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https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/International-relations/Indo-Pacific/U.S.-and-Israel-zap-drones-with-lasers-in-plan-for-futuristic-fights?utm_campaign=GL_indo_pacific&utm_medium=email&utm_source=NA_newsletter&utm_content=article_link&del_type=11&pub_date=20220713213000&seq_num=2&si=44594 U.S. and Israel zap drones with lasers in plan for futuristic fights Biden to view new tech during visit as Washington prepares for 2027 China threat U.S. President Joe Biden will see a demonstration of Israel's laser defense technology during his visit to the country on July 13. (Source photos by Reuters and screenshot from Israel Ministry of Defense's YouTube page) NESREEN BAKHEIT and KEN MORIYASU, Nikkei staff writersJuly 12, 2022 20:33 JST TEL AVIV/TOKYO -- When U.S. President Joe Biden arrives in Israel on Wednesday, one of his first meetings will be with Defense Minister Benny Gantz at Ben-Gurion Airport. Gantz will show the president some of Israel's military technology, including the Iron Beam laser defense system. The high-powered laser interceptor is the newest addition to Israel's multilayered missile defense umbrella and can target small threats like drones. The system can destroy an airborne target within two to four seconds at a range of up to 7 km. In April, then-Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett tweeted that Israel had successfully tested Iron Beam and posted a video of the laser zapping rockets and drones. "This is the world's first energy-based weapons system that uses a laser to shoot down incoming [unmanned aerial vehicles], rockets & mortars at a cost of $3.50 per shot," Bennett wrote. "It may sound like science fiction, but it's real." Directed-energy weapons like lasers are expected to be crucial to future battlefields. Biden's attendance at the Iron Beam demonstration signals that the U.S. and Israel will collaborate more on these technologies. In a conflict with China over Taiwan, for instance, the U.S. would need to counter missiles re-entering from outer space, sea-skimming cruise missiles and drone swarms, the latter of which will be hard to intercept with traditional missile defenses. Directed-energy weapons have the advantage of low operating costs and unlimited firings. The $3.50 per shot cost is negligible compared with the hundreds of thousands of dollars needed for a typical missile interceptor. Manpower costs are also significantly lower compared to an Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense destroyer with its crew of 300. There is also the benefit of no debris from an interceptor -- an issue that has thwarted deployment of the land-based Aegis Ashore missile-defense system in Japan. Iron Beam will complement Israel's previous missile defense systems such as Arrow, David's Sling and Iron Dome, which Biden will also inspect. Uzi Rubin, founder and first director of the Israel Missile Defense Organization in the Ministry of Defense, told Nikkei Asia that while the U.S. is a powerhouse of military technology, Israel is a leader in other aspects. "The U.S. never built an Iron Dome because it never had any need for it," he said, referring to Israel's signature air-defense system designed to intercept short-range rockets and artillery shells fired from distances of 70 km. "Nobody is attacking U.S. cities with rockets. American wars are across oceans, not on American soil." "With Iron Dome, we came up with something more advanced than what the Americans developed, as we needed to fight non-nuclear missiles," Rubin said. "We also have some models of our heavier missile defense, which is ahead of what the Americans have, simply because we have the problem of defending against non-nuclear weapons." Streaks of light are seen as Israel's Iron Dome anti-missile system intercepts rockets launched from the Gaza Strip towards Israel, as seen from Ashkelon, Israel in May 2021. © Reuters Rubin noted that the U.S. has been experimenting with high-powered lasers since the 1960s, while Israel has just entered the field. Israeli lasers have just a third of American firepower, he said. But there is a sense of urgency on the American side as China hones its offensive capabilities. The Pentagon is working under the assumption that by 2027, the 100th anniversary of the founding of the People's Liberation Army, China will have the capability to successfully invade and unify Taiwan. In January, Jin Canrong, professor at Renmin University's School of International Studies, told Nikkei that once the quintennial national congress of the Chinese Communist Party finishes this autumn, the threat of a military takeover of Taiwan will be closer to becoming a reality. "It is very likely that the leadership will move toward armed unification by 2027," the professor said. The U.S. Indo-Pacific Command is especially concerned about the defense of Guam, where the U.S. military has its only submarine base in the western Pacific and where its strategic bombers are based. China has already deployed its Dong Feng-26 intermediate-range ballistic missiles with a range of 5,000 km, dubbed the "Guam Killer." In Israel, Biden will "discuss new innovations between our countries that use laser technologies to defeat missiles and other airborne threats," a senior U.S. official told reporters ahead of the visit. New U.S. military programs are often not finished on time. Teaming up with tech-savvy allies like Israel -- which has vast experience in operating missile defense systems -- would be an option for the U.S. military as it speeds preparations for a potential showdown with China. The amphibious transport dock ship USS Portland conducts a high-energy laser weapon system demonstration on a static surface training target in the Gulf of Aden in December 2021. © U.S. Marine Corps The success of Turkish-made drones against Russian armored vehicles and air defense systems in Ukraine has heightened the need for the U.S. and Israel to prepare for drone swarms in future warfare. The demonstration video that former Prime Minister Bennett posted on Twitter shows Iron Beam lasers melting off one of the wings of a drone that looks like the Turkish Bayraktar TB2. In the future, lasers could also be deployed against targets other than drones. In February, the U.S. Navy finally succeeded in using a laser to defeat a target representing a subsonic cruise missile. A ground-based laser hit a target using a high-energy beam invisible to the naked eye, successfully disabling it. The weapon was designed and built by Lockheed Martin. "It can counter unmanned aerial systems and fast-attack boats with a high-power laser and also use its high-resolution telescope to track inbound air threats, support combat identification, and conduct battle damage assessment of engaged targets," the Navy said. But Israel's Rubin said many challenges remain. "Laser technology is not like the Star Wars movie. Laser weapons work at the speed of light, but need a lot of time to pump enough energy into a rocket to terminate it," he said. "That takes time, and while you are trying to terminate one rocket, you cannot deal with other incoming rockets. If they fire hundreds of rockets at the same time, you can only deal with them one on one." Weather also affects lasers, he said. "For example, in northern Israel we can have 60 days of rain during which laser weapon technology cannot work. During rain, lasers don't work." And the technology still needs to be fully developed. Rubin, who was also involved in the development of Iron Dome, shared some insight into how the defense shield was designed. "Rafael Advanced Defense Systems recruited the best people from its workforce to build Iron Dome over a three-year period. They were told not to stop until it was ready."

