The Polaris Sportsman WV850 H.O. all-terrain vehicle comes with all the fixings and then some, built to military specifications and featuring non-pneumatic bulletproof tires. No surprise: it was developed for the United State military, able to tackle tricky terrain under fire.

This essentially indestructible ATV features ‘terrain armor’ tire tech out of Minnesota (a state known for its cold and hot extremes), which allow tight cornering and high speeds in difficult conditions and all weather.

According to their makers, these “tires enhance the ‘WV850’s’ center-of-gravity and cornering.” The 77-horsepower off-roader also comes with a single-speed transmission, a high-strength steel exoskeleton, steel racks, plus a huge towing capacity (1,500 lb (680.4 kg)).

The vehicle’s non-pneumatic tires are “designed to cope with combat-level stress; they can withstand .50 caliber gunshots, even AK47 bullet damage, and roll away from ballistic scenes like nothing happened.” Might be a bit overkill, but still fun, for an everyday consumer.

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As drones become more and more common among the military, regular folks, and bad guys alike, security fears about unmanned aircraft systems continue to mount. It’s just about impossible to tell whether an in-flight UAS is friendly – and when a drone is headed toward a restricted area like the White House or a prison yard, there’s no time to ask questions.

Battelle, a tech-development company that seems to have its hand in just about every industry imaginable, has developed the DroneDefender to easily secure sensitive areas from drones. It’s a shoulder-mounted anti-drone weapon that kills the flying machines with invisible bullets made of radio waves.

The ten-pound device can swat drones out of the sky from up to 400 meters away. Its shot jams up most GPS and ISM frequencies to disable the device and prevent it from spying, carrying weapons, detonating, or whatever else its goal (or rather, its operator’s goal) might have been. The DroneDefender doesn’t actually physically harm the drone – it just quickly and effectively neutralizes the potential threat.

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A stabilized sphere, this remarkable new drone being developed in conjunction with the United States Marine Corps can swim upstream or roll uphills, able to tackle difficult terrain both by land and sea, including “paved road, off-road, sand, snow, sloped surfaces and water.”

Using nine-axis stabilization and“pendulum motion” propulsion system, the bot moves by shifting the center of gravity back and forth and a variety of steering algorithms. Its 360-degree capabilities mean it can rotate and turn quite literally on a dime.

The size can be scaled as needed, with models as small as a few inches to ones as wide as ten feet. Able to operate for 8 hours on a single charge, the robust design features extended batteries, redundant systems and multiple payload bays that can be used for accessories like imaging devices, sonar and radiation detection – no offensive capabilities to report (at least, not as yet). “GuardBot Inc. is focused on the design and development of spherical unmanned amphibious vehicle systems. The current GuardBot design has two payload bays and is used for military, homeland security and commercial applications. Conceived in 2004 for a space planetary mission on Mars, GuardBot remains unique with no known competition. GuardBot, Inc. owns an exclusive license for this technology which is protected by multiple US and foreign patents.”

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The U.S. military is pretty deeply involved in studying the ocean and gathering information on tides, currents, weather conditions, and potential dangers underwater. Until now, they’ve employed a variety of methods, including strapping cameras to trained dolphins. But a new unmanned underwater vehicle called GhostSwimmer could outshine all of the current techniques by looking and acting just like a fish.

The swimming drone weighs nearly 100 pounds and is about five feet long; it propels itself through the water by oscillating its tail just like a real fish. It’s the size of a tuna but takes on the appearance of a small shark with a dorsal fin that protrudes above the water when the drone is swimming near the surface. It can operate in depths from 10 inches up to 300 feet, making it ideal for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions. The Navy points out that it can also help with inspecting the hulls of the U.S.’s own vessels.

Operators have the choice to send the drone out on its own, untethered, to explore and gather info. In that case, it has to surface periodically to transmit its information to the base station. It can also be operated on a 500-foot tether, which is an ideal setup for inspecting ships’ hulls because it can transfer data in real time.

GhostSwimmer was developed with Boston Engineering to be the next in a long line of emerging technology gadgets used by the U.S. military to get their jobs done more efficiently. Although the drone’s testing phase has been completed, there’s no word from the Navy on when or where it might be deployed – so it’s still a good idea to think twice before approaching a swimming shark to check for an antenna on its head.

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We have already seen civilian and military, everyday and emergency applications of the Jet Capsule design, but its creators have envisioned a new array of uses, including a highly maneuverable water taxi able to fit in tight spaces, corner easily and go anywhere.

Much smaller than conventional boat taxis or luxury yachts, these sleek vehicles can take people through canals and other urban water ways in places like Venice or Amsterdam, where it is often faster (if not inevitable) to travel by water.

Prototype versions of the Jet Capsule have already been deployed in Italy to test interest as well as functionality. These are just the start, though – the modular nature of the design makes it possible for people, companies or countries to order highly-customized versions for all kinds of unique and site-specific applications.

From the creators: “the current capsule model has a built-in hydro-jet system that can be equipped with one or two engines, but the team are also working on the first electrically powered design to be presented in june 2014. all the jets come with an international sail certification and can navigate and operate in any country/region, and waves of up to 4 meters.”

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