- JERUSALEM (Reuters) -- Israel
is using nanotechnology to try to create a robot no bigger than a hornet
that would be able to chase, photograph and kill its targets, an Israeli
newspaper reported on Friday.
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- The flying robot, nicknamed the "bionic hornet,"
would be able to navigate its way down narrow alleyways to target otherwise
unreachable enemies such as rocket launchers, the daily Yedioth Ahronoth
said.
-
- It is one of several weapons being developed by scientists
to combat militants, it said. Others include super gloves that would give
the user the strength of a "bionic man" and miniature sensors
to detect suicide bombers.
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- The research integrates nanotechnology into Israel's
security department and will find creative solutions to problems the army
has been unable to address, Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres told Yedioth
Ahronoth.
-
- "The war in Lebanon proved that we need smaller
weaponry. It's illogical to send a plane worth $100 million against a suicidal
terrorist. So we are building futuristic weapons," Peres said.
-
- The 34-day war in Lebanon ended with a U.N.-brokered
ceasefire in mid-August. The war killed more than 1,200 Lebanese, mostly
civilians, and 157 Israelis, mostly soldiers.
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- Prototypes for the new weapons are expected within three
years, he said.
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