TL;DR – A Toyota Yaris driver makes a wide turn, ends up on opposing lane upsetting a couple of motorcyclists who made gestures at him. Unhappy, the driver confronts them and even takes out a weapon from his car. This incident happened earlier today (2nd August 2021). A road raging Toyota Yaris driver whips out a weapon from his car in anger and it’s all been recorded on video! Here’s the video for your viewing pleasure. What right do you have to be angry sir? At the start of this 94-second video, we see a red Yaris making a wide turn and ending up on the opposing lane. He’s clearly in the wrong from the get go, so what right has he got to be angry? Gangsta uncle The motorcyclist reportedly made a gesture at the Yaris which infuriated the driver. If I’m not wrong, I heard the uncle say To which the biker replies Followed by short inaudible dialogue and a long uncomfortable silent stare down. The motorcyclist in front, presumably a friend tries to step in to defuse the situation. But does that help? Nope. Uncle has a weapon, I repeat, Uncle has a weapon! The uncle goes to his car to take out a weapon. Is that a fishing rod? Maybe it’s a golf club? Someone said it looks like a Samurai sword but I’m going to go with fishing rod. A lady tries to calm the angry Uncle but it did not seem to work. The video then cuts off leaving us to wonder what the heck happened after. Online Chatter I think anyone’s lj would tbh. All plausible scenarios Want to know what I think? I think if you’re in the wrong, and you know you’re in the wrong, just shut the hell up and go on your way. See la, now you’re going to be famous. Please don’t find me and beat me with your fishing rod. --- Thinking of selling your car? sgCarMart Quotz guarantees the highest selling price for your car. We’ll even give you $100 cash if you find a better offer elsewhere! Get a free quote to find out how much your car is worth today!

