from the I'm-sure-I-parked-it-around-here-somewhere dept.
DARPA is developing a hybrid-powered motorcycle to soundlessly penetrate remote areas and execute complex, lightning-fast raids. The idea is to develop a hybrid power system that relies on both electric and gas power, allowing special ops to go off-road and zip past enemy forces with the silence of an electric engine, while also being able to handle extended missions and higher speeds with a supplemental gas tank. "Quieted, all-wheel-drive capability at extended range in a lightweight, rugged, single-track vehicle could support the successful operations of U.S. expeditionary and special forces in extreme terrain conditions and contested environments," says Wade Pulliam of Logos Technologies which was awarded a contract for a preliminary design to see just how viable the project is. "With a growing need to operate small units far from logistical support, the military may increasingly rely on adaptable, efficient technologies like this hybrid-electric motorcycle."
Logos plans to fit its quieted, multifuel hybrid-electric power system with an all-electric bike from San Francisco-based manufacturer BRD Motorcycles that uses an existing (and what BRD calls "barely legal") racing bike, the RedShift MX, a 250-pound all-electric moto that retails for $15,000. The RedShift MX has a two hour range, but will be extended with a gas tank the size of which will be determined by the military in the research period. The focus on the electric element suggests that DARPA is more concerned with the stealthiness of the motorcycle than it is efficiency. "The team is excited to have such a mature, capable system from which to build, allowing an accelerated development cycle that could not be achieved otherwise," says Pulliam.
(Score: 2) by tathra on Sunday April 27 2014, @04:38PM
actually very little of what Special Operations Forces do involves aggression. one of their primary missions is providing training (which includes teaching other languages). i know that hollywood has given everybody a certain image of SF and the military in general, but its quite wrong.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 27 2014, @06:56PM
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 27 2014, @07:23PM
very little
I'm hearing you say "Let's just overlook--or, better still, give our approval to those instances that clearly ARE aggression".
providing training
So, they're proving a service like The School of the Americas[1], where the military and paramilitary shock troops of foreign tyrants are taught how to better torture, terrorize, and murder the people of their respective lands in order to more effectively suppress democracy.
Right. Got ya.
Why, when there isn't *already* a dictator, does the USA try to install one?
In many, many cases, over and over again. [alternet.org] The 4th paragraph contains the long, shameful list.
.
Now, let's look at one of those "special" forces operations.
First, take years and years and years to locate the guy (by which time the organization to which "he belongs" considers him to be nothing more than an inconsequential nutball with a video recorder).
Next, breach the sovereign borders of an "ally" nation with a USA military force without, y'know, telling your "ally" what you're up to.
After that, mount an armed assault on a home with minor children in residence. [wikipedia.org]
Finally, start shooting unarmed people. To death.
.
How about another?
Bust down the door of a private residence--the wrong home--and shoot people to death who are completely unrelated to your mission.
Just for good measure, cover up your massive screw-up. [google.com]
.
How does any of this make Americans more safe?
In truth, it produces more and more people who want ALL Americans dead.
[1] ... or whatever euphemism is being applied to the school for butchers these days.
-- gewg_
(Score: 2) by tathra on Sunday April 27 2014, @08:40PM
well, at least you openly admit that you're hearing things that i'm not saying and trying to put words in my mouth. forgive the ad hominem, but given that, there's really no point in even reading the rest of your post since its clearly unrelated to mine.