Researchers at the University of Washington are developing dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC) that may be used by the U.S. Air Force to power unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for long flights. The structure utilizes an undisclosed flexible film (probably titanium dioxide), moth-eye film with microscopic protuberances to absorb sunlight and a thin glass coating with transparent conductive electrodes. The DSSC traps photons and converts them to synthesized electrons.
The U.K. Defense Ministry recently announced that it was no longer planning to keep its General Atomics-Aeronautical Systems Inc. MQ-9A Reaper force as a permanent part of the Royal Air Force. Economy was cited as a reason but there is also an overriding operational concern: The RAF does not know whether the Reaper can operate in U.K. airspace.
The U.S. Marine Corps has since 2003 been using a GPS-guided parafoil dropped from C-17 and C-130 cargo planes to resupply troops in Iraq who operate far from resupply routes.
The Turkish navy has in a relatively short period of time gone from being a collection of hand-me-down ships to a service that is able to make its presence felt in regional waters with advanced vessels from foreign suppliers and, increasingly, local shipyards.
The U.S. Army’s controversial $160-billion Future Combat Systems (FCS) modernization program is no more. Or is it? Despite the much-publicized reports of its death, most technologies developed under FCS auspices continue to forge ahead in design and development phases.
Robotic Technology Inc. (RTI) is working with industry partners and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to develop an unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) that powers itself by consuming biomass and converting it to energy. Called EATR (Energetically Autonomous Tactical Robot), the vehicle is being developed to demonstrate that an autonomous UGV can perform long-range, high-endurance missions without conventional refueling. Key to the robot’s operation is a hybrid external combustion engine developed by Cyclone Power Technologies (see image).
On display for the first time at the U.K.’s Defense Vehicle Dynamics show at Millbrook proving grounds in rural Bedfordshire was Lockheed Martin’s AVA2, the 6 X 6 configuration of the Advanced Vehicle Architecture (AVA) family. It is the latest evolution of a controversial family of British-designed military vehicles that bear little resemblance to anything in the same field.
NATO is acquiring a full-motion video (FMV) capability for its International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan. FMV will give NATO the ability to share moving images acquired by UAVs among members and non-members.
Norway is concerned about the potential for conflict in the High North, or Arctic, which includes its territory and that of three other NATO nations, Canada, Denmark and Iceland, as well as nonaligned countries like Sweden and Finland. Norway wants NATO to take a greater role in the area, and to modify North Atlantic Treaty Article 5, covering collective security and out-of-area operations.
The Russian navy plans to boost rearmament efforts by acquiring new classes of surface ships. The service is due to receive more than 40% of the defense budget this year, according to government officials, though most of the money will be spent on nuclear submarines.
The Thales/Elbit unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) was selected by the U.K. Defense Ministry to meet the Watchkeeper requirement in August 2005. And yet the full system won’t enter service until 2010, although there are options for bringing this forward if the risks are deemed to be low. This contrasts with the original in-service date of late 2005 to mid-2006.
Israel Aerospace Industries’ MBT Missiles Div. showed its new Medium Laser Guided Bomb (MLGB) at the Paris air show. The weapon has a dual-mode guidance system that uses GPS and terminal laser guidance, and an 80-kg. (176-lb.) warhead. It is claimed to provide pinpoint accuracy under all weather conditions. The key to its performance is a trajectory-shaping capability, which enables planners to plot the weapon’s flight profile, target approach and impact angle.
Developers of small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) see a vibrant future for drones far from the battlefields that have proven their capabilities. The vision is for UAVs to be law enforcement tools for use in urban and suburban areas.
A visionary approach to the convergence of manned and unmanned flight comes from David Vos, senior director of control technologies for Rockwell Collins, and a pioneer of small, low-cost, integrated navigation and flight control systems for UAVs.
Marine growth on hulls adds weight and drag to ships and submarines—up to 20% drag from biofilm and 60% from barnacles. The result is speed reductions of around 10%, up to a 40% increase in fuel consumption and, the U.S. Navy estimates, almost $1 billion annually in added fuel costs and maintenance. Work by the Office of Naval Research and researchers in Florida and Washington shows promise in finding eco-friendly alternatives to the toxic coatings the Navy has used to prevent marine growths. Prof.
July has been another record traffic month for Ares, fueled in no small part by comments from passionate and opinionated readers like the ones cited below. I hereby call on US to stick with making aviation stuff and from now on, outsource all ground combat vehicles to those who know how to maximize effective latest-tech systems with limited budgets. Besides, the US ground units will just look that much cooler in the end. Basically FCS potency at about 25% the cost. Win-win. Gut zu gehen.
“We are in the World War I stage.” That comment by a U.S. Air Force officer at a conference in June reminds us that the use of unmanned vehicles in warfare is—in evolutionary terms—at a very early stage. That makes it hard to think about how unmanned systems will change warfare as their technology changes, in revolutionary ways. Revolution will come from two directions. Any unmanned system is a fusion of information-type technologies—sensors, processors, memory and communications—and mechanical systems that sustain it, move it and allow it to fight.
One of the most ambitious forecasting projects of late is the U.S. Air Force’s Blue Horizons II, which wrapped in 2008, and was presented at a conference here in May by Col. John Geis, director of the Center for Strategy and Technology at Maxwell AFB, Ala.
MBDA has developed a fixed-wing version of its Marte Mk-2S air-to-surface helicopter missile. The company is also working on a turbojet version with triple the range. The Mk-2S-A will arm Alenia Aermacchi M-346 advanced jet trainers and an upcoming light attack version. The United Arab Emirates is buying 28 trainers and 20 light attack aircraft. The S-A variant is an antiship and antisurface weapon with a range of 45 km. (28 mi.). Launching from a jet means it will not need boosters and will thus be lighter than the Mk-2S—262 kg. (576 lb.) versus 310 kg.
A recent conversation with Ron Kadish, former head of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) and now an adviser for Booz-Allen Hamilton, underlined the fact that ballistic missile defense (BMD) advocates are more confident in their basic technology. However, Kadish says, “You can’t declare victory.” In his view it is important to keep deploying systems and developing technology to stay ahead of threats.
For an airfield that was once awash with Soviet combat aircraft, and for a military that once counted its fighters in the hundreds, the Czech air force’s first post-Cold War operational deployment to this Lithuanian base is a reflection of how Eastern Europe has changed.
With global demand for body armor high, militaries occasionally face lengthy waits for the vests. One reason for this is the time it takes to produce armor that incorporates alumina plates in its protective structure. The plates are usually sintered at 1,600C (2,912F), a process that takes as much as two weeks. Engineers at the University of Leeds in England may have a solution to the shortages.
The Italian army and navy have selected the Spike LR missile from Rafael of Israel as the standard antitank missile to replace the Milan and at least some Tow systems. The army is acquiring 870 missiles, 64 infantry launchers, 20 launchers integrated with the Dardo infantry fighting vehicle and 63 training systems, while the navy is procuring 120 missiles, six infantry launchers and four training systems. The €120-million ($170.6-million) program is scheduled for completion in six years. Delivery of the missiles could be completed by the end of 2010.
