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"  BREAKING NEWS ON THE LATEST NAVY TECH * PLUS: 4 Challenges for the Navy as More Unmanned Drones Go Underwater  * TECH WATCH: Will New Weapon Advances Cause a Naval Power Crunch?   Early next year the Office of Naval Research&amp;#039;s Office of Transition will release requests for proposals to fund its advanced naval technology programs. The office&amp;#039;s initiatives have a shelf life of five years, with an expectation that real-world products will reach the fleet by the end of that time. At a recent conference in Washington, D.C., transition office director Joseph Lawrence detailed the shipboard equipment, weapons and robots that will ensure the Navy can safely conduct combat and humanitarian missions anywhere in the world.  1. Desalination Machines The Navy needs smaller devices that can produce clean water in ports and from other brackish sources close to shore. One key is upgrading the filters used on current reverse-osmosis systems with new materials that can screen tinier particles.  2. One-Size-Fits-All Bombs Carrier aviators supporting troops on the ground could use the same bomb for various missions by setting the blast size and fragmentation level from the cockpit. The new bomb would reduce collateral damage and remove costly specialty weapons from arsenals. 3. Multitarget Tracking Lasers Swarms of small boats can endanger any carrier group, so U.S. helicopters and airplanes need new sensors in order to fire precision weapons at many targets at once. The system can designate several targets with a single, quickly flickering laser beam.  4. New Periscope The &amp;quot;silent service&amp;quot; is seeking sub-marine masts studded with sensors to allow better range and clarity during bad weather. The data the periscope receives will be processed by intelligent software that will autonomously recognize objects and alert sailors to threats. 5. Mine-Hunting Robots The Navy wants a new robot that can detect mines in shallow water, where reverberations interfere with sonar. The new drone will likely combine low-frequency broadband technology with small synthetic aperture sonar to get clear images of minefields.   RELATED STORIES * PLUS: 4 Challenges for the Navy as More Unmanned Drones Go Underwater  * TECH WATCH: Will New Weapon Advances Cause a Naval Power Crunch?  * EARLIER: 5 Things that Scare the Navy (and What They&amp;#039;re Doing About It)  * WORST-CASE SCENARIO: USS Trayer, the Navy&amp;#039;s Unluckiest Ship  * FIRST LOOK: Boeing&amp;#039;s Laser Truck Inches Closer to Iraq Battlefield   "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.popularmechanics.com/military/a12208/4294097/>