It is hard to imagine just how radical the change in fortunes for the world’s major commercial aerospace manufacturers has been in the last few years. Just ten years ago the smart money in aerospace pointed to the defense sector as the best source of future profitability. But just as this was reaching a peak, the full impact of a near meltdown in global financial markets brought home to Western governments that defense budgets couldn’t just keep on expanding and a new era of military program cuts began.

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 the lead analyst on a report that Lux published in April 2015 that surveyed both the technology as it is today and how various industries are adapting to the opportunities—and perils—in trying to exploit it.

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 communication links. These links are mostly line-of-sight, often limiting the flexibility of the robot’s movement. The Autonomous Mobile Communication Relays project demonstrated the capability of autonomous slave robots to provide communication-relaying capability for a lead robot exploring an unknown environment.

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, simulation implemented by MPG Instruments (Rome, Italy) generates skin-echo pulses coming from radar that transmits a defined pattern stream. The system simulates an object in the scanning area of the radar and is hit by a pulse pattern stream. The X-band radar must be tested at a frequency from 7 GHz to 12.5 GHz, and K-band between 12 GHz and 40 GHz.

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 follow-on contract for Tourniquet Master Training (TMT). The TMT course helps warfighters provide immediate aid by halting the bleeding of soldiers' battlefield wounds.

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 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) award from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to continue development of the SilentHawk military motorcycle.

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 Center in Elizabeth City, North Carolina. The technology, custom-designed to protect the facility's aerospace parts, has reduced the time needed for primer application, processing, and full-cure.