A new device can increase aircraft safety during takeoff. During the first 10 seconds of the takeoff roll, the device predicts if the aircraft will reach the sufficient speed for taking off. The idea behind the innovation can be adapted both for small aircraft and large jets.

The device objectively assesses the factual acceleration of an aircraft during the start and, coordinating the data of the accelerometer with the runway length, calculates the prospect of a safe takeoff. The device would also inform the pilot if the aircraft couldn’t safely accelerate.

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Rockwell Collins has unveiled FasTAK™, a new tactical combat targeting system and secure communications gateway for success in today’s digital battlefield.

“FasTAK simplifies a complex set of tasks for users, helping them carry out missions more efficiently while remaining agile,” said Troy Brunk, vice president and general manager, Communication, Navigation and Electronic Warfare Solutions for Rockwell Collins. “From units on the move to command and control, the system provides reliable, secure connectivity across the battlefield.”

After six years of extensive research, engineers at the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Research, Development, and Engineering Center have conducted a successful test flight of an advanced tail-controlled missile system.

The Tail Controlled Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (TC-GMLRS) performed its first flight test earlier this year at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico. The Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System entered production in 2003 and is the Army's primary precision strike artillery weapon. The current production GMLRS has control surfaces on the front end of the rocket, which contribute to precision effects but were not designed to maximize the range of the system. During the first flight test, the missile system reached a distance of 112.9 km, or roughly 70 miles.

Called the Weather Instrumentation and Specialized Environmental Monitoring Platform (WISE-MP), a device being developed by the Air Force can measure conditions that can be detrimental to aircraft such as pollutants, salt, and moisture. Anticipating corrosive conditions before they can have a detrimental effect can lead to significant cost savings and less aircraft downtime.

The prototype device consists of a gas monitor, weather sensor, chloride monitor, and control box, and is portable, durable, and waterproof, with easy access to components. The WISE-MP control unit stores and transmits data for remote monitoring, and data can be accessed on-site.

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A hybrid origami drone can be stiff or flexible depending on the circumstances. When airborne, the structure is stiff enough to carry its own weight and withstand the thrust of the propellers. But if the drone runs into something, it becomes flexible in order to absorb the shock and therefore minimize any damage.

The drone’s resilience comes from a unique combination of stiff and elastic layers. An elastomer membrane is stretched and then sandwiched between rigid plates. When the system is at rest, the plates hold together and give the structure its stiffness. But when enough force is applied, the plates draw apart and the structure can bend.

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Boeing and DARPA are collaborating to design, build, and test a technology demonstration vehicle for the agency’s Experimental Spaceplane program. The Phantom Express would reinvent space missions for commercial and government customers by providing rapid, aircraft-like access to space. Within minutes, the autonomous, reusable spaceplane would launch its upper stage to deploy small satellites into low Earth orbit. It would then land on a runway to be prepared for its next flight.

Tests of the spaceplane’s AR-22 Experimental Spaceplane Main Engine was successfully fired 10 times in just under 240 hours. The test is an early check for one of the plane’s most critical subsystems required to achieve aircraft-like operations.

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Imagine piloting a drone using the movements of your torso only and leaving your head free to look around, much like a bird. Your torso is more intuitive – and more precise – than joysticks for piloting drones, according to a recent study. Work is already underway to implement this new body-machine interface technology for search and rescue with drones.

Scientists compared their torso strategies to joystick control in 39 individuals. They found that torso drone control outperformed joystick control in precision and reliability with minimal training sessions. A garment that implements the torso strategy into drone control without external motion detectors was also developed.

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The program to extend the life of the W80 nuclear warhead recently achieved a significant milestone when the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) gave passing grades to the plans to refurbish certain components and the proposed approach to developing component cost estimates. Passing the milestone confirms that the life extension program (LEP), dubbed the W80-4 LEP, remains on track. The refurbished warhead will be paired with a new cruise missile that is being developed in parallel by the U.S. Air Force, making this the first life extended warhead to be implemented in a new delivery system since the start of the Stockpile Stewardship Program more than 25 years ago.

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) is the lead nuclear design agency, partnered with Sandia National Laboratories, which is the lead non-nuclear design agency. The work being carried out is driven by military requirements to pair the warhead with the new delivery system and improve weapon safety, security and operational logistics and maintain effectiveness without the need for additional explosive nuclear tests. First production of the W80-4 is planned for 2025.

In March 2018, the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center’s Sensors Program Office, working jointly with the AFLCMC Medium Altitude Unmanned Aerial Systems Program Office, sponsored three demonstration flights of an MQ-9 Reaper with AgilePod. The flights were a first for AgilePod on an Air Force major weapon system, and were the result of collaboration between AFLCMC and the Air Force Research Lab.

“These flights mark the culmination of more than two years of cutting-edge technology development led by our colleagues within the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Materials and Manufacturing Directorate ManTech team, and Sensors Directorate Blue Guardian team,” said Lt. Col. Elwood Waddell, the advanced technologies branch chief within the Sensors Program Office.”

Researchers at the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command Research Laboratory and the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University developed a new technique to quickly teach robots novel traversal behaviors with minimal human oversight. The technique allows mobile robot platforms to navigate autonomously in environments while carrying out actions a human would expect of the robot in a given situation.

According to Dr. Maggie Wigness, one of the research team's goals in autonomous systems research is to provide reliable autonomous robot teammates to the soldier.