ALL BLOWN UP US Air Force invents ‘bomb laser’ that can detonate explosives and landmines from 1,000 feet away

The device is loaded onto ground vehicles and can safely clear unexploded landmines, bombs and artillery shells dropped by enemy troops.

Dubbed the Recovery of Airbase Denied by Ordnance (RADBO) system, the tool is being put together with the help of US military contractor Parsons.

The Air Force awarded Parsons a $40million (£30million) contract for the development and delivery of the lasers last week, C4ISRNET reports.

"The idea behind the RADBO is to allow airmen to clear threats from current or future airfields," the site says.

"This is hardly the laser warfare capability sought by Pentagon planners for decades, but still a potentially important step."

Signed September 23, the deal involves the procurement of 13 RADBO vehicles, as well as three spares.

The system includes a mine-proof Cougar MRAT ground vehicle with one of Parsons' three-kilowatt ZEUS laser weapons strapped to the top.

That laser can fire “more than 300 meters away from the vehicle" according to Parsons.

It is powerful enough to detonate cluster bombs, land mines, general purposed bombs and thick-cased artillery rounds, Parsons says.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/tech/12788913/us-air-force-bomb-laser-explosives-landmines-radbo/

China is holding simultaneous military drills in 4 seas — again

BEIJING (Reuters) - China began five military exercises simultaneously along different parts of its coast on Monday, the second time in two months it will have such concurrent drills against a backdrop of rising regional tension.

Two of the exercises are being held near the Paracel Islands in the disputed South China Sea, one in the East China Sea, and one in further north in the Bohai Sea, the Maritime Safety Administration said in notices on its website.

In the southern part of the Yellow Sea, drills including live-fire exercises will be held from Monday to Wednesday, it said in another notice. All ships are prohibited from entering the area, it said.

In a bid to train a combat-ready military force, China holds military drills periodically, but rarely do multiple exercises happen at the same time.

Last month, China announced four separate exercises, from the Bohai Sea to the East and Yellow Seas and down to the disputed South China Sea, in what Chinese military experts said was a rare arrangement of drills.

The United States sent spy planes into a no-fly zone over Chinese live-fire military drills last month. In response, China lodged "stern representations" with the United States.

China and the United States have recently been at loggerheads over a range of issues from Taiwan to the coronavirus pandemic to trade and human rights.

China has also held frequent military activities near Chinese-claimed Taiwan and has taken the usual step of declaring that such drills are directed at Taiwan.

https://www.businessinsider.com/china-is-holding-simultaneous-military-drills-in-4-seas-again-2020-9

Man accused of multiple child sex assaults wanted by Houston police: view his photo here

HOUSTON — A man accused of sexually assaulting children in 2017 and 2019 is still on the run, Houston Crime Stoppers and Houston police say.

Crime Stoppers released a photo of Jose Guadalupe Torres, 44, on Monday in hopes that someone will know his whereabouts.

Torres is wanted for the charge of Aggravated Sexual Assault of a Child-under the age of 14, a crime that allegedly happened in October 2019 in the 8900 block of West Hardy Road. The victim told police they were sexually assaulted multiple times.

He’s described as a Hispanic male, about five feet eight inches tall, weighing 180 pounds with brown eyes and black hair.

Crime Stoppers may pay up to $5,000 for information leading to the identification, charging and/or arrest of the suspects in this case. Information may be reported by calling 713-222-TIPS (8477), submitted online at www.crime-stoppers.org or through the Crime Stoppers mobile app. Only tips and calls DIRECTLY TO Crime Stoppers are anonymous and eligible for a cash reward.

https://www.khou.com/article/news/crime/44-year-old-man-accused-in-two-child-sex-assaults-in-houston-is-still-on-the-run/285-b7bc834e-d0c4-48a1-b018-183afbc8cfcf