After almost 20 years in space, NASA's Cassini spacecraft begins the final chapter of its remarkable story of exploration. From now until September, Cassini will undertake a set of orbits that is, in many ways, like a whole new mission. Following a final close flyby of Saturn's moon Titan, Cassini will leap over the planet's icy rings and begin a series of 22 weekly dives between the planet and the rings.

An accurate view of the physical world is frequently vital. For example, rotary wing aircraft pilots must have knowledge of the terrain in order to safely fly their aircraft. Therefore, systems capable of generating images of the environment of sufficient quality to facilitate the decision process are necessary. The product of such a system is illustrated in Figure 1.

In recent years, photoacoustic spectroscopy (PAS) has emerged as an attractive and powerful technique well suited for sensing applications. The development of high-power radiation sources and more sophisticated electronics, including sensitive microphones and digital lock-in amplifiers, have allowed for significant advances in PAS. Furthermore, photoacoustic (PA) detection of IR absorption spectra using modern tunable lasers offers several advantages, including simultaneous detection and discrimination of numerous molecules of interest. Successful applications of PAS in gases and condensed matter have made this a notable technique and it is now studied and employed by scientists and engineers in a variety of disciplines.

Flying anytime, anywhere, in all-weather conditions is one of the most challenging technology and capability goals across the rotorcraft industry to meet a growing demand for reliability, safety and the ability to allow platforms and their operators to deliver whenever needed. Countering the detrimental and dangerous effects of ice on rotorcraft is part of this mission and Leonardo Helicopters has devoted significant efforts over the years to design, develop, test and integrate ice protection systems onto its current generation production aircraft models.

Directed energy weapons first took a step towards reality in the 1980s under President Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), dubbed “Star Wars” by the media. But, the technology didn't really materialize at that time and the cessation of the Cold War largely removed the immediate impetus to develop it. Since then, lasers have become widely used in military applications, particularly for target designation and aircraft countermeasures, but there is still no significant deployment of lasers as offensive weapons. Now, advances in high power fiber laser technology, particularly in the efficiency, compactness and weight of their pump diode lasers, are poised to make laser weapons a practical reality.

Jenoptik Defense & Civil Systems
Wedel, Germany
+49 3641 65-2255

As part of a Polish modernization program for the Leopard 2 tank, Jenoptik was recently awarded contracts to supply 126 17-kilowatt auxiliary power units to the Polish company ZM Bumar Labedy S. A. The company Rheinmetall Defence will receive another seven of these units as well as ten electric turret and weapon stabilization systems.

KONGSBERG Protech Systems (KPS)
Johnstown, PA
814-269-5700

KONGSBERG Protech Systems (KPS), one of the world's leading suppliers of Remote Weapon Stations (RWS) recently unveiled their latest system developments at the Orbital ATK Bushmaster User Conference. The Bushmaster demonstration showcased the PROTECTOR LW30, with a M230 LF cannon and the PROTECTOR Medium Caliber (remote) Turret (MCT) with both 30mm and Super 40mm cannons.

Oshkosh Defense, LLC
Oshkosh, WI
920-235-9150

Oshkosh Defense, LLC, an Oshkosh Corporation company, announced that the U.S. Marine Corps has received Milestone C approval to begin Full Rate Production (FRP) on the P-19 Replacement (P-19R) Aircraft Rescue Fire Fighting (ARFF) vehicle program. This approval represents a major milestone for the $192 million P-19R ARFF contract, which was awarded to Oshkosh in May 2013 to replace the P-19A fleet.

General Micro Systems, Inc.
Rancho Cucamonga, CA
800-307-4863

General Micro Systems, Inc.'s SD19 rugged smart display is being deployed for use in modernizing select U.S. Navy ships. This smart, all-in-one display will be distributed throughout the Navy's fleet to replace an existing “dumb” display that had been facing end-of-life challenges. The display will actually combine two functions into one: a rugged, 19- inch LCD with special electrical, mechanical and environmental characteristics; and a rugged Intel^®-based single-board computer running Microsoft^® Windows.

Sciaky, Inc.
Chicago, IL
877-450-2518

Sciaky, Inc., a subsidiary of Phillips Service Industries, Inc. (PSI), announced recently that Airbus was scheduled to take delivery of a state-of-the-art Electron Beam Additive Manufacturing (EBAM™) 110 System. The renowned aircraft manufacturer will utilize Sciaky's industrial-scale metal 3D printing system to produce large structural parts made of titanium.