Military Weapons | Live Science

An artist's concept of DARPA's Glide Breaker anti-hypersonic-weapon system.

DARPA's hypersonic 'Glide Breaker' could blast missile threats out of the sky

By Elizabeth Howell

Aerojet Rocketdyne will develop "enabling technologies" for DARPA's Glide Breaker program under a newly announced contract, which is worth up to $19.6 million.

Punched holes in a panel from an SBD-5 Dauntless dive bomber are visible in wreckage resting on the floor of Truk Lagoon near the main debris site.

Wreckage of lost American WWII planes finally found, in a Pacific lagoon

By Mindy Weisberger

During a pivotal World War II battle, three U.S. aircraft and their seven crewmen were lost at sea. The planes were recently located in a lagoon in the Pacific Ocean.

Heartbeat rhythms are as unique as fingerprints, and lasers can identify their signature beats.

US military's 'Jetson' laser can ID your unique heartbeat hundreds of feet away

By Mindy Weisberger

Heartbeat-scanning lasers created by the U.S. military can ID your cardiac 'fingerprints' from hundreds of feet away.

Train tracks converge at the entrance to the Nazi death camp, Auschwitz-Birkenau.

Why Didn't the Allies Bomb Auschwitz?

By Mindy Weisberger

A new PBS documentary probes the deliberation behind the historic decision.

A mushroom cloud rises from the first atomic explosion, detonated on July 16, 1945 in Alamogordo, New Mexico.

Identity of Fourth Soviet Spy Who Stole US Atomic Bomb Secrets Finally Revealed

By Mindy Weisberger

Historians recently uncovered the name of a fourth spy who delivered U.S. atomic secrets to the Soviets in the 1940s.

When not seeking UFOs, To The Stars Academy of Arts and Science will be partnering with the U.S. Army on projects involving energy propulsion, quantum physics and space-time engineering.

Rock Star's Company Seeks UFOs, Finds Military Contract

By Mindy Weisberger

A private company that researches UFOs has a new contract with the U.S. government.

A close-up view of the wingtip ESM sensors, or electronic support measures, on a U.S. Navy E-6A Mercury aircraft. To create the E-6B, Boeing modified the E-6A, adding various specialized equipment.

This 'Doomsday' Plane Was Designed to Survive a Nuclear Attack. A Bird Just Took It Down.

By Jeanna Bryner

This Navy craft is meant to communicate with nuclear forces in the event of a nuclear war. And a bird strike just grounded it.

Military vehicles carrying DF-17 missiles parade through Tiananmen Square in Beijing on Oct. 1, 2019, celebrating the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Peoples Republic of China.

Why You Shouldn't Worry About China’s New 'Hypersonic' Nuclear Death Machine

By Rafi Letzter

China already had the power to kill you with nukes. This doesn't change anything, but it could fan the flames of an arms race.

Artist's illustration of the U.S. Air Force's X-37B space plane in orbit.

X-37B Military Space Plane Breaks Record on Latest Mystery Mission

By Mike Wall

The robotic X-37B has been circling Earth for nearly 719 days on its latest mystery mission, which is known as Orbital Test Vehicle 5 (OTV-5).

Vice President Mike Pence speaks at the sixth meeting of the National Space Council at the National Air and Space Museum in Chantilly, Va., on Aug. 20, 2019.

New US Space Command Will Launch Next Week, VP Pence Says

By Hanneke Weitering

The United States Space Command will officially be up and running by the end of the month, Vice President Mike Pence said today (Aug. 20) at a meeting of the National Space Council.

The U.S. Air Force's X-37B robotic space plane in orbit, as photographed by satellite tracker Ralf Vandebergh.

Skywatcher Captures Rare Image of Mysterious X-37B Military Space Plane

By Leonard David

We still don't know what the X-37B is doing up there, however.

The Government Is Serious About Creating Mind-Controlled Weapons

By Edd Gent

DARPA hopes to invent ways to instantly read soldiers' minds using tools like genetic engineering of the human brain, nanotechnology and infrared beams.

An illustration of a hypersonic aircraft, published by Hermeus Corp.

Startup Hermeus Wants to Build a Hypersonic Jet That Flies at 5 Times the Speed of Sound

By Doris Elin Salazar

At Mach 5, flight times from New York to London would be reduced from 7 hours to 90 minutes.

Drones Find Unexpected Radiation 'Hotspots' in Forest Near Chernobyl

By Mindy Weisberger

This is the first time that fixed-wing drones were used for radiation mapping.

An artist's depiction of the U.S. Air Force's unmanned X-37B space plane in orbit with its solar array deployed and payload bay open.

X-37B Military Space Plane's Latest Mystery Mission Passes 600 Days

By Mike Wall

Exactly what it's doing up there is unclear.

President Donald Trump signs Space Policy Directive-4 in the Oval Office of the White House on Feb. 19, 2019. SPD-4 directs the Pentagon to establish a Space Force.

Trump Signs Directive to Create a Military Space Force

By Mike Wall

The Space Force just took a big step from sci-fi-sounding dream toward reality.

This so-called seahorse flare shot up on the disk of the sun on Aug. 7, 1972. The radiation it produced was so powerful, it would've been harmful to astronauts if a moon mission had been in progress.

Massive Solar Storm Detonated Hidden American Bombs During the Vietnam War, Navy Records Show

By Rafi Letzter

Researchers digging through naval records uncovered a strange and alarming consequence of a massive 1972 solar storm.

Each V1 carried a high explosive warhead weighing up to 1700 lbs (850 kg) for a range of up to 150 miles (240 km).

Remains of Nazi 'Flying Bombs' Uncovered in British Woods

By Tom Metcalfe

Archaeologists have excavated the exploded remains of a German V1 "flying bomb" that crashed in a forest near London in 1944.

Launching site for V2 rockets in Germany

Photos: The Flying Bombs of Nazi Germany

By Tom Metcalfe

Near the end of World War II, Germany launched thousands of what it called "retaliation weapons" or flying bombs at London. Here's a look at the buzz bombs and the destruction they wrought.

The USS John Finn launched an SM-3 Block IIA guided missile, which successfully intercepted a fake nuclear missile in space on Oct. 26, 2018, over Hawaii.

The US Shot Down a Fake Nuclear Missile in Space with Another Missile (Video)

By Rafi Letzter

It was the second-ever success for the joint missile defense program, and a stunning technological accomplishment.