A new White House space-transportation policy stresses public-private partnerships and “responsive” military space capabilities, and allows the commercial launch of foreign rockets from U.S. soil on a “case-by-case” basis. “The U.S. space transportation sector is undergoing a period of change as new actors and capabilities emerge and nontraditional public-private partnerships are established,” the eight-page document notes. “At the same time, the sector faces challenges, to include increased proliferation concerns and international competition.”
Researchers have adapted dolphin sonar—used with “bubble nets” to herd fish—to a new radar concept that eliminates clutter while searching for concealed explosives or surveillance equipment on land. Twin Inverted Pulse Radar (Twipr), developed in England at the University of Southampton, with input from University College London and Cobham Technical Services, zeros in on electronic circuitry. Prof.
Integrating interoperable open architectures (IOA) in new and existing platforms offers benefits across defense procurement. The time between identifying an operational requirement and getting it fielded would be minimized; subsystems could be integrated without bulking up platforms; and procurement costs could be cut, if only obsolete or superfluous components are removed and replace.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani cleverly opened a gap between the White House and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government, with a recent diplomatic charm offensive that seems intended to ease economic sanctions against Iran that were imposed as punishment for its ongoing nuclear program.
Few actions are more critical in combat than dropping mortar shells on target. U.S. Marine Corps mortar crews will soon have access to a portable sight that mounts to the upper barrel of a 60-mm mortar and substantially improves accuracy, especially at night. The lightweight device—it reportedly can be carried in a shirt pocket—which is still in the prototype stage, is called the Fire Control Unit (FCU). It was developed by the TechSolutions program of the U.S. Office of Naval Research, along with L-3 Insight Technologies.
Researchers in the Aerospace Medicine and Vestibular Research Laboratory of the Mayo Clinic have found an early way to detect hypoxia before dangerous and life-threatening symptoms appear. Symptoms have historically been the most reliable way of discovering hypoxia, which is, of course, oxygen deprivation in blood and tissues that affects pilots flying at high altitude (also deep-sea divers).
Despite repeated attempts to kill programs related to the acquisition and maintenance of U.S. aircraft carriers, the fleet continues to rule the seas and anchor naval strategy. But with sequestration, continuing resolutions and other budgetary concerns, carriers remain big financial targets. Rear Adm. Thomas Moore, the Navy's program executive officer for aircraft carriers, recently discussed the challenges of keeping CVN-78 Gerald Ford construction and other programs on track with Naval Editor Michael Fabey.
Three years of work in bomb-detection technology has paid off for the U.S. Office of Naval Research, which in 2010 funded a five-year, $7 million multi-university pro-gram to detect improvised explosive devices (IED) from safe distances. Researchers developed a system that uses a sonic beam from a phased acoustic array to identify IEDs and differentiate between those with low- and high-yield explosives. A paper delivered last month by Prof.
Amy Svitak (Beijing and Paris), David Hambling (London), David Eshel (Tel Aviv)
A growing number of satellite-based automatic identification systems (AIS) make it easier for maritime surveillance to tie ship-tracking data with high-resolution satellite imagery. Used with AIS, space-based synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and optical remote-sensing platforms determine not only the presence of ships, but their identity, position, speed, heading, load, size and type.
As defense manufacturers become accustomed to the prospect of lower Pentagon budgets, there is growing concern over the health of the supply chain, particularly the lower tiers and specifically small companies that may be the sole source of critical parts or a unique technology.
A technology demonstrator for Piaggio's Hammerhead unmanned aerial vehicle has made its first short hop into the air, in Italy. The flight is the first major step in the development of a wholly European-developed medium-altitude, long-endurance unmanned air vehicle (UAV), which is now on a path to potentially enter service with the Italian air force in 2015.
A focus on realistic requirements has helped Swedish industry and government teams integrate weapons on the Gripen faster and at lower cost than similar efforts elsewhere.
Deliveries of three Pentagon-procured fixed-wing tactical transport aircraft to Yemen's capital of Sanaa in September, coupled with announcements of a newly tendered squadron of light observation planes, marked the culmination of the Obama administration's push to help the Yemeni air force take ownership of an Al Qaeda fight that has become synonymous with American unmanned aerial vehicle technology.
Mounting budget pressure is forcing France to curb defense spending, slowing deliveries of major military programs rather than killing them outright. Under the nation's new military program law—a €190 billion ($256 billion) budget for the period 2014-19—key aerospace platforms that will see reduced or delayed orders include Dassault Aviation's Rafale combat jet, Eurocopter's Tiger and NH90 helicopters and Airbus Military's A400M tactical airlifter.
DUBAI — A U.S. Navy notice for the purchase of 36 Super Hornets posted on a federal procurement website in October was nothing more than an error, according to the Navy’s Hornet program manager. Speaking at the Dubai air show on Nov. 19, Capt. Frank Morley, Naval Air Systems Command program manager for the Boeing-built F/A-18 Super Hornet and EA-18 Growler, said that the notice, which went up on the FedBizOps.gov website on Oct. 17, was an “administrative error” and had no effect on the current program of record.
AEGIS AWARD: The U.S. Navy has awarded Raytheon a $406 million multi-year contract to provide AN/SPY-1 radar transmitters and MK99 Fire Control Systems for Lockheed Martin’s Aegis combat system. The components of the weapon system perform the search, track and missile guidance functions for Aegis, which the U.S. Navy is upgrading to provide greater ballistic missile defense as well as enhanced ship-defense.
TEL AVIV — The Israeli Ministry of Defense and the U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) held a successful test of the David’s Sling air defense system on Nov. 20 in which a ballistic missile was intercepted and destroyed. Barring unexpected delays, the system, also known as Magic Wand, is expected to be operational within two years. It has been in development since 2006
The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Project Agency’s (Darpa) goal with its new Experimental Spaceplane (XS-1) program is to demonstrate a reusable capability that can transition to industry for low-cost military and commercial satellite launches and hypersonic technology testing. The agency usually hands off successful programs to one of the U.S. military services, but “Darpa’s XS-1 transition partner is you — industry,” Program Manager Jess Sponable told attendees at a proposers’ day briefing earlier this month. (See charts p. 8.)
