Obstacles challenge robots, but researchers at Harvard may overcome them by engineering robots to jump. Tests on silicone robots advance this capability. Robert Shepherd, a former postdoctoral researcher and now an assistant professor at Cornell, describes work that he and colleagues are conducting in the Feb. 6 Angewandte Chemie. The team uses controlled explosions generated by methane and oxygen to make a robot jump (see photo). The Y-shaped robot, with each limb about 6 in. long and less than 1 in. thick, leaps 12 in., at 13 fps.
Crowdsourcing, which is increasingly popular for national security applications, may soon move into arms-control verification. The U.S. State Department's “Innovation in Arms Control Challenge” selected several ideas for new technologies and approaches to help with verification. One winning concept, proposed by an aerospace and defense consultant in Florida, enlists virtual armies of citizens to track “treaty limited items” (TLI) to ensure countries comply with arms-control obligations.
The International Defense Exhibition—IDEX—in Abu Dhabi last month saw the first public appearance of the massive Multiple Cradle Launcher (MCL), a product of the Abu Dhabi-based Jobaria Defense Systems, which company officials told Aviation Week is in service with the United Arab Emirates army. The MCL uses an Oshkosh Defense 6 X 6 Heavy Equipment Transporter with an armored cab, pulling a 10-wheel trailer. On the trailer are mounted four multiple-rocket launchers, each with three modular pods of 20 122-mm rockets, for a total of 240 rockets.
Lengthy testing by the U.S. Army confirmed the validity of an alternative armor technology for the Bradley Fighting Vehicle that meets performance criteria for protection and saves money. Army Contracting Command (ACC)-New Jersey has certified that reactive tile sets of aluminum can be installed on vehicles in place of the titanium tiles in use with no loss of protection. The reactive tiles withstand anti-armor threats from rocket-propelled grenades and other weapons.
U.S. Army soldiers could be shooting straighter if the benefits of a new weapons contract materialize. Last month, the U.S. Army Contracting Command of Warren, Mich., announced the award of a firm-fixed-price contract for procurement of up to 120,000 M4 and M4A1 carbines to FN Manufacturing of Columbia, S.C. The projected completion date for the order is Feb. 19, 2018. The maximum value of the contract, which is being allocated in stages, is $76.9 million. The initial stage involves 24,000 rifles and is worth $9.3 million. All eyes will be on the M4A1 side of the order.
The first clear photos of China's new ICBM appeared on Chinese web pages this month, probably taken by a motorist on his cell phone—a common way of revealing new Chinese weapons. The Dong Feng-41 (DF-41) is likely the first mobile Chinese ICBM to be equipped with multiple independently targeted reentry vehicles (MIRV), possibly 10. Citing a U.S. government official, the Washington Free Beacon reported that the DF-41 was tested from the Wuzhai (Xichang) missile test and space launch center last July.
The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) has selected Lockheed Martin to move forward with a program to build a “flying Humvee” that takes off and flies over roads planted with roadside bombs. Darpa narrowed the Transformer program to two competitors: AAI Textron and Lockheed Martin. Both companies' concepts used ducted fans, but took different approaches to the vehicle.
An Asian shipping company looking to boost its antipiracy defenses started the year by becoming the latest client of the LRAD Corp. of San Diego, maker of long-range acoustic hailing devices that can rumble sound over water for more than a mile and cause hearing damage from 50 ft. away. LRAD stands for long-range acoustic device, the general term for the acoustic systems the company makes.
A dream of science fiction and engineering is to sail beneath the waves and fly above them in one vehicle. Students at the Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics (BUAA) are the latest to buy into this idea, along with the military officials who fund their research. An article on the university's web page about the “Booby” unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) became a minor sensation on the Chinese Internet in late 2012.
When teams of researchers at Germany's Technical University of Hamburg and Kiel University used chemical vapor and a high-temperature oven last summer to produce a new carbon-based lattice they call Aerographite, it immediately grabbed attention for its weight: At 75 times lighter than Styrofoam and six times lighter than air, it is billed as the world's lightest material.
The Taliban have a lot to worry about when it comes to Western military technology. The latest threat is easy to miss but potentially deadly in its effect: a 4 X 1-in. unmanned air vehicle (UAV) the British Army is deploying for intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance in Afghanistan. Called the Black Nano Hornet, the UAV weighs 16 grams (5 oz.) and has a camera with zoom function that transmits still images and full-motion video to a handheld monitor. The U.K.
