When it comes to emergency response, new technology that can help improve rescues and response are more than welcome. The newest technology aimed towards the effort of first response is the work of Arms developer Raytheon and is essentially a mobile application that turns PCs, tablets and smartphones into virtual radio systems.

The application isn’t meant to replace land mobile radios, but can provide long-range capabilities and provide ways for easy communication without the need for the special LMR equipment.

The new system has quite a few benefits over traditional LMR, such as the ability to communicate with people who might be of help, like experts and officials, but aren’t part of the public safety radio system. It also allows officials in charge of rescues and emergencies to listen in and help out, even when they aren’t directly in-range.

The technology behind it basically utilizes VOIP techniques, but always a way to communicate over a wider range of devices. The app will also work just fine over data plans, WIFI and direct Internet connections.

Raytheon has yet to get into specifics, such as what devices its mobile app will support, but it seems likely they will attempt to support many different formats. At the very least, I’d take a guess that the bare minimum would be iOS and Android support. The application itself is actually just one part of Raytheon’s Interoperability Communications Suite.

The suite itself is designed to allow communication over landlines, VOIP, and other channels.

This is a great idea that could truly help save lives, especially when used as a back up and in-conjuction with existing safety systems like LMR.

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Imagine a special military system designed with the ability to stop and destroy high-speed ballistic missiles in the middle of flight. This is what the Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle component of the American Ground Based Interceptor missile defense system is being designed for. The EKV uses a variety of special sensors and equipment in order to detect, intercept and destroy ballistic missiles at the edge of space at hypersonic speeds. While this is no easy task, the EKV is able to get the job done by achieving the staggering speed of 22,000 miles per hour. What is so unique is that this blazingly fast speed means there is no need for a warhead for the EKV, the speed of travel is enough to destroy the targets.

With the power to take out potentially dangerous missiles, the Raytheon EKV must be massive right? Actually, it only weighs 140 pounds and is just 55-inches tall, with a diameter of 24-inches. Onboard this little guy you’ll find sensors, a ground communication system, and an onboard computer for target selection. The EKV can even steer itself once launched using its own rocket motor.

This is not a theoretical project like the laser system concept once called “Star Wars”, and is actively under development, even though it isn’t quite ready. The EKV is very much possible and has been given $636 million for development and a production contract by the US Goverment, which will help finish development, testing, manufacturing and overall deployment. This is no better way to describe this thing than to simply call it awesome.

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