Certis Cisco officer, 42, found dead with gunshot wound at East Coast Park, didn't return weapon after work source: https://mothership.sg/2020/09/certis-cisco-officer-pistol/ [UPDATE at 6:00pm on Sep. 20: This article has been updated to include statements from the Singapore Police Force and Certis Cisco] An auxiliary policeman was found dead at East Coast Park with a gunshot wound to his head on Saturday early morning, Sep. 19. The Singapore Police Force (SPF) had been searching for the 42-year-old male officer after being notified by Certis Cisco at 1:33am on Sep. 19 that he did not return his service revolver after work, SPF said in response to media queries. He was found about five hours later, at 6:16am on Saturday morning in the vicinity of Carpark C2 of East Coast Park, together with his weapon. Paramedics at the scene pronounced him dead at 7.48am. SPF said that no foul play is suspected and that police investigations are ongoing. Deputy Assistant Commissioner of Police (DAC) Julian Chee, who is the Commander of the Certis Cisco Auxiliary Police Force told Mothership: Helplines: SOS 24-hour Hotline: 1800-221-4444 Singapore Association for Mental Health: 1800-283-7019 Institute of Mental Health: 6389-2222 (24 hours) Tinkle Friend: 1800-274-4788 (for primary school-aged children) Care Corner Counselling Centre (Mandarin): 1800-353-5800

Meet Malaysia PDRM's latest weapon... Honda Civic FK8R

http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/eat-drink-man-woman-16/gpgt-who-left-his-matador-roadside-4847204.html Someone misplaced their new year fireworks..... Think they are duds I guess.

The BAC Mono is probably one of the most fun-to-drive track car of recent. It is likely to be one of the fastest too. Fans of Top Gear would especially find it familiar - the car was presented recently and stole the limelight when it propelled itself to the second top spot on the lap times chart. So what is the BAC Mono all about? Built by the Cheshire-born brothers - Neill and Ian Briggs - the BAC Mono was conceived with car enthusiasts in mind. Mono (short for monoposto or single seat) was designed to provide formula race car levels of handling and performance - hence an equivalent level of thrill. At 520bhp/tonne, the Mono has a power to weight ratio that supercedes that of the Bugatti Veyron. The result is a 0-96km/h in a mere 2.8 seconds and onto 160km/h in just 6.7 seconds. As with any track racers, sheer straight-line speed is not everything. But worry not, the Mono has the Briggs brothers' expertise to take care of things. All in all, 15 years of experience in the industry. To ensure that the Mono is a bang-on hit, the brothers sought the expertise of others. For instance, the aerodynamics were optimised with help from Stuttgart University. The car is constructed out of carbon fibre, with a turbular steel safety cell for the driver - a concept similar to that of a DTM race car. Then, there is the 2.3-litre unit from Cosworth, mounted longitudinally for better weight distribution. Suspension is rose-jointed, aero profiled push rod, with adjustable dampler from Sachs Racing. Brakes are courtesy of AP Racing. The list goes on. To us, the functional design of the Mono is simply stunning to look at. While we can't say an absolute no, there is a very slim chance that we'll ever get to try it. So to top it all off, a little competition is always interesting and exciting. Jump to the video below to see two drivers pit their skills in the Mono. P.S.: not just any driver - Ron Simons is a driving instructor at the Nurburgring; Sabine Schmitz a German professional racing driver, who is widely known as 'Queen of the Ring' with her two-time overall victories at the 24 Hr of Nurburgring in a BMW. http://dai.ly/x128g8e

If you got watch Anime, you know sword is more powderful than guns

Saw this police car with an extra roof mounted equipment. There are 2 tubes on it. One looked like a CCTV with a mini wiper. The other looked like multi coated optical lens. Anyone else saw or share more on this gadget?

From November, recruits doing Basic Military Training (BMT) will be armed with one more 'weapon' - a handheld touchscreen device such as an iPad - to sharpen their fighting skills. The SAF is believed to be the first military in the region to issue handheld gadgets, such as the iPad, iPod Touch or Samsung Galaxy tablet, to servicemen. Full report in ST

Saw the 6:30pm news telecasted chn 8. How touching that this LBH cried infront of the camera. Must be receiving very good pension until so excited and dropped tears. Really worried that each tears dropped, our reserved also dropped. They are really really desperate liao!!

Hi bros what would you reccomend for the above esp when going up north.

