For commercial shippers to counter piracy, integrated, affordable solutions need to be fielded to reduce the risk of vessels, crews and cargo being seized. Selex Sistemi Integrati (SSI) of Italy, building on its expertise in naval combat management systems, border and costal surveillance, and network-centric development, has engineered an antipiracy system called Pompeius for merchant ships.
Titanium prosthetics are more functional than ever, but have a problem: preventing bacteria from entering the body at the abutment, the point where a prosthetic is implanted into bone. This is normally a function of skin. Researchers at Brown University, led by Thomas Webster, associate professor of engineering and orthopedics, developed two methods to promote skin cell growth at the abutment and seal the gap. One involves firing an electron beam of titanium coating at the abutment, which creates a surface of 20-nanometer mounds.
Reports last month suggest that the U.S. Army may expand the XM2010 sniper upgrade to include all 2,500 M24 Sniper Rifle Systems. The original plan called for 400-500 upgrades, with weapons allocated to snipers in Afghanistan beginning last fall. While no decision has been made, and efforts to upgrade the inventory will depend on funding, Brig. Gen. Peter Fuller of PEO Soldier, Fort Belvoir, Va., said the XM2010's success in Afghanistan leads him to believe it will be done. The upgrade of the bolt-action M24 involves six main areas and is performed by Remington Arms.
India is increasing procurement of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), a critical need in light of the insurgency it is fighting in the northeast, the ongoing threat of terrorism, tension along the Pakistan border, and its emerging role as a regional naval power and subsequent need for persistent maritime surveillance. The military wants to acquire at least 1,500 unmanned systems in the next 3-4 years, ranging from man-portable drones to high-altitude, long-endurance (HALE) vehicles.
Slowly but steadily the U.S. Navy is maintaining a course for electric-drive propulsion as a way to save fuel costs, reduce ship lifecycle expenses and provide the extra power needed to run advanced radars and weapons the service is planning for its future fleet. Navy officials have been touting recent successes in developing electric propulsion options. Service brass and research leaders paint a vision of plugged-in ships patterned after such hull designs as the DDG-51 destroyer class.
With piracy exploding and ship owners paying millions in ransom to free crews, vessels and cargo, a proposal to create a quasi-governmental antipiracy force is gaining traction, at least among insurers. The concept involves buying a fleet of fast patrol boats that would accompany commercial ships through pirate-infested waters.
Satellite-based lasers for free space transmission would increase the speed of data transfer. Military benefits are mobility and a faster Internet. Rainer Martini, associate professor of physics at Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, N.J., says with a stable optical system, satellites could use middle infrared (IR) quantum cascade lasers for data transfer, freeing this from the limitations of fiber-optics and other conductors. The integrity of beam transmission must be assured. Martini developed a technique called frequency modulation (FM).
Soldiers with severe spinal cord injuries may benefit from the development of a therapeutic exoskeleton that mimics the movement of arm joints. Called RiceWrist, the articulated exoskeleton retrains the motor-neuron pathways of spinal cord injury victims, says Marcia O'Malley, associate professor of mechanical engineering and materials science at Rice University of Houston, and director of the school's Mechatronics and Haptic Interfaces Laboratory, which developed the device. RiceWrist helps patients complete movements in therapy or takes over movements when they tire.
Not everyone believes that the strategy for replacing the recently terminated Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle (EFV) is sound. The Pentagon argued that buying 573 EFVs at $17 million each would consume too much of the Marine Corps' procurement budget, and proposed buying new vehicles and upgrading older ones (DTI March, p. 23). “[We] want an analysis of a whole series of . . . logical alternatives, [to] see which is the right path . . .” said Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.) at a congressional hearing with the Navy's senior acquisition executive.
Most discussion of cyberdefense remains rooted in questions of protection of critical national infrastructure. Yet if a cyberthreat exists that requires a defense, it is axiomatic that there is potential for offensive cyberweapons, a few of which are beginning to emerge from the shadows.
