Category: Technology

The commander stays at home

Drones - perceptions and expectations on the subject of technical systems that are capable of acting independently have been characterised by the "Terminator" and the technical intelligence behind it, "Skynet", since 1984 at the latest. A machine state with almost unlimited capabilities that are only surpassed by its will to power, boundless amorality and hostility towards humanity. When we talk about "autonomous" systems, the images and story of the "Terminator" are almost automatically brought to mind. The technological reality is very different. Drones fly halfway around the world, tanks and ships without crews guard military installations or search for submarines and, finally, IT-supported command and control systems are part and parcel of...

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Helicopter of the Navy

A far-reaching system change is currently taking place in the German Navy's helicopter sector. Over the next few years, the tried-and-tested Sea King Mk 41 and Sea Lynx Mk 88A helicopters will be replaced by the NH90 NGEN (company name of the German naval variant) in the NTH (Naval Transport Helicopter, Sea Lion) and MRFH (Multi-Role Frigate Helicopter, Sea Tiger) variants. At the same time, this requires a change in previous ways of thinking and working as well as "established" operational procedures, as the NH90 NGEN offers extensive new, modern capabilities. In order to be able to utilise these optimally, the crews and superiors on land and on board must rethink - away from...

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Safe navigation through sea mine detection

Professor Andreas Karcher and his team at the Institute of Applied Computer Science at the University of the Federal Armed Forces in Munich are researching a system in cooperation with the Wehrtechnische Dienststelle für Schiffe und Marinewaffen, Maritime Technologie und Forschung (WTD 71) that helps to detect sea mines under water more effectively than previously possible. Sea mines are a danger to shipping. They have a serious impact on the feasibility of operations and on operational procedures. The more automatically they can be rendered harmless, the less manpower is required. Automatic detection of this hazard plays a key role here. This must be analysed in the operational system context. With the same systemic...

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The state of the German Navy's armaments

The poet and writer Eugen Roth once wrote: Man piously and silently hopes that he will one day get what he wants; until he succumbs to delusion and ends up wanting what he gets. One cannot help but get the impression that Eugen Roth had an inner inkling of how armaments are sometimes carried out in today's armed forces. This article deals with the question of what the navy wants and what it actually gets. It is in the nature of things that naval armaments must be designed for the long term. The planning, procurement and...

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