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Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Israel developing anti-militant "bionic hornet"
2006-11-17
We mods don't have a pic of a 'bionic hornet' so we substitute this one.
JERUSALEM (Rooters) - Israel is using nanotechnology to try to create a robot no bigger than a hornet that would be able to chase, photograph and kill its targets, an Israeli newspaper reported on Friday.
Those darn Jooos are at it again! Dang them and their technology.
The flying robot, nicknamed the "bionic hornet," would be able to navigate its way down narrow alleyways to target otherwise unreachable enemies such as rocket launchers, the daily Yedioth Ahronoth said.
Let's hope Allen wants many of his followers to get "stung" by this hornet too.
It is one of several weapons being developed by scientists to combat militants, it said. Others include super gloves that would give the user the strength of a "bionic man" and miniature sensors to detect suicide bombers.

The research integrates nanotechnology into Israel's security department and will find creative solutions to problems the army has been unable to address, Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres told Yedioth Ahronoth.
Um, Deputy Prime Minister, sir, I'd bet you could find "creative solutions to problems" by just using the "absolutely crush and destroy them" approach and save money to boot!
"The war in Lebanon proved that we need smaller weaponry. It's illogical to send a plane worth $100 million against a suicidal terrorist. So we are building futuristic weapons," Peres said.
I'd argue you just don't need to listen to the U.N. and "the world".
Prototypes for the new weapons are expected within three years, he said.
Posted by:BA

#37  I agree. I doubt you'd find a RBer that disagrees. The law is what it is, and it DOESN'T apply to insurgents/terrorists in uniformed cadres
Posted by: Frank G   2006-11-17 23:47  

#36  One more time;

THE GENEVA CONVENTIONS DO NOT APPLY TO TERRORISTS.
Posted by: Zenster   2006-11-17 23:31  

#35  The Geneva Conventions deal with Clausewitz Western type armed warfare.

Modern 4G and 3rd world warfare doesn't fit Clausewitz type war and therefore Geneva is obsolete.
Posted by: 3dc   2006-11-17 22:44  

#34  However they do it, it gives a new meaning to the killer bee.
Posted by: Mike N.   2006-11-17 21:39  

#33  Poisons violate the Geneva Conventions, explosives and projectiles do not. So sharp hardened tip with micro plastique charge keeps you out of the ICC.
Posted by: Shieldwolf   2006-11-17 20:52  

#32  Hornets don't need bombs -- they have poison darts.
Posted by: Darrell   2006-11-17 20:19  

#31  How is this hornet sized drone going to carry "sneak" a bomb big enough to blow up a rocket launcher?

Even the power required to "paint" a larger target would quickly drain an insect-sized drone's power reserve. Same goes for coordinate broadcasting, which could also be jammed. Remember, these little puppies may be driven by biomechanical chemical propulsion and not have much electrical storage.

A simple solution would be to have the planes of their wing surfaces laminated with a highly reflective diffraction grating which interacts in the NIR (Near InfraRed) or another invisible spectral region that "sparkles" when painted with target acquisition lasers. Just a thought.
Posted by: Zenster   2006-11-17 20:17  

#30  #s 23 & 24. Thanks Steve and Bunyip. Maybe the Israelis like fantasy movies too. If Chester Gould can foresee cell phones and telepictures,
with Dick Tracy's wrist radio and TV, why not steerable explosive bullets or bionic hornets?
Posted by: GK   2006-11-17 19:59  

#29  How is this hornet sized drone going to carry "sneak" a bomb big enough to blow up a rocket launcher?

Swarm it.

Posted by: FOTSGreg   2006-11-17 19:58  

#28  It'd be nice if there was an option to dart with a paralytic agent. Temporarily disable everyone in the room then swoop in to collect the big falafel for extended deep frying.
Posted by: Zenster   2006-11-17 19:26  

#27  Lots of images of robot insects here

Unfortunately Berkeley's best images only work with M$Exploder
Posted by: 3dc   2006-11-17 18:46  

#26  Swarm would be pretty cool. That way you could give each a specific mission. Say one as the targeting unit and the other as the kill drone. It'd be nice to have such an option.

Two bee, or not two bee?
Posted by: Pappy   2006-11-17 18:15  

#25  If a hundred of these things converge on your neck simultaneously and detonate, they don't have to be very big.
Posted by: KBK   2006-11-17 18:08  

#24  The movie with the 'robot bullets' starred Tom Selleck as a cop specializing in dealing with 'bad robots'. The bad guy in the movie was played by long tongued KISS guitarist. Sorry don't remember the movie name.
Posted by: Steve   2006-11-17 16:56  

#23  Runaway, 1984, with Tom Selleck as the good guy, Gene Simmons as the villian.
Posted by: Bunyip   2006-11-17 16:53  

#22  Wasn't there a movie about 20 years ago that had several scenes of a guided bullet or miniature rocket that chased bad guys around corners and down narrow alleys? Or maybe the bad giys developed it and it chased the heroes. Betting there's a Rantburger who knows.
Posted by: GK   2006-11-17 16:32  

#21  Does this make anyone else think of that scene in "Tommy Boy" when they are running around trying to convince the Cops that there is a swarm of bee's attacking them?