The Derby missile, manufactured by Rafael, is the weapon of choice for India's Tejas fighter. A contract is to be signed by the end of this month to supply the air-to-air weapon for the light combat jet, developed by India's Aeronautical Development Agency. A key aircraft requirement is integration of a beyond-visual-range missile. The Rafael Python V missile, closely related to Derby, was also an option. The Indian air force has ordered 40 Tejas aircraft and plans to add 160 more: 100 Mk. II versions for the air force and 60 for the navy.
The Pentagon recently signed off on plans to spend more than $1 billion on new equipment for the Afghan air force. The shopping list includes a mix of fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft, including additional Cessna C-208s, which the air force uses for cargo and personnel transport, and more MD 530F helicopters. While some purchases were expected based on long-standing plans, a major change is the addition of four Lockheed Martin C-130 aircraft to replace a fleet of Alenia Aeronautica G.222 transports that proved burdensome to maintain.
Since shedding Soviet-style communism in 1990 and adopting parliamentary government and a market economy, Mongolia has become the most democratic of the Central Asian republics. Moreover, it sits atop the world's largest coal reserve as well as mountains of gold, copper, uranium and rare minerals. In 2012, the landlocked nation posted 13% economic growth. Everything should be coming up roses.
A new type of solid-state laser being developed for U.S. Air Force aircraft will soon be tested as a possible naval weapon that could be used against enemy ships. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) and the Office of Naval Research plan to demonstrate the High-Energy Liquid Laser Area Defense System (Hellads) to engage surface ships, according to a contract announcement. The test, which will take place by the end of 2014, requires buying another Hellads system from General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, since the current laser is for testing with USAF.
During tension between China and Japan over conflicting claims to the Senkaku/Daiyoutai Islands in January (see page DT15), images emerged on the Internet confirming the existence of China's YJ-12 supersonic antiship ramjet missile. Asian sources report that China has deployed the YJ-12. Images show that the missile is a larger development of the YJ-91, a Chinese version of the Russian Zvezda Kh-31 ramjet-powered antiship/radar missile. Chinese sources estimate the YJ-12 has a speed of Mach 2-4 and range of 250-400 km (155-248 mi.).
Internal bleeding from abdominal wounds is a time-sensitive injury on the battlefield. With no medical techniques to stop it, getting the wounded to surgical care rapidly is necessary to save their lives. Medics, however, may soon have a way of stabilizing internal bleeding for several hours. Arsenal Medical Inc. of Watertown, Mass., has developed a two-component polyurethane foam system that shows promise in controlling severe hemorrhaging, and the U.S.
Vice Adm. (ret.) Yedidia Yaari President and CEO, Rafael Armament Development Authority Ltd., Haifa, Israel Birthplace: Kibbutz Merhavia, Israel, 1947 Education: B.A., Middle East History, Haifa University; M.P.A., Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University; Advanced Naval Command Course, U.S. Naval War College.
At the Aero India exposition this month, Israeli companies Elbit Systems and Windward Ltd. displayed for the first time an integrated maritime patrol platform for India. The platform comprises an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) from Elbit, the new Maritime Hermes 900, equipped with Marint, a satellite-based maritime analytics system from Windward. The platform is intended to perform 24/7 monitoring of India's large maritime environment, including littoral waters and economic exclusion zones.
Although U.S. and Afghan soldiers have become skilled at recognizing signs of improvised explosive devices (IED), the Pentagon is seeking technologies that detect IEDs before they threaten troops and vehicles. One recent development is Scissor-G (Shadow-Class Infrared Spectral Sensor-Ground), which picks up irregularities and other indicators of IEDs from a safe distance. Scissor-G is a product of the U.S. Army's Communications, Electronics Research, Development and Engineering Center (Cerdec).
Research at Georgia Tech indicates that programming military robots for deceitful behavior against enemies is a way of protecting them along with materiel they might be guarding. In a program funded by the Office of Naval Research, Ronald Arkin led a team at Georgia Tech that applied this tactic in programming a robot. Arkin read studies showing how deceitful behavior aids animal survival and wondered if it could help robots thwart an enemy, robotic or human. Biologists, for example, found that a squirrel stores acorns in hiding places and routinely checks the stashes.