The Canadian government has been quiet about its ambitious C$5-billion ($5.2-billion) plan to procure thousands of tactical wheeled vehicles—among them reconnaissance vehicles, infantry carriers and logistics trucks—while also resetting and refitting vehicles ground down by war in Afghanistan. Despite that, details are emerging as the date approaches for contract awards later this year.
Undersea warfare specialist Wass, part of Italy's Finmeccanica Group, is developing an ultra-fast catamaran for coastal antisubmarine warfare (ASW) and area-denial operations. Dubbed the Black Kite Katamaran, or BKK, the vessel's main mission will be ASW, but configurations are being developed for attack and interception, counter-terrorism, maritime surveillance, antismuggling operations and mine countermeasure (MCM) missions.
The tropics create a maddening environment for a weapon more evocative of the bone-dry slums of Baghdad or the arid valleys of Afghanistan—the improvised explosive device (IED), signature weapon of the last decade. IED use is now proving popular with insurgents in jungle and subtropical environments.
Bill Sweetman (Washington), Andy Nativi (Genoa), Francis Tusa (London), David Eshel (Tel Aviv)
Warship design in much of the world may be entering a new era, with requirements driven less by peer-on-peer sea battles and more by lessons of the past decade, combined with economic constraints. Brazil, Canada, Israel and the U.K. are among the nations looking at new surface combatant programs. The first three represent markets for Europe's shipbuilders (and possibly South Korea) while the U.K. is trying to break back into the global warship business.
Milor is a miniaturized Loran (long-range navigation) receiver developed by Roke Manor of Romsey, England. Based on an international network of radio beacons, Loran is a European system that navigates in GPS-denied environments because it works indoors and underground, and is less vulnerable to jamming. (For an article on efforts to upgrade Loran, see DTI April, p. 26.) Traditional Loran receivers are bulky (approximately helmet-sized), expensive and restricted to vehicles. Milor has smartphone dimensions and consequently a lower cost.
Fincantieri of Italy and DRS Technologies Canada (owned by Finmeccanica) will acquire Canadian shipbuilder Davie Yards of Levis, Quebec. Davie, Canada's largest shipyard, is in bankruptcy protection. Fincantieri and DRS want a presence in the potentially lucrative Canadian shipbuilding market. Ottawa plans to spend C$35 billion ($36.6 billion) on navy and coast guard vessels under the National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy (NSPS). Davie is one of five local shipbuilders qualified for NSPS work.
Unmanned underwater vehicles (UUV) are breaking free of their tethers. One type, gliders, roam autonomously for thousands of miles, carrying out missions lasting months, collecting data and surfacing periodically to communicate. New ocean energy-harvesting technologies are being developed that will allow these vehicles to operate almost indefinitely.
Tank and reconnaissance crews from seven Israel Defense Forces (IDF) armored brigades, operating Merkava Mk 2, 3, 4 and M60 Mark 8 tanks, took part in the annual armor proficiency and gunnery day on the Golan Heights in April.
Tank: Center for Strategic and International Studies Location: Washington Profile: Hawkish, security focused Antivirus specialist McAfee has teamed up for the second year running with the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), to report on cyberthreats to critical infrastructure, primarily power grids.
Israel's newest rocket interceptor, Iron Dome, was successful in its first combat use, destroying eight rockets fired from Gaza on April 7. The Iron Dome battery, a counter-rocket, artillery and mortar (C-RAM) system near Ashkelon, is one of two deployed in the northern Negev to protect population centers from rocket attacks. Multimission radar detected the launch of rockets fired at Ashkelon and triggered a “code red” alert, sending residents to shelters.
“This mess is so big, and so deep and so tall. We cannot pick it up. There is no way at all!” Dr. Seuss's The Cat in the Hat is not, as far as I am aware, taught in defense program management schools. But that line seems to have encapsulated the situation which Vice Adm. Dave Venlet found when he took over the Joint Strike Fighter program last May.
