11 minutes ago, Alpha_TATEr said:

 

bro is stalking you. 

Takes a stalker to know a stalker

4 minutes ago, Procus said:

Takes a stalker to know a stalker

It really doesn't though.

On 4/5/2025 at 5:30 PM, Bill said:

Didn’t the F-117 also use a some other components of existing aircraft to help speed up the process?

Yes, most prominently that docking collar that ended up getting Steven Seagal killed. In hindsight, it was for the best. 

CCA prototypes are due to make their first flight this summer.

Didn't know where else to post this

1 hour ago, iladelphxx said:

Didn't know where else to post this

I'm pretty sure all the other pilots were pissed that they had to fly slow AF so the A-10 could keep up.

Back Together Again

No, the title is not about the overlooked Hall & Oates song. In a twist that could only emerge from the fevered dreams of tech visionaries, Palmer Luckey and Mark Zuckerberg have set aside past differences to collaborate on a cutting-edge defense project. Their joint venture aims to develop advanced combat virtual reality (VR) headsets for the U.S. Army, marking a significant shift in the relationship between Silicon Valley and the military-industrial complex. Dubbed "EagleEye,” the project seeks to equip soldiers with augmented reality (AR) wearables that enhance situational awareness and integrate seamlessly with AI-powered systems. This initiative underscores a broader trend of tech giants venturing into defense, blending consumer technology expertise with military applications.

The partnership between Luckey and Zuckerberg is noteworthy not just for its technological ambitions but also for the personal history it represents. In 2014, Zuckerberg’s Facebook acquired Luckey’s Oculus VR for $2 billion, catapulting both into the forefront of the VR revolution. However, their relationship soured in 2017 when Luckey departed Facebook amid political controversy, following revelations about his support for a pro-Trump organization. While Facebook maintained that the departure was not politically motivated, the incident left a lasting rift between the two tech luminaries. ast forward to 2025, and the duo has reconciled, driven by a shared vision of revolutionizing military technology. Their renewed collaboration signifies a melding of past innovations with future aspirations, aiming to redefine the capabilities of modern warfare.

After years of silence, the two tech titans are back in the same room, working on a defense project that could change how America fights its wars. The partnership, once shattered by political controversy and internal company drama, is now forged anew under the banner of military innovation. Meta, the rebranded behemoth formerly known as Facebook, is teaming up with Anduril Industries, the defense startup founded by Luckey, to develop a high-tech battlefield system called EagleEye. This is so much more than just another gadget; this is the Pentagon’s dream kit—a wearable tech suite built to give our warfighters a massive edge in combat. "My mission has long been to turn warfighters into technomancers, and the products we are building with Meta do just that. – Palmer Luckey"

At the heart of EagleEye is a rugged, sensor-laden headset that looks like it was ripped straight out of Halo. We’re talking helmets, AR glasses, and wearable systems that do more than protect your noggin—they turn every grunt into a walking command center. Soldiers wearing EagleEye will be able to spot drones from miles away, detect camouflaged targets hidden in foliage or behind cover, and interact with live battlefield data in real time. It’s a tactical HUD (heads-up display) overlaid onto the real world. Imagine walking through a warzone and seeing mission objectives, enemy positions, and friendly forces pop up on your visor like you’re in a first-person shooter. That’s what they’re building.

The brains behind the tech are equally impressive. Anduril brings its AI-powered autonomous software to the table—the kind already used in counter-drone systems and surveillance platforms. Meta, for its part, is injecting its cutting-edge AI and machine learning models into the system. The result? A headset that doesn’t just display information, but understands what’s happening around the soldier and reacts to it—prioritizing threats, tracking movements, and potentially controlling autonomous platforms like drones or robotic vehicles with simple voice commands or hand gestures. "This isn’t some speculative moonshot either. Anduril and Meta are jointly bidding on a U.S. Army contract worth up to $100 million, as part of the Pentagon’s $22 billion initiative to overhaul and modernize wearable technology for troops. Even if the government doesn’t bite right away, the companies are moving forward with private funding to keep development rolling." That’s how serious they are about this tech—and how confident they are that it’s the future of warfare. Let’s not gloss over the significance of the partnership itself. These are the same two guys who helped kickstart the VR revolution when Facebook acquired Oculus for $2 billion back in 2014. But after Luckey’s political affiliations became public in 2016, he was effectively pushed out of Facebook—a move that sent ripples through the tech world and created a lasting divide between them. Now, nearly a decade later, they’re setting aside old grievances in the name of national defense. That’s more than simply growing a business, it’s personal evolution.

