Fire protection is an essential requirement in the design of military platforms. The need has increased in recent years with the growing use of combustible materials such as composites and high-power-density batteries.
Naval mine countermeasures (MCM) operations are an all-or-nothing bet: Either they are done well or ships are destroyed. “Mine warfare is either not important, or the most important thing in your life,” says U.S. Navy Rear Adm. (select) John Ailes, in charge of integrating the Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) with mission-module packages. The LCS will be the Navy's front-line MCM vessel, and right now mine warfare is one of the most important concerns in Ailes's life.
Correction: The U.S. Army is not canceling the XM25 Counter Defilade Target Engagement system (AW&ST Aug. 5/12, p. DT20). Funding for the weapon has been cut by Congress, but development is ongoing by the Army.
The Israeli defense industry is being buffeted—some might say battered—by winds of change. In this case, it is a perfect storm of budget cutbacks by many countries, including Israel, that are shrinking defense expenditures concurrently with the winding down of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The Future Mobile Landing Platform (MLP) looks far different than typical U.S. Navy ships. But its capabilities are game-changing. Leveraging float-on/float-off technology and a reconfigurable mission deck, the MLP provides a seagoing pier when access to on-shore bases and support are unavailable. Platform modules support a vehicle staging area, vehicle transfer ramp, mooring fenders and three LCAC (landing craft, air-cushioned) lanes.
Unmanned underwater vehicles (UUV) may soon achieve substantially longer battery life as a result of research by students in an engineering systems design course at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Lincoln Laboratory. Capitalizing on the high-energy density of aluminum, the students found that dissolving the metal into gallium and then reacting it with seawater generates a level of hydrogen gas and heat that exceeds the energy storage density of lithium-ion batteries.
Battelle and two subcontractors have received a contract to develop a portable medical device that treats the blood of wounded soldiers. The goal is to prevent sepsis, a condition that results in life-threatening infections in 10% of combat wounds, and which can within 30 days kill 50% of those who go into shock from it. The contract was awarded by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency as part of its ongoing Dialysis-Like Therapeutics (DLT) program. Battelle, of Columbus, Ohio, is working with NxStage Medical and Aethlon Medical.
Static strength testing of the airframe of Japan's ATD-X stealth-fighter technology demonstrator has begun, says the Defense Ministry's Technology Development & Research Institute. The ATD-X, which is not intended to lead directly to a combat aircraft, has been scheduled for flight testing between 2014-16. Built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, the ATD-X is expected to demonstrate technologies that the ministry hopes to apply to its proposed F-3 fighter. Development would begin around 2017 for entry into service about 10 years later.
Record-breaking autogyro pioneer Wing Cmdr. Ken Wallis died at home near Dereham, Norfolk, England, on Sept. 1. He was 97. A Royal Air Force (RAF) Wellington bomber pilot during World War II, Wallis spent 20 years in weapon research for the RAF, but was best known for his exploits with autogyros, working on them in his spare time at home. His experience with the machines helped him set 34 autogyro world records between 1968 and 2002, several of which still stand today, including the speed record for an autogyro: 207.7 kph (129 mph).
YouTube videos make it look easy, and for pilots, it is easier than in a Harrier. But landing vertically at night, in crosswind, on the moving deck of a ship relies on the highly integrated and automated flight and propulsion controls of the Lockheed Martin F-35B.
While the U.S. Army and Navy are making progress on developing land- and ship-based high-energy lasers, the Air Force is struggling to define compelling operational requirements for directed-energy weapons, suggests a new report by the National Research Council (NRC).
NON-PROPRIETARY: The government push to retain data rights to the weapon systems it buys and promote open architectures to avoid overreliance on original equipment manufacturers is an undeniable trend of the future in U.S. and allied defense acquisition, claims a recently retired Pentagon official. David Van Buren, formerly U.S.
