The Undersea Defense Technology (UDT) conference and show here in June marked a break from previous years when much of the focus was on large and sophisticated remotely operated underwater vehicles and submarines. This time a number of small and medium-sized companies were showing novel, low-cost systems for littoral security.
U.S. Pacific Command (Pacom), in conjunction with Australia, has deployed a logistics tracking system that improves interoperability between their respective forces and helps assure faster, more coordinated responses to humanitarian crises and other contingencies. U.S. officials say the Pacific Radio Frequency Identification System also promotes collaboration and integration across the Asia-Pacific region. The system makes usse of radio frequency identification (RFID) to read bar codes, a technology that retailers and others routinely use to track goods, Air Force Brig.
The U.S. Defense Department's High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program (Haarp) is closed, at least for right now, marking an end to one of the military's more notorious research facilities. Haarp—near Gakona, Alaska—was used by researchers to study the ionosphere. The facility, which comprises of 360 radio transmitters and 180 antennas, can accelerate electrons in the ionosphere, essentially “heating” the upper atmosphere and allowing scientists to conduct experiments.
Operational tactics that have been developed in the past decade among Western forces often owe their origins to asymmetric warfare. One such tactic—wide-area aerial persistent surveillance (Waaps)—evolved from U.S. Air Force missions in Afghanistan. Waaps is now finding acceptance among Israeli strategists. It leads efforts by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to provide air and ground elements with the ability to remotely monitor wide areas and use resulting intelligence to assess situations and act against enemies in timely and decisive ways.
The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) has achieved a milestone in fiber-optic design with development of a hollow air-filled core that forces light to move through channels of air instead of glass. As a result, light properties significantly increase. The hollow-core fiber is reportedly the first to maintain properties in three key areas.
Once hailed as a breakthrough weapon with the potential to reshape the close-quarters battlefield, the XM25 Counter Defilade Target Engagement system has fallen victim to U.S. budgetary woes.
Northrop Grumman demonstrated that a new active, electronically scanned array antenna it developed for the B-2 bomber can establish and maintain communications with an orbiting advanced, extremely high frequency communications satellite operated by the U.S. Air Force.
The latest sensor to record the effects of roadside blasts on soldiers is the Integrated Blast Effect Sensor Suite (Ibess) from the Georgia Tech Research Institute. The system, worn by soldiers and installed in vehicles, acquires integrated, time-tagged blast data for analysis. Blasts cause injuries, but their exact effects can be unclear. The soldier system is in a pouch (see photo) that attaches to body armor between the shoulders. It has two sensors for the back and two for the front of the body that record directional data and other information.
Israel fully expects Iran to deploy a long-range cruise missile, according to a leading Israeli expert on missile defense. Speaking in Washington on July 19, Israel Air Force Brig. Gen. (ret.) Uzi Rubin said that the weapon will be based on the technology of Russia's Kh-55 (see photo), several of which were illegally transferred to Iran from Ukraine in 2001. “The trick is developing a small jet engine with low fuel-consumption,” Rubin said, adding that Iran has options for a guidance system.
The U.S. Army wants to equip soldiers with smartphones, in recognition of their computing power and ability to run apps and download vital data on battlefields or behind enemy lines. With this in mind, Vanderbilt University researchers led by Akos Ledeczi, associate professor of computer engineering, have developed two modules of microphone sensors and corresponding software that let Android smartphones detect snipers. One module, the size of a deck of playing cards, analyzes muzzle blast and the ensuing shockwave to triangulate the direction of a shot and estimate range.
Water-jet disruptors fire explosively propelled jets of water to destroy the circuitry of improvised explosive devices, substantially reducing their potential for detonation. They have been deployed for 40 years, initially by British forces in Northern Ireland. Recently, manufacturer Chemring OED of Poole, U.K., revised the design of its established Pigstick disruptor to reduce weight. The new 28-mm model, called Wasp, weighs just 1 kg (2.2 lb.), compared with 3 kg for Pigstick.
The U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL) has developed modular software with modeling and simulation capabilities allowing Army scientists to select or design “smart” weapons. Called Smart Weapon End-to-End Performance Model, or Sweepm, the software analyzes all outcomes associated with firing a round (e.g., artillery, mortar, grenade), as well as factors that affect delivery. Sweepm reflects a renewed force-on-force emphasis after a decade of counterinsurgency warfare.
The best way to access the depths of the oceans may be from the skies. That is the thinking behind the station-keeping low-visibility glider, in development by LBI Co. of Groton, Conn., which can be deployed from standard launch tubes on U.S. Navy P-3 and P-8 aircraft and transit long distances to provide persistent surveillance in denied or hostile areas. It enables standoff aerial delivery of a stealthy, unmanned, multiple-sensor platform with low visibility on the sea surface, and is capable of long duration on station and endurance in high seas.
Most cargo containers destined for U.S. ports are not screened for hazardous substances such as explosives or even nuclear materials. A law passed in 2007 called for that to be done by 2012, with 100% scanning of freight containers at the port of loading, but that goal was not met because the available technology would have impeded trade. The equipment was expensive to acquire and use; it was based on X-ray technology, with consequent health and safety restrictions; and took too long to handle the 17 million containers imported to the U.S. each year.
Recent technology advancements and risk reduction in the U.S Navy's proposed air and missile defense radar (AMDR) are slashing cost estimates by nearly two-thirds and making it more likely that the sensor suite will survive budget cuts. The technological strides and price cuts put the program on course to deliver a sensor suite relatively soon that not only protects ships against immediate and future missile threats, but helps vessels provide better ballistic missile defense (BMD) for allies.
A breakthrough thermal insulator could significantly reduce the heat generated by radio-frequency (RF) systems, increasing power and range. The achievement was announced by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) as part of its Near Junction Thermal Transport program. RF systems such as radar and communication devices use power amplifiers called monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMIC). These have gallium nitride (GaN) transistors to enhance RF performance.
Explosions do not disturb residents of Draguignan, the “artillery capital of France.” But a visitor to this southeastern city is surprised that the sound of an 18-ton Caesar self-propelled howitzer travels 20 km (12 mi.) from Camp de Canjuers, the biggest proving ground in Western Europe.
Scraping coatings off aircraft by hand will soon be a thing of the past at Hill AFB, Utah, which is deploying robots for this task in 2014. Concurrent Technologies Corp. of Johnstown, Pa., and Carnegie Mellon University's National Robotics and Engineering Center in Pittsburgh developed six coating-removal robots under contract from the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory and Ogden Air Logistics Center. The robots use 6-kw fiber lasers for coating removal.