The EagleEye project is also part of a larger shift within the tech industry. Silicon Valley, which once kept the Pentagon at arm’s length, is starting to embrace defense work. Whether driven by patriotism, profit, pragmatism, or the realization that America’s adversaries aren’tsitting still, companies like Meta are getting serious about military applications. And with the commercial VR market leveling off, this kind of pivot into national security might be just what the doctor ordered.

What’s especially exciting is the crossover potential. Commercial AR/VR technologies are being tailored for battlefield use, promising not only better gear for soldiers but also a more cost-effective, modular development cycle. Tech that once took a decade to roll out can now be tested, iterated, and deployed in a matter of months. That kind of speed could be the key to maintaining America’s edge in future conflicts.

The Meta-Anduril team-up to build XR and AI-powered military wearables isn’t about flashy gear—it’s a shot across the bow of old-school defense thinking. By blending off-the-shelf tech with battlefield grit, they’re promising smarter soldiers, leaner budgets, and a faster pipeline from idea to deployment. It also marks a turning point in Silicon Valley’s love-hate relationship with the military, with big tech finally embracing its role in national defense. Of course, questions about AI-driven warfare, surveillance, and ethical red lines are riding shotgun. But make no mistake—this isn’t business as usual; it’s a high-tech, high-stakes reboot of how America gears up for the next fight.

For Luckey, the collaboration represents a personal vindication and a return to the forefront of technological innovation. His journey from being ousted at Facebook to leading a major defense project alongside Zuckerberg illustrates the dynamic and often unpredictable nature of the tech industry. As the lines between consumer technology and military applications continue to blur, collaborations like that of Luckey and Zuckerberg are likely to become more commonplace. Their joint efforts on the EagleEye project not only promise to enhance the capabilities of U.S. soldiers but also set a precedent for future partnerships between Silicon Valley and the defense sector.

In an age where technological superiority is increasingly synonymous with military strength, the fusion of innovation and defense expertise embodied by Luckey and Zuckerberg could very well define the next chapter of modern warfare. Throw Elon Musk into the mix somewhere, and we’ll be unbeatable. 

 

I helped put the first GPS in MH-53E Helicopters. There was not 24/7 coverage, and it took forever to initialize the system from a cold start, and was not real fast when initialized. Spent a lot of hours on the flight line effing with truckers on the HF, waiting for the GPS to fire up. It’s crazy how far and fast technology has come, is going.

50 air to air missiles and rockets on a single aircraft might come in useful at some point.

We now have a picture showing a U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle down-range in the Middle East with an air-to-air loadout that includes six seven-shot 70mm rocket pods, as well as four AIM-9X and four AIM-120 missiles. This comes a week after TWZ was the first to report on testing of the laser-guided 70mm Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System II (APKWS II) rockets as a new armament option for the F-15E. As we noted at that time, the exact loadout we’re now seeing on a deployed Strike Eagle turns the jet into a counter-drone and cruise missile ‘weapons truck’ with a whopping 50 engagement opportunities, not counting the internal gun.

U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) posted the picture in question, seen at the top of this story, today on social media with a basic caption offering no additional context. TWZ had reached out to CENTCOM and the Air Force for more information.

On 5/30/2025 at 9:09 PM, Mlodj said:

Back Together Again

The IVAS goggles are pretty cool, but there's some reports of them making soldiers nauseous. Basically they combine NV and IR into one image. The NV is the base image, and then it puts outlines around shapes as detected by their heat signatures. It's looks almost like an amber version of predator vision.

On 6/18/2025 at 8:09 PM, Mlodj said:

50 air to air missiles and rockets on a single aircraft might come in useful at some point.

