We have spent a lifetime total of approximately three million hours playing video games where we destroy things and basically run around being insane. It’s a kind of therapy that lets us take out our frustrations on digital victims. But at some point, destroying pretend stuff ceases to be quite as satisfying. The people behind Drive a Tank get that – and they might just be our soul mates.

Drive a Tank is a service in Minnesota that lets you satisfy your innermost desires to drive around a wicked armored vehicle. For $499, you can drive two tanks around a wooded course and test fire some historic weapons. But for just $499 more you can use that mean machine for what it’s really meant for: crushing the life out of a poor, defenseless car. Add another $200 and you can crush a second car.

As long as you’re throwing money at the Drive a Tank people, you can also reserve a helicopter taxi from Minneapolis/St. Paul to drop you at the tank range for a true rock star experience. The operation seems to be reasonably safe, incorporating a two-hour tank training course and tandem “instructor” controls in the tank just in case you lose control. And our guess is that smashing cars with a tank is way more satisfying than those race car-driving experiences.

The post Smash Hit Gift: Tank Driving Service Lets You Crush Cars first appeared on Gajitz.

Military forces around the world have all kinds of badass vehicles, but bomb-detonating tanks are definitely among the most impressive. These massive powerhouses basically roll around pummeling the ground with hammers to detonate any leftover land mines and other buried explosives. This particular tank is called the Digger D-3 Flail Tank, and it has the benefit of being remotely controlled. The fact that the operator isn’t even in the tank makes it reasonably safe for military personnel.

The video above shows the previous model, the Digger D-2, but the basic operation is the same. Heavy weights spin around on a chain to trigger any underground explosives and render them harmless to people who live in the area. In countries where wars have raged for generations and in countries where wars have come and gone generations ago, buried explosives are a terrifying threat. Deploying bomb-detonating tanks can remove the danger and make it safe to walk without fear of landmines.

The post Anti-Mine Tank Muscles its Way Through Dangerous Ground first appeared on Gajitz.

Hippies and VW purists, avert your eyes. This hefty Volkswagen mod might just leave you in tears. Some creative soul in California decided to take the body of an old VW bus and plunk it on top of a 1945 Studebaker Weasel tank and paint the whole thing a menacing shade of camouflage. A rusty old VW bus has never looked so battle-ready before.

Back in its day, the Weasel would have been able to able to float and would have had a top land speed of 35 MPH. There’s not even proof that this unholy union even starts, but it is for sale. The price is undisclosed, and you know what that snooty sales guy at the corner collectibles shop always says: if you have to ask, you can’t afford it.

The post This Rad VW Tank Will Smash Your Flowers and Rainbows first appeared on Gajitz.

We’re used to hearing about crazily futuristic ideas from DARPA, but UK defense company BAE Systems is gearing up to introduce a totally high-tech war machine that is on a par with just about every weird concept DARPA has thrown out there. BAE’s big idea is a tank with chameleon-like color-changing powers.

Currently, tanks have to sport different color schemes based on where they will be used. This is a big problem in places like Afghanistan, where some parts of the combat zone are in the desert and others are in lush green environs. This technology would use sensors to detect the appearance of the tank’s surroundings and project the appropriate colors onto the tank’s surfaces, rendering it virtually invisible.

Because the internal processors would even detect the tank’s movement and project moving exterior camo, even changing positions wouldn’t give away the tank’s presence. The e-ink camouflage could completely change the way wars are fought – and BAE thinks these invisible tanks could be in use within five years.

The post Vanishing the Warfighter: E-Ink Will Make Tanks Invisible first appeared on Gajitz.

Real-life objects that imitate movie props are so common these days that they are almost expected. But it isn’t often that military contractors admit to being inspired by sci-fi movie technology. British defense contractors BAE Systems did just that when revealing a new design for an unmanned armored vehicle that looks quite similar to the Tumbler from Batman Begins.

The armored vehicle features two wheels in front and one in back, just like Bruce Wayne’s latest ride. The Raider was unveiled to a room full of journalists, one of whom remarked at the similarities. Lead project designer Hisham Awad confirmed that the team had, indeed, drawn their inspiration from the most recent Batman movies. Awad pointed out that he and his team do not hold a monopoly on inspiration, and a good idea is a good idea – even if it came from a movie.

The post Batman Tech Comes to Life: Military Tank Based on Tumbler first appeared on Gajitz.