"Run for your lives!" "Your weapons are useless against them!"
Posted by: Mike N.   2006-11-17 16:31  

#20  Sharp point on one end, dives into the base of the skull at 60 miles an hour, micro plastique charge detonates 2/10s of a second after impact : medulla oblongata is destroyed, and the terrorist is dead.
Posted by: Shieldwolf   2006-11-17 16:08  

#19   How is this hornet sized drone going to carry "sneak" a bomb big enough to blow up a rocket launcher? They shoudl figure out a way to arm it with a gas of some kind and use it as an assasin.
Think metal earwick. It's a suicide bug.
Posted by: Shipman   2006-11-17 15:52  

#18  This is going to create a bunch of great YouTube videos! I can just imagine the jihadis running, swatting, and squealing like little girls just before they get stung--and stung good!
Posted by: Dar   2006-11-17 15:40  

#17  They shoudl figure out a way to arm it with a gas of some kind and use it as an assasin.

The article may have been slightly ambiguous.

a robot no bigger than a hornet that would be able to chase, photograph and kill its targets, an Israeli newspaper reported on Friday.

The flying robot, nicknamed the "bionic hornet," would be able to navigate its way down narrow alleyways to target otherwise unreachable enemies such as rocket launchers, the daily Yedioth Ahronoth said.

When they say "rocket launchers", they are most likely referring to 'those who launch rockets'. I would foresee the use of poison darts or microcharges of extremely high explosives. A .50 calibre bullet is too heavy to put wings on.

Meanwhile, I predict a big surge in flyswatter sales.
Posted by: Zenster   2006-11-17 15:24  

#16  How is this hornet sized drone going to carry "sneak" a bomb big enough to blow up a rocket launcher?

Pinpoint its location/paint it, and let a bomber do the actual job?
Posted by: anonymous5089   2006-11-17 15:13  

#15  How is this hornet sized drone going to carry "sneak" a bomb big enough to blow up a rocket launcher? They shoudl figure out a way to arm it with a gas of some kind and use it as an assasin.
Posted by: Mike N.   2006-11-17 14:45  

#14  It's a buzz bomb!
Posted by: Colin MacDougall   2006-11-17 14:38  

#13  Already workin' on it, Cheaderhead. In cooperation with the Zionist Death Ray Division here at corporate, of course.
Posted by: Halliburton - Zionist Bionic Insect Division   2006-11-17 14:24  

#12  Now they just need to arm it with the legendary Zionist Death Ray
Posted by: Cheaderhead   2006-11-17 14:13  

#11  The 34-day war in Lebanon ended with a U.N.-brokered ceasefire in mid-August. The war killed more than 1,200 Lebanese, mostly civilians, and 157 Israelis, mostly soldiers.

Reported by Reuters, mostly liars.

Posted by: gromgoru   2006-11-17 13:59  

#10  ... a robot no bigger than a hornet that would be able to chase, photograph and kill its targets

That's a clear violation of their Human Rights!!!
Posted by: Tranzis R us   2006-11-17 13:57  

#9  Aluminum screening futures up a notch in lively trading.
Posted by: wxjames   2006-11-17 13:25  

#8  Prototypes for the new weapons are expected within three years, he said.

The question is whether or not Israel has three years to get to the prototypes.
Posted by: RWV   2006-11-17 12:35  

#7  Talk about a sting operation! Can't you just hear the terrorists screaming, "RAAIIIID!"

Gotta agree with the others here. Save your money and research. Go Roman, save time and lives instead. The Palestinians deserve nothing less. All this surgical stuff is wasted when the situation calls for a meat grinder.
Posted by: Zenster   2006-11-17 12:35  

#6  good name,

The word hornet (apprx tsirah or tsiraw in hebrew) is used in Deut 7:20. The hornet is prophetized to drive out one or more of the Caananite nations (a similar verse in Joshua 24:12 refers to Amorites).
Posted by: mhw   2006-11-17 12:04  

#5  LOL...

Good one Penguin.

This could be the biggest thread of the day. I'm waiting patiently for the Masters of Snark to weigh in....
Posted by: Mark Z   2006-11-17 12:01  

#4  Of course we are going to call it a bionic hornet. What do you expect us to call them? WASPS?
Posted by: Penguin   2006-11-17 11:30  

#3  And shorter, hopefully.
Posted by: anonymous5089   2006-11-17 11:15  

#2   Bawwaaaaaa!

Run, It's no-see-ums!

/life just got worser
Posted by: Paleo   2006-11-17 11:13  

#1  "..The war killed more than 1,200 Lebanese, mostly civilians."

This is the terrorist spin. It would be neutral accurate to say,

"in the war, more than 1200 Lebanese died, most of whom were identified by Hezbollah as civilians but many of whom were identified by other Lebanese as full time or part time Hezbollah soldiers or activists.
Posted by: mhw   2006-11-17 11:09  

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