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Photos: Talons, Eagles and Enforcers - the tech behind war
Fight 'em on the beaches… (with holographic tech)

By Nick Heath

Published: Wednesday 26 March 2008

Holographic quantum technology and acoustic sniper sensors may sound like the stuff of science fiction films - but they are actually new defence technologies destined for the battlefield.

The Future Soldier event at London's National Army Museum blew open the UK's arsenal of the future.

Here Baroness Ann Taylor, minister of defence equipment and support, tries out the controls for the Surveillance Target Acquisition and Weapon Sight system (Staws) and Enforcer Remote Controlled weapon system. The Staws system utilises advanced non-cooled thermal imaging technology.

Combined with a high-resolution daylight sensor, Staws provides a 24-hour all-weather surveillance and target acquisition capability.

Enforcer is designed to be fitted to a wide range of combat vehicles and can control anything from a 7.2mm general purpose machine gun to a 40mm automatic grenade launcher.

Photo credit: MoD