📌 TOPINDIATOURS Breaking ai: US’ 9,600-ton destroyer with missile defense, anti-su

The United States Navy(The Navy) Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Gonzalez (DDG-66) has officially set sail from Naval Station Norfolk to strengthen naval operations in the Atlantic, the Navy reports.

This deployment comes after months of intensive training, maintenance, and certification.

Leaving port on March 16, the destroyer will officially operate as part of the U.S. 2nd Fleet. With a 300-man crew, the Aegis combat system-equipped, guided-missile destroyer is a multi-role warship capable of air-defence, anti-submarine warfare, and strike missions.

With eyes firmly on the Middle East of late, this deployment highlights that the U.S. is also focused on other international threats from potential foes like Russia.

The deployment of the Gonzalez will help protect US and Ally operations in the North Atlantic and Arctic Circle, while also protecting sea lanes from potential submarine activities.

Gonzalez leaves port for the Atlantic

While things are not expected to get hot in the Atlantic anytime soon, the presence of a ship like the Gonzalez offers invaluable anti-submarine capabilities. The ship will also be ready if things do escalate for whatever reason.

“The crew is ready, and this ship brings significant combat capabilities to the fight,” Captain John Benfield, commodore of Destroyer Squadron 22, explained in an official Navy press release. “They are prepared to act at a moment’s notice to deter or defeat any threat as necessary,” he added.

“A truly incredible amount of training and energy went into ensuring our crew was prepared for this deployment,” added Commander Michael Schenk, commanding officer of the USS Gonzalez.

“Additionally, the guidance and assistance provided by Surface Force Atlantic, Carrier Strike Groups Four and Ten, Surface Group Mid-Atlantic, Destroyer Squadron Twenty-Two, and the Mid-Atlantic Regional Maintenance Center exemplified the full team support behind this ship being ready for any challenge we may face. Thank you to our families and the Norfolk community for your continued support as we head out to sea,” he added.

As for the ship itself, the Gonzalez is the Navy’s 16th hull of the class. It was named in honor of Marine Sergeant Alfredo Cantu Gonzalez, a Medal of Honor recipient in the Vietnam War.

Her keel was laid down on February 3, 1994, at the Bath Iron Works in Bath, Maine, and she was christened on February 18, 1995. She was officially commissioned into the Navy in October 1996.

A highly capable ship

She has a top speed in excess of 30 knots (56 kph), is 505 feet (154 meters) long, and 59 feet (18 meters) in the beam. The ship comes equipped with various aerial and surface radar systems as well as sophisticated electronic warfare suites.

She comes armed with a 5-inch deck gun, 20mm Phalanx close-in weapons systems (CIWS), and various machine guns. But, by far, her most potent weapons are her stockpile of anti-ship, air-to-air, cruise missiles, and torpedoes.

These include, but are not limited to, SM-1 and SM-2 surface-to-air missiles, BGM-109 Tomahawk missiles, and RUM-130 Vertical-Launch Anti-Submarine Rocket (VL-ASROC) missiles. She also has an MH-60R Seahawk helicopter to provide extended detection and engagement ranges against submarine threats.

It has not been publicly announced where the Gonzalez will operate precisely, but such missions often involve ballistic missile defense patrols, escort operations, and NATO deterrence missions.

🔗 Sumber: interestingengineering.com

📌 TOPINDIATOURS Hot ai: Jeff Bezos’ Space Company Unveils Plans for Orbital Anti-A

Its rockets may have only reached orbit twice so far and its lunar lander is still many years out from getting anywhere near the Moon — but Amazon cofounder Jeff Bezos’ space company Blue Origin is already looking far into the future.

Last week, the company unveiled plans for a “Near-Earth Objects (NEO) Hunter mission concept for planetary defense,” a collaboration with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab. The idea is to test “multiple asteroid-deflection techniques, including ion-beam deflection and robust direct kinetic impact, helping protect Earth from potential threats.”

The company is hoping to leverage its Blue Ring, an in-development spacecraft platform designed to be capable of refueling, transporting, and hosting satellites, for the unusual endeavor.

The concept involves launching a fleet of small cubesats to thoroughly analyze any offending near-Earth object, including its density and mass, before deciding how to mitigate the threat.

Blue Origin suggests either using a concentrated beam of particles to change a threatening object’s orbit — or simply ramming the asteroid at high speeds, an approach dubbed “Robust Kinetic Disruption” that appears to be closely inspired by NASA’s successful Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission in 2022.

The mission successfully deflected an asteroid and moving it from its orbit, but scientists have since warned that the resulting game of cosmic billiards could result in setting off a powerful sequence of events that may end up backfiring.

When Blue Origin is hoping to turn its asteroid-busting spacecraft mission into reality remains unclear. Blue Origin’s Blue Ring platform recently underwent structural load testing at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, as NASASpaceflight reports.

A prototype for Blue Ring was launched on board the company’s inaugural flight of its 300-foot New Glenn rocket in early 2025.

Meanwhile, NASA continues to work on its own Near-Earth Object Surveyor mission, per the agency, the “first space telescope specifically designed to detect asteroids and comets that may be potential hazards to Earth.”

The spacecraft’s infrared detectors are designed to “track the most elusive near-Earth objects,” which “don’t reflect much visible light,” but “glow in the infrared spectrum as they’re heated by sunlight.”

The NEO Surveyor mission is slated to launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 sometime in 2027.

Blue Origin’s first official Blue Ring mission is scheduled to lift off some time this year, but the company has yet to propose a launch date for its asteroid hunting mission.

More on planetary defense: Remember That Asteroid NASA Deflected in a Test of Saving Earth? We Have Bad News

The post Jeff Bezos’ Space Company Unveils Plans for Orbital Anti-Asteroid Defense Weapons appeared first on Futurism.

🔗 Sumber: futurism.com