I love these low cost (relative) ways to take down drones. With the APKWS pods, I'd imagine there's a lot of salvos one F-15E or EX can launch. The drones that have been used are low and slow, so a laser guided rocket seems perfect to defeat them.

IIRC an F-15E got an A2A kill in either ODS or OIF against a Hind with a JDAM.

Hopefully we can figure out something ground based. I'd almost think that a downscaled CIWS would be perfect. 20mm is a bit much for the FPS drones, but if you had something automated that used an intermediate rifle cartridge it would work out pretty well for a localized defense.

Just a question, ships in WW2 trying to stop kamikaze attacks, basically thru a wall of lead at them. Won’t the same be effective against drones ?

32 minutes ago, Talkingbirds said:

Just a question, ships in WW2 trying to stop kamikaze attacks, basically thru a wall of lead at them. Won’t the same be effective against drones ?

A couple of issues come readily to mind. First, nobody manufactures weapons today at the rate they did in WW II, so the mass will never be there. The other issue is what happens to all the rounds that miss? At sea they go into the water. Or into the other ships around you. I don't know of any studies done on how many friendlies were injured or killed in that situation but I suspect the number was significant. The point is those rounds eventually land somewhere. That's probably the thorniest issue with dealing with events like the drone sightings over the U.S. last year. If you start spraying rounds, inevitably some are going to hit the surrounding population. If you're at war, you chalk it up to acceptable collateral damage, but if you're not at war, nobody is willing to take that risk.

9 minutes ago, Mlodj said:

That cockpit is an old AT/AEs wet dream. It would have been cool to work on.

Now I'm imagining how awful it would be for your copilot to drop a rancid microwaved MRE poo 2 hours in to a 18 hour flight.

5 minutes ago, DEagle7 said:

Now I'm imagining how awful it would be for your copilot to drop a rancid microwaved MRE poo 2 hours in to a 18 hour flight.

Who the f microwaves their MREs?

1 hour ago, Tnt4philly said:

Who the f microwaves their MREs?

I've always been told the Air Force were the bougie ones

6 hours ago, DEagle7 said:

I've always been told the Air Force were the bougie ones

Nah they're all the same. You just hope you get a good menu.

Also with the MRE's you don't get any bad dookies. Because after you eat them, you don't dookie again. Ever.

In a fighter, if you want to heat an MRE packet up, just throw it on the glare shield and let it sit. The glare shield is painted matte black and absorbs sunshine like a Mofo so it really heats up. At altitude, there's a lot of sunshine.

3 hours ago, Mlodj said:

In a fighter, if you want to heat an MRE packet up, just throw it on the glare shield and let it sit. The glare shield is painted matte black and absorbs sunshine like a Mofo so it really heats up. At altitude, there's a lot of sunshine.

How many menu options did you guys get back in the day?

I don’t know what version of MrEs they had around 99 when I went back in the Army, but the first time I had them, they gave me killer gas that cleared the tent.

When I went to Army Basic in 81, they were still giving us c-rats. During my reserve time between 81-87, they tried some dehydrated crap that was absolutely horrible.

The MREs we had for Iraq in 05-06 had some good menus. Cajun Rice and Beans was my fav. I actually ate more in CONUS training for deployment than I did on deployment.

MRE heater bombs are fun.

3 hours ago, Bill said:

How many menu options did you guys get back in the day?

10? 12? Somewhere in that range. It's been a long time. The only time I bothered with them were on ocean crossings. I distinctly remember the ham omelet meal; it looked like cat food and probably tasted like it. By far the worst one I ever had.

1 hour ago, Tnt4philly said:

MRE heater bombs are fun.

10 minutes ago, Mlodj said:

10? 12? Somewhere in that range. It's been a long time. The only time I bothered with them were on ocean crossings. I distinctly remember the ham omelet meal; it looked like cat food and probably tasted like it. By far the worst one I ever had.

Yeah sounds like the Ukrainian field rats. They were starting to make them in a plastic package like MREs, but all the ones I had were canned pate. And instead of it just being one meal per bag, it was bags of all of a days rations in one big bag. They were a pain to rat F.

No pog bait in them, either.