This is so hilarious I just have to post it up here for all to see. Warning : For entertainment purposes only! In no way do we condone using Post-It notes for anything other than boring memos. ------ Original article taken from AsiaOne Motoring. Respect my car space By Fiona Chan In a peaceful little cul-de-sac somewhere in the west of Singapore lives a family that is - almost - like any other. They have a bunch of well-dressed kids, a lovely house and a garage that can hold three cars comfortably. There's just one problem: The household has more than three cars. Quite a lot more. Seven, to be exact. When the entire family comes home, as inevitably they do, their cars - marked by the same digits on all their licence plates - overflow onto the road in front of their house like a vehicular oil spill. They seep insidiously into the lots in front of their neighbours' houses, tarring their personal space and polluting their goodwill. I know this because every time I drive over to visit my friend, who lives opposite this family, I have to dodge their cars while looking for somewhere convenient to park. Of course, it's not illegal to take up parking spaces that your neighbours don't use. It's not even morally wrong for a single household to own seven cars (although I, the owner of half a car, think it should be). But, to me, buying several more cars than your own house can accommodate is the height of inconsideration. It's not like there isn't an obvious solution: Just sell one of the sports cars and use the money to build a bigger garage, for heaven's sake. Then again, thoughtless motoring behaviour appears to be the norm in Singapore. In my own, significantly less wealthy, estate, many of the older single-storey houses are too small to shelter even one car. So residents park their cars right outside their houses, on both sides of the narrow road, along which runs a single white line. This is actually illegal but the owners clearly don't care. What they seem more concerned about is glaring at me as I am forced to inch my car through the obstacle course created by their protruding vehicles to get to my house. I've never actually rammed into one of their cars. But I am always tempted to. The same goes for all those foodies who park illegally outside eateries - even when there is a perfectly legitimate carpark just a few minutes' walk away - just so they can maximise their eating convenience. The Sunday Times ran an article last week about how nerve-racking it is for these drivers to dine and dash. But it is 10 times worse for the rest of us, who have our nerves shredded trying to carefully squeeze past their obstructive cars, and don't even get to stuff our faces. What I would love to do is paste notes on the dashboards of these parked cars and make them look like parking summonses, just to give their owners a scare. "Gotcha, sucker!" these notes will say. "Next time it will be for real." I don't quite have the meanness - or, to be honest, the balls - to do this, although my friends tell me they've stuck Post-it warnings on the cars they've seen illegally parked near their homes. All I do, in a cowardly fashion, is live in hope that one day the traffic police will come knocking on the doors of these parking idiots. After all, in Singapore, that seems to be to be the only way that anyone can be persuaded to do what in other countries would be plain common sense. Take buses for example. You might think that letting a poor lumbering bus exit from its bus bay would be a natural instinct for other motorists. But no, drivers have to be threatened with a fine before they will give way to a bus. Unfortunately, there's no penalty for drivers who grumble loudly and non-stop about the new law. Do we really have to introduce - and enforce - punishments for every thinkable inconsiderate driving activity? Surely there is some shame in always having the obvious spelt out in the form of a law? If there's anything I've learnt from years of kindness campaigns, it's that courtesy can't be taught. So I'm taking matters into my own hands. The next time I visit my friend in his cul-de-sac, his neighbours better watch out. I'll be armed - with a bunch of Post-its. [email protected]

Wah lau, this is really tok-gong man....no need to c*ck some more.

