Air Force scientists are investigating “bio-inspired munitions” that would resemble and behave like swarms of insects and birds with flapping wings and perhaps have the ability to sense wind direction and smell. Such weapons, reports Wired, would be “small, autonomous” machines capable of providing “close-in [surveillance] information, in addition to killing intended targets,” citing a recent presentation by Col. Kirk Kloeppel, director of the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Munitions Directorate at Eglin AFB, Fla. In addition to operating within urban canyons, these munitions would be able to conduct their business within buildings, according to the article. Briefing charts from a presentation that Kloeppel gave at the Air Armament Symposium last October in Ft. Walton Beach, Fla. also mention the bio-inspired concepts.
Members of the House Armed Services Committee say the AIM-260 Joint Advanced Tactical Missile program has been set back three months due to the ongoing government shutdown. The comment is noteworthy because the JATM's status has been kept tightly under wraps.
