Military Weapons | Live Science

An aerial view of the crater from the explosion of the V2 rocket in 1944 being excavated last month. The site was an orchard when the rocket hit it 77 years ago.

Remains of Nazi V2, the first supersonic rocket, unearthed in South East England

By Tom Metcalfe

The remains of a V2 rocket fired by Nazi Germany at London during World War II have been unearthed in a field in the southeast of England, where it crashed and exploded before reaching its target.

North Korea conducted a test launch of its Hwasong-8 vehicle, which features a hypersonic upper stage, on Sept. 28, 2021. This photo of the launch was released by North Korean state media.

North Korea tests new hypersonic weapon: reports

By Mike Wall

North Korean state media declared the test of the Hwasong-8 a success, but outside experts are skeptical.

A Rocket Lab Electron rocket launches the U.S. Space Force's Monolith satellite from New Zealand, on June 29, 2021.

Rocket Lab is back in business, with launch of US military satellite

By Mike Wall

The company's Electron rocket launched a small satellite for the U.S. military early Thursday morning (July 29), acing its first mission since a failure in mid-May.

AI drone may have 'hunted down' and killed soldiers in Libya with no human input

By Charles Q. Choi

A UN report suggests that AI drones attacked human targets without any humans consulted prior to the strike.

General Atomics, Blue Origin and Lockheed Martin each received contracts for the Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Operations (DRACO) program's first phase.

US military picks 3 companies to test nuclear propulsion above low-Earth orbit

By Elizabeth Howell

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has picked three big space companies for the first phase of a larger project to test nuclear propulsion above low Earth orbit by 2025.

Three nuclear submarines owned by Russia maneuvered to break through several feet of Arctic ice at the same time.

3 Russian nuclear submarines simultaneously punch through Arctic ice

By Tom Metcalfe

Here's why the naval maneuver is so tricky.

A June 12, 2019 photo shows a B-52 carrying an ARRW prototype (in white, under the left wing) during a test where it was not launched.

US Air Force says it will test bizarre 'hypersonic' weapon this month

By Rafi Letzter

At some point in the next few weeks, the U.S. plans to fire an extreme, hypersonic weapon. The question remains: What's the point?

A United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket launches into space carrying the classified NROL-37 satellite from Cape Canaveral Air Force Base in Florida on June 11, 2016. That launch was also mission for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office.

Here's everything we know about the secretive spy satellite launching tonight

By Rafi Letzter

The U.S. government is putting something big and secret in orbit tonight (Sept 30). Here's the little we can glean from public information.

The WWII Ghost Army unit used inflatable military equipment, such as the pictured armored vehicle, to fool German forces. They operated from May 1944 through the end of the war in 1945.

'Ghost Army' in WWII used inflatable tanks to fool the Nazis and win the war

By Mindy Weisberger

A secret U.S. Army tactical unit called the "Ghost Army" tricked German forces during WWII with fake military displays that were deceptively real.

Russia just tested anti-satellite space weapon, US claims

By Rafi Letzter

The U.S. government says Russia tested an anti-satellite space weapon July 15. Russia says it was an inspector satellite. Nothing was destroyed.

Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) (L) and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), vice chair and chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, are pictured speaking to the press in 2018.

Pentagon should release UFO report, Senate intelligence committee argues

By Rafi Letzter

The US Senate intelligence committee plans to impose new rules on how the Department of Defense (DOD) shares information about UFOs, and to demand a public report on what the DOD knows so far.

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).