Articles: Defense

Big Data, Aircraft, and a Better Future

The hype phrase today is “Big Data.” It is a phrase Mark Bünger, Research Director for Lux Research, believes can have a number of definitions depending on who is doing the defining. Bünger was...

Articles: Aerospace

Unmanned Ground Vehicle Communications Relays

The need for a high-bandwidth communication link to carry multiple video channels from a mobile robot (unmanned ground vehicle, or UGV) back to a control station requires using high-frequency RF...

Articles: Defense

System Generates and Simulates Skin-Echo Pulses for Radar Testing

One of the methods for radar testing is the simulation of an environment where there are dynamic or static objects that are scanned by the radar under test. In particular,...

Application Briefs: Defense

Tourniquet Training System

Charles River Analytics
Cambridge, MA
617-491-3474
www.cra.com

The Department of Defense recently awarded Charles River Analytics, a developer of intelligent systems and robotic platforms, a...

Application Briefs: Aerospace

Hybrid-Electric Military Motorcycle

Logos Technologies
Fairfax, VA
703-584-5725
www.logostech.net

In partnership with the San Francisco, CA-based motorcycle maker Alta Motors, Logos Technologies has received a Phase II...

Application Briefs: Defense

Electrocoat Primer System

PPG Industries
Pittsburgh, PA
412-434-3131
www.ppgaerospace.com

PPG Industries’ aerospace coatings group has installed an electrocoat primer system at the US Coast Guard Aviation Logistics...

Application Briefs: Defense

Game-Based Naval Training

Office of Naval Research
Arlington, VA
703-696-5031
www.onr.navy.mil

To improve the ability to detect and defeat adversary radars and anti-ship missiles, the Office of Naval Research (ONR)...

Briefs: Defense

Testing Multijunction Solar Cell Efficiency

The photovoltaic community is closer than ever to achieving ultra-high multijunction solar cell efficiencies (>50%). Subcells from III–V compound semiconductors are approaching ideal...

Briefs: Defense

Thermal Response of Ultra-High Molecular Weight Polyethylene (UHMWPE) Materials in a Flash Flame Test

Testing was performed on Ultra-High Molecular Weight Polyethylene (UHMWPE) fabric and composite material in a flash flame environment when...

Briefs: Aerospace

Thermal Conductivity Measurement Setup for Low-Temperature Characterization of Laser Materials

Operating lasers at cryogenic temperatures gained maturity only in the mid-90s due mostly to the progress in transparent, laser-grade ceramics and...

Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition

Non-Destructive Damping Measurement for MEMS Acceleration Switches

Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) three-axis acceleration threshold sensors have been developed to measure acceleration threshold levels using voltage switching when the...

Technology Update: Defense

High-Strength Aluminum Powder Developed for Additive Manufacturing in Aerospace, Automotive

Metal laser melting has made a successful leap from rapid prototyping to an approved manufacturing technology, and the method is increasingly...

Technology Update: Defense

Propulsion Performance Model for Efficient Supersonic Aircraft

For the design process of the class of aircraft known as an efficient supersonic air vehicle (ESAV), particular attention must be paid to the propulsion system design as a whole...

INSIDER: Aerospace

NASA System Would Enable Unmanned Aircraft to Fly in US Airspace

NASA, working with government and industry partners, is testing a system that would make it possible for unmanned aircraft to fly routine operations in United States airspace....

INSIDER: Aerospace

Jet Contrails Affect Ground Temperatures and Climate

High in the sky where the cirrus ice crystal clouds form, jet contrails draw their crisscross patterns. Now researchers have found that these elevated ice cloud trails can influence...

INSIDER: Aerospace

Material That Mimics Owl Wings Could Make Planes Quieter

A newly designed material that mimics the wing structure of owls could help make wind turbines, computer fans, and planes much quieter. Early wind tunnel tests of the coating have...

INSIDER: Defense

Scientists Print Radio Frequency Antenna with Graphene Ink

Scientists have taken a significant step in moving graphene – the incredibly strong and conductive single-atom-thick sheet of carbon – from lab bench novelty to commercially...

INSIDER: Defense

Smart-Mortar Could Help Soldiers Hit Targets

The Army hopes its new 120mm Guided Enhanced Fragmentation Mortar (GEFM) will improve soldiers' ability to put artillery on target. The GEFM is a high- accuracy, GPS-guided mortar concept...

INSIDER: Defense

Compact UV Lasers Could Spot Dangerous Substances from a Distance

For soldiers in the field, the ability to identify an object or substance based on how it responds to light could mean the difference between life and death. They could, for...

INSIDER: Mechanical & Fluid Systems

NASA Tests Aircraft Wing Coatings that Slough Bug Guts

Bug guts create drag, and drag increases fuel consumption. But aircraft of the future could be made more fuel-efficient with non-stick coatings NASA recently tested on Boeing’s...

INSIDER: Energy

Fuel Cell Carts Deliver Power to Airplane Galleys

Airplane galleys consume a huge amount of power. Additional power units may soon come to the rescue: housed inside trolley carts in the galleys, these units deliver both supplemental power...

INSIDER: Photonics/Optics

Compact UV Lasers Could ID Substances from a Distance

For soldiers in the field, the ability to identify an object or substance based on how it responds to light could mean the difference between life and death. They could, for example,...

INSIDER: Defense

Army Equips Vehicles With Electronic Stability Control

Soldiers laud the ballistic protection Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles that protect them against underbody threats, but now a brand-new MRAP feature, the first of its...

INSIDER: Defense

Sandia Labs Uses Davis Gun to Test B61-12 Bomb

Three years of design, planning, and preparation came down to a split second, a loud boom and an enormous splash in a successful impact test of hardware in the nose assembly of an unarmed,...

Products: Defense

Portable Fluid Chiller

A low temperature fluid chiller, suitable for labs and plants, has been introduced by Thermonics Corp. (Mansfield, MA). The portable chiller recirculates heat-transfer fluids at precise temperatures needed to support...

Products: Defense

FPGA Chip and Protocol

MEN Micro Inc. (Blue Bell, PA) has released the CS1, an FPGA chip with an integrated AFDX protocol that provides a flexible alternative for communication in airplanes. The customizable CS1 enables users to build...

Products: Defense

M-PHY® Multi-Lead Probe

The Teledyne LeCroy M-PHY Multi-lead Probe allows developers using an embedded MPHY bus in their PCB designs to tap into the signal traces directly and capture bus traffic for protocol analysis and debugging. The...

Products: Defense

VMEbus 4th Generation Intel® Core™ i7/i5 Processor Board

Concurrent Technologies (Colchester, UK) has announced VP B1x/msd, a 6U VME board based on a 4th generation Intel® Core™ i7/i5 processor. The headline variant of VP B1x/msd uses...

Products: Defense

Low-Profile AC-DC Power Supplies

Schaefer Inc. (Hopkinton, MA) recently introduced the new low-profile TERa Series of Advanced Thermal Technology AC-DC power supplies. The TERa family offers three output power classes of 700, 1200 and 2000...