Air Force Goes Batman

4:15 pm EST September 14th, 2010 | National Security | 11 Comments

This can only be good.

Started by the Air Force in 2004, BATMAN — short for Battlefield Air Targeting Man-Aided kNowledge — aims to modernize the gear that commandos take with them on covert missions.

‘In the earliest stages when we were coming up with a name for the program, we were perceived as having a lot of gadgets,’ said Reggie Daniels, BATMAN program engineer at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio. ‘[Batman's] devices allow him to have an advantage. That is what we’re trying to do.’

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11 Responses to “Air Force Goes Batman”

  1. SaveFarris says:
    September 14, 2010 at 4:32 pm

    We needed this to combat the Jihad Operations Kit for Environmental Resistance.

  2. I'm a Hick says:
    September 14, 2010 at 4:45 pm

    Pretty good, SF.

  3. White Whale says:
    September 14, 2010 at 6:57 pm

    Hell yes! Can comics be the inspiration of all things great on this planet…I can only hope.

  4. Matt Osborne says:
    September 14, 2010 at 8:40 pm

    Oh, my. Flashing now on the Warfighter XXI stuff starting up 15 years ago. No matter how good their engineering, the tolerances required for real-world application are ridiculous. The equipment is always too bulky, balky, and heavy to add to the combat load of a foot soldier. Every few years the Army tries again, but it never gets better. Contractors enjoy spending entirely too much inventing equipment the Army will NEVER actually buy and soldiers will definitely despise. Meanwhile, there’s not a grunt in service who wouldn’t kill to have them just miniaturize his SINCGARS radio to the size of a Radio Shack walkie-talkie.

    Don’t hold your breath, Oliver. As portrayed in the movie “Avatar,” the simplest way to turn barbarians into modern foot soldiers is to give them comms. They usually don’t even need new weapons. Anything more is just costuming.

  5. Jaim says:
    September 14, 2010 at 9:46 pm

    I’m sure this technology will never mistake a terrorist for an innocent civilian.

  6. SteveCo says:
    September 14, 2010 at 9:49 pm

    The soldier and pilot are well on their way to being obsolete. I for one, welcome our silicon-based overlords. /snark

  7. jrfunkenstein says:
    September 14, 2010 at 10:21 pm

    Holy contrived acronym Batman!!

  8. Randy Brown says:
    September 14, 2010 at 10:48 pm

    The soldier and pilot are well on their way to being obsolete. I for one, welcome our silicon-based overlords. /snark

    The LucasCrap “Clone Wars” live and on Earth? I can’t wait…

    …or maybe I can.

  9. SteveCo says:
    September 14, 2010 at 10:57 pm

    OT Oliver,

    I hope you’ve been watching TMRS tonight! She cut into the rebroadcast of Countdown at about 10:15 Eastern to go “live” to Christine O’Donnell’s “victory speech,” and not only was it like vaguely listening to Glenn Beck, but check this out:

    About 20 seconds in, a woman to Ms. ODonnell’s right uses her right hand in a upturned, two-fingered, “get up here!” motion, and lo and behold, a handsome young black man in a gray suit enters stage right, looking a bit befuddled and unsure of himself for a few seconds, and then takes stage direction from the same woman who was, bless her heart, trying to arrange him like stand-ins at wedding rehearsal. I haven’t found it on YouTube yet, but it is bound to be there (or elsewhere), soon. Honestly, I feel embarrassed for the guy, but maybe this has made him realize he’s being treated as special solely by his appearance, rather than the content of his character? I hope so.

  10. SteveCo says:
    September 14, 2010 at 11:04 pm

    Turns out, he’s her lawyer. Oh, and she regurgitated the “spit on Vietnam Vets,” BS (of course).

  11. SteveCo says:
    September 14, 2010 at 11:05 pm

    Um, TRMS… sorry late-onset dyslexia I guess.