Mines, suicide boats and missiles, oh my! An early glimpse at next year's naval research budget showcases today's vulnerabilities.

With The Non–Line of Sight Launch System, soldiers at the platoon level will be able to fire up to 15 tiny precision-guided missiles from a Port-O-Potty-size crate and guide them to strike moving targets up to 25 miles away. (Published in the October 2008 issue)

PM talks with Jart Armin, editor of RBNexploit, who covered this week's Russian digital attacks. Plus, why the Pentagon suddenly pulled the plug on its Air Force Cyber Command, and the art of modern safecracking.

Russia and Georgia's fighting this week represents a sort of hybrid war for the 21st century: a fast-moving conflict that combines cutting-edge tech with old-fashioned brute force.

The DDoS is a brute-force attack that uses hijacked computers to overwhelm a target network with bogus requests and data. The effect is analogous to an entire town trying to jam letters into a mailbox at once, rendering it unusable. (Published in the September 2008 issue)

Boeing has presented a design to the Pentagon for a "laser truck" designed to defend against incoming mortars and rockets while they are still in the air.

The Navy, traditionally focused on dominating oceans, does not have a vessel built to operate in green waters, so it is seeking a fast, shallow-keeled ship that can chase down enemies and dispatch helicopters with ease (Published in the August 2008 issue)

Lockheed Martin is building a massive digital warehouse of criminal information, set to bring facial recognition and eye scans to local law enforcement within 10 years. Privacy advocates say there's reason for law-abiding citizens to worry.

Pentagon officials today announced big changes for its closely watched Future Combat Systems (FCS) program, aiming to bring combat sensors and robots to the battlefield more quickly.

Shoulder-fired missiles, the meanest weapons in the “small arms” category, keep falling into the wrong hands, despite the U.S. and Russia’s attempts to keep them away from terrorists. Could more militants, from Iran to China, be next in line at the black market?

Experts see the future of gaming hardware in Xbox controllers for flying UAVs, next-gen interfaces for unknown battlefields and, believe it or not, Wiimotes for basic training.

From an Iron Man-style guided missile to a Humvee-mounted pulverizer, this smarter and more deadly crop of tiny military systems brings some finesse to force. (Published in the June 2008 issue)

Troops in remote areas of Afghanistan have been receiving supplies from new smart parachutes that could alter the future of military logistics. The Joint Precision Airdrop System steers cargo to specific GPS points in the same way that some smart bombs locate targets. (Published in the May 2008 issue)

This modified Chevy Suburban XL, delivered by Raytheon last month, claims to be the first of its kind: a highly-sensitive, self-contained system that uses the same spectroscopic analysis technology that's found in advanced cargo inspection scanners.

Try telling some of the Stryker MGS crews that their battle-tested vehicles are not effective, and you get a more nuanced appraisal. In a new round of on-the-ground reviews from U.S. troops, next-gen armored vehicles appear to be improving safety in Iraq.