Richardcyoung.com

The Online Home of Author and Investor, Dick Young

The Arctic Buildup: A New Cold War

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The Arctic region holds an estimated 90 billion barrels of oil and about 30% of the world’s undiscovered natural gas. It is also of immense strategic importance for global trade and national security. Many countries have laid claim to parts of the Arctic. Russia in particular is pumping major resources into its northern defense, so […]

Can the Army Save Lives with Virtual Reality?

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Researchers at the U.S. Army’s Communications-Electronic Research, Development and Engineering Center are working on a new technology that troops could soon be using to locate IEDs reports Todd South of the Navy Times. The new technology uses virtual reality (VR) goggles and/or tablets to paint a digital picture of what lies beneath the ground. This […]

U.S. Army Racing to Catch Up to Russian and Chinese Armor Technology

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The U.S. Army has been frantically searching for an Active Protection System (APS) to protect its armored vehicles against a proliferation of Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPGs) and Anti-Tank Guided Missiles (ATGMs). Recent events have shown just how vulnerable the American military’s vehicles are to RPGs and ATGMs. The U.S. Army has found itself left behind […]

Russia Modernizing Its Flying Tanks for Arctic Deployment

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Russia is turning to its Soviet Era jet -propelled T-80 as it continues its Arctic military buildup. The Russian Defense Ministry decided that it was more cost effective to modernize the T-80 MBT, which are currently collecting dust in Army depots, than to build new models. The modernization package includes a greater fuel efficiency, modern […]

Don’t Put Stinger Missiles in Terrorist Hands

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I saw this article by Jason Ditz, writing at The American Conservative and quickly figured I would be pro-Stinger, but no way. Remember in Charlie Wilson’s War when the Afghan mujaheddin got these from the U.S. and whupped up on the Russians? Basically great tech for lame folk. But it turns out America doesn’t use […]

GPS, Both Vital and Vulnerable: America’s Infrastructure Under Threat

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As of 2010 the “world’s only global utility,” the U.S. owned Global Positioning System (GPS), a constellation of twenty-four satellites, has been operating without a viable backup system.  The GPS market can be divided into three broad categories: commercial, noncommercial (consumer), and military. The use of GPS is essential to financial systems and is extremely […]

Russian Army to get New ‘Terminator’ Armored Vehicle in 2018

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The Russian Defense Ministry signed a contract with Russian company Uralvagonzavod for an undisclosed number of its new Terminator Armored vehicles.  Russian news agency TASS reported the deal took place at the Army 2017 forum. The Terminator is a 44-ton armored vehicle with a max speed of 60km/h. Its equipped with two 30mm 2A42 autocannons and […]

Here Comes the Abrams Super Tank

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General Dynamics has been awarded contracts worth $580 million to develop and integrate System Enhancement Package Version 3 (SEPv3) for the M1A2 Abrams tank. General Dynamics will also develop seven prototypes of the SEPv4 variant for testing in 2021. The SEPv3 will add significant new capabilities to the M1A2 Abrams tanks. The SEPv3 will have […]

Russia Developing 7-Ton Autonomous Freethinking Robot

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Russian news agency Russia Beyond the Headlines is reporting that Kalashnikov Concern, the largest arms manufacture in Russia, has created an advanced 7-ton robot called “Soratnik.” The small unmanned tank can operate on its own using artificial intelligence and can communicate with UAVs flying above the battlefield. Izvestia military analyst Alexei Ramm told RBTH, “the […]