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.
Meprolight Ltd. of Or-Akiva, Israel, unveiled several military weapon sights at the Shot Show in Las Vegas earlier this month. The NYX 3X (see photo) is a compact, uncooled thermal weapon sight with 3X magnification. Weighing less than 2.2 lb., the sight withstands the recoil of 5.56- and 7.62-mm rounds and .338-cal. rifles. The sight extends the company's line of optics, which includes magnifications of 2X, 3X and 7X for a range of operational and tactical needs.
The U.S. Defense Department is at the mercy of the global supply chain when it comes to computers, routers, software, firmware and related electronic devices. Each has the potential to be compromised by malicious software and other vulnerabilities that could be used to hack classified information or sabotage operations. The notion that the millions of devices the department sources every year could be certified safe prior to use has been dismissed as impractical. But maybe not.
Todd Harrison Senior fellow for defense budget studies, Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments Age: 37 Birthplace: Mississippi Education: B.S. and M.S. in Aeronautics & Astronautics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Sky Rider, the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) unit of Israel's artillery corps, is enhancing performance of its Skylark I-LE platform with improved takeoff, flight and imaging capabilities, including the ability to transfer aerial footage directly to a battalion. The system comprises a new version of Skylark, which is produced by Elbit Systems, and a new network operating system called Version 10. “The new version of the UAV will be substantially better,” says the Sky Rider commander, Lt. Col. Uri Gonen.
The U.S. Navy wants its new unmanned underwater vehicle, the Knifefish, to do more than remove humans from the dangers of mine hunting. The Navy also hopes Knifefish will replace the use of dolphins. Knifefish, which was unveiled last year, is to be fielded in 2017 as part of the Littoral Combat Ship's mine-warfare mission module. After being launched, Knifefish will use a low-frequency synthetic aperture sonar to scan for mines. The Navy believes that capability will replace trained dolphins, which use their natural echolocation abilities to hunt mines.
A team of researchers working with Hungarian air survey company Interspect has unveiled what is claimed to be the most detailed geo-referenced airborne image to be acquired from an airplane, versus helicopters or low-flying ultralights. The image has a resolution of 0.5 cm, which the team says is five times what has been achieved in other countries; the same group produced a 1.8-cm resolution image in 2009.
The next U.S. aircraft carrier, CVN-78, the Gerald R. Ford, is 90% complete. The Newport News Shipbuilding division of Huntington Ingalls Industries recently added three units to the ship, including two sponsons—structures that project from the side of the hull and provide the space needed for flight-deck operations. One sponson is 140 ft. long and weighs 391 metric tons, one of the largest ever erected. In addition, shipbuilders have installed 3 million ft. of the total 10 million ft. of cable. Workers add 10,000 ft.
Ceramic materials have become viable—even better—replacements for conventional metallic armor plates on tanks, personnel carriers and other armored vehicles. They not only resist penetration by most explosive projectiles encountered on a battlefield, but provide considerable weight savings, which in turn increase the agility and maneuverability of these multi-ton platforms. Ceramic plates, however, have one significant problem: weakness in the adhesive bond that connects them to their composite backing material, which reduces their effectiveness.
This may not be the first time that anyone has wanted to hit me with a hammer during a briefing, but it is the first time someone has actually done it. Fortunately, the rap across the knuckles with a small designer hammer is painless, because my hand is protected with a strange orange goo that, along with its British manufacturer, is called D3O.
Aurora Flight Sciences of Manassas, Va., a developer of small unmanned aerial systems (SUAS), has upgraded its Skate vertical-takeoff-and-landing platform with the DL Micro digital data link and video processor from SRI Sarnoff of Menlo Park, Calif. The device significantly improves the quality and transmission of video captured by an electro-optical payload on the portable SUAS, increasing the Skate's value for surveillance, threat detection and other airborne operations. The system provides electronic image stability with H.264 encoding.
Angus Batey and Francis Tusa London and David Eshel Tel Aviv, Francis Tusa (London), David Eshel (Tel Aviv)
Infantry operations have evolved dramatically in the past decade, along with weaponry. The combat equipment that many soldiers now field reflects rapid advances in areas ranging from weapons design and precision firepower to battlefield networking.
India plans to buy new assault rifles and replace its indigenous 5.56-mm Insas (Indian Small Arms System) rifles in an effort to arm troops with modern weapons. “Procurement will be done globally, with the transfer of technology to the [state-owned] Ordinance Factory Board,” says Defense Minister A.K. Antony. The army has used Insas rifles since the mid-1990s. “The proposal to buy new rifles was made last year, and the technical evaluation of bids is in process,” the minister told Parliament last month.
The Israeli air force (IAF) is gearing up to host its largest-ever multinational training exercise, “Blue Flag,” which will take place this spring. Hundreds of foreign pilots will participate. Although their air forces are not identified, countries that are close allies of Israel were invited. During the exercise, jets will conduct mock air battles and attacks, practice low-altitude flying and drop live ordnance. IAF combat squadrons have participated in joint exercises in Italy, Romania, Bulgaria, Cyprus and Greece.