Not-so-secret weapon: GM's Chinese engines By Ian Austen Tuesday, March 25, 2008 OSHAWA, Ontario: General Motors car engines were once the stuff of American legend. The Beach Boys sang, "nothing can touch my 409," about a powerful Chevy V-8. Oldsmobile owners in 1981 were so angered that their cars had been fitted with Chevrolet engines instead of Oldsmobile "Rockets," subject of another hit song, that they successfully sued GM over the swap. GM has eliminated brand distinctions between its engines, saddling them with names unlikely to inspire songwriters, like Ecotec, Vortec and Northstar. But some owners of the Chevrolet Equinox, a "compact" sport utility vehicle built in North America, might be surprised to learn the origin of the engine under their hoods - it is made in China. Soon, China will move from exporting mostly low-end auto parts to the U.S. market, like wheels, to sending whole vehicles. Last year, Chrysler signed a deal with Chery Automobile, the largest Chinese car company, to supply a Dodge subcompact. But one of the most important steps on China's long march to an auto export industry was the little-noticed arrival of the humble engine inside the 2005 Chevy Equinox. "This is the first Chinese-made engine going into this market," said Eric Fedewa, an analyst at CSM Worldwide, an automotive research firm. "It was an experiment to see if GM could use its facility in China to take costs out of a vehicle." Engines, along with transmissions and interior components, are the most expensive parts of a vehicle, accounting for a quarter to a third of its manufacturing costs. GM has neither broadcast nor hidden the fact that the Equinox engine (and that of its twin, the Pontiac Torrent) is made in China. The car's sticker notes that 55 percent of its parts are from the United States and Canada, 20 percent from Japan, 15 percent from China, and the rest from elsewhere. But no sticker tells consumers the engine is built at Shanghai General Motors, a joint venture between GM and Shanghai Automotive Industry, a Chinese company. Originally intended to power Buick sedans built for the Chinese market, the engine is the only one available in the Equinox base model. Starting this model year, a larger American-made motor became an option in a higher-end version of the SUV. The same model of engine as the one made in China is produced at a GM engine plant in Tonawanda, New York, about a two hour drive from the Canadian factory that builds the Equinox. GM does not break out internal costs, so it is not known how the Chinese engines compare in price to those from Tonawanda. Fedewa said an engine of this sort typically cost about $800 to $900 to make. Even in an era of global manufacturing, the Equinox is exceptionally international. Its engineering was largely done here in Oshawa, headquarters of General Motors of Canada. It uses a five-speed automatic transmission made in Japan by Aisin Seiki, though GM is a leading manufacturer of automatic transmissions. And the parts are assembled at a factory in Ingersoll, Ontario, a joint venture between GM and Suzuki, another Japanese company. Suzuki was a main driver in the decision to use the Chinese-made engine. Dick Kauling, a senior engineering manager at GM Canada who helped develop the Equinox, said his group worked closely with engineers at Suzuki, as well as GM engineers in Germany, China and Warren, Michigan. "The Suzuki guys said, 'We have the global logistics that can make this happen,' " Fedewa said. Suzuki proposed loading a container ship in Shanghai with engines, then having it stop in Japan to pick up transmissions on its way to Canada, he said. A 25-year GM veteran, Kauling remembers when car buyers hotly debated the differences between the engines in different GM brands, not to mention those from other automakers. But he said the old way of organizing production was less than efficient. Early in his career, the company was running short of engines for Chevrolets but had a surplus of Oldsmobile motors. He was assigned to find a way to modify the incompatible Oldsmobile engine - the two brands had not even been able to agree on common bolt sizes - to fit into a Chevy body. The Equinox experience was different, he said. "I don't think we're concerned where the parts come from," Kauling said. The Chinese engine "has got General Motors all over it." But the idea of using Chinese-made engines did not sit well with the Canadian Auto Workers, the union that represents workers at the Equinox factory. Because of its complexity, engine assembly employs a higher proportion of skilled, well-paid workers. Moreover, Basil Hargrove, the union president, blames much of the North American industry's problems on what he calls unfair trading practices by Asian manufacturers. "Today it's South Korean and Japan and tomorrow it's going to be China," he said. "It's only a matter of time before GM, Ford and Chrysler are going to deal with the crisis they face by going into these countries and shipping into here. Very few consumers ask: Where is the engine built or where is the transmission made?" Assessing the quality of Chinese manufacturing is difficult, partly because of the design of this particular engine. For instance, Gabriel Shenhar, the senior engineer of Consumer Reports auto test division, said that in the Equinox, the engine was coarse, noisy, used more fuel than similar vehicles and produced relatively little horsepower for its size. But he did not blame those shortcomings on the Chinese. "This engine's blueprint did not originate in China," Shenhar said. "The 3.4 liter, 185 horsepower has always been a lackluster engine." He said, "This is not the fault of Canadians that put the car together in Ontario but a reflection of GM's lack of attention to detail and halfhearted effort on this car." The magazine gives the Equinox a "worse than average" reliability rating, although Shenhar said its problems were not isolated to any particular part of the vehicle. Still, Fedewa, the analyst from CSM Worldwide, anticipates that the next Equinox models, expected in about two years, will not be fitted with Chinese engines. He said the past three years had shown that engines and transmissions did not travel well. "You're talking about assemblies that are big, bulky and heavy so it's hard to pack a lot of them into a container ship," Fedewa said. To keep costs down, GM maintains a relatively low inventory of the Chinese engines in Canada. That means that any disruption in the long supply chain from Shanghai could swiftly shut down the Canadian assembly plant. "The biggest fear of a vehicle manufacturer is that they can't build vehicles because of a parts shortage," Fedewa said. "Sourcing from half way around the world is very challenging."

Haha...not Beverly hills cops to nap the rich but a Safe Tuning program campaign by the German TP n some tuning arms to encourage modders to tune it safe n legal. I wasnt aware one needs to be ridicously high powered to be safe! THis monster is Brabus tuned 730BHP V12 Twin Turbocharged.