Germany is close to deploying an air-defense system for its forward operating bases in Afghanistan that not only repels traditional air attacks but has a counter-rocket, artillery and mortar (C-RAM) capability, as well.
Northrop Grumman Corp. and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory successfully operated a pair of single-stage InP (indium phosphide, a binary semiconductor that generates high electron velocity) heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) amplifiers at some of the highest millimeter-wave frequencies ever achieved—184 and 255 GHz. (The millimeter-wave frequency range is approximately 30-300 GHz.; beyond that is submillimeter-wave frequency.) The amplifiers were designed with Northrop Grumman’s InP HBT monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) technology.
The Fraunhofer Institutes for Applied Polymer Research and Computer Architecture and Software Technology in Germany have devised a way of increasing building security with a relatively simple alarm. The system is based on a motion sensor that is activated by changes to light reflected by the coatings of windows. Glass is coated with a fluorescent material containing nanoparticles that convert light into fluorescent radiation. The coating can be sprayed on or applied as a film.
The U.K. Defense Ministry released its Defense Technology Plan on Feb. 26, a wish list of technologies and capabilities it wants industry to develop in coming years. Much of the emphasis is on robotic systems, especially platforms like fixed-wing aircraft (including fighters), helicopters and ground vehicles ranging from robots to tanks. Two concepts in particular stand out: Novel Air Concept (NAC) 2 and Future Protected Vehicles (FPVs). The NAC2, as envisioned, will be an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) with a rotor system for vertical takeoff and landing (see photo).
Tom Vaneck and Richard Guiler, researchers at Physical Sciences Inc. of Andover, Mass., spent this past winter in a laboratory watching a video of houseflies flying into panes of glass, over and over. The viewing was fascinating—at least for their work. What they watched could be the next leap ahead in the global pursuit of microdrones, tiny reconnaissance devices that have the potential to fly and scurry their way to a snooping revolution.
The U.S. Army’s Future Combat Systems modernization program—which seems like it’s been fighting for its life since the day it began—hit the news again last month with the release of a highly critical report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO). The report found that while the Army has “made progress” in technology development and testing, serious concerns remain.
The first delivery of the Airbus A400M military transport to its lead customer, France, has been pushed back by 3-4 years, following a series of program delays that have left European customers questioning the performance and capabilities of the aircraft.
British soldiers in Afghanistan will soon have a helmet liner that provides greater protection against bullet strikes. The material, D30, is an orange gel that uses nanotechnology to create “intelligent molecules.” Manufacturer D30 Lab of Hove, England, says the gel’s molecules move normally when not under stress. In a high-energy impact such as a bullet strike, however, the molecules lock together in milliseconds and the gel becomes a solid. This transformation absorbs impact energy.
Military commanders readily admit that their enemies are getting smarter and more adaptive. Stories of insurgents surrendering to an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) are long gone. These days, even children recognize the nasal drone of a small UAV, which means that what used to be an easy mission can quickly be compromised.
NATO agencies are preparing the ground for the 17,000 U.S. troops that will reinforce its International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan. Command and control systems deployed in Afghanistan were already scheduled for upgrade and replacement, which has become even more urgent to handle the extra troops, and NATO’s air traffic management (ATM) capacity is being increased for the greater number of sorties that will support the reinforcements.
Paul McLeary (Washington), Christina Mackenzie (Paris)
Brazil decided late last year that its newfound offshore oilfields were worth protecting at a cost of about €8.9 billion ($12 billion), which will buy it four diesel-electric submarines, technical assistance to build its first nuclear-powered submarine, a naval base and new shipyard near Rio de Janeiro, and 50 EC725 Eurocopter helicopters.
Iran didn’t send its three Kilo-class submarines to the International Defense Exhibition (IDEX) here in February, but the boats are clearly a strategic consideration for the United Arab Emirates. The UAE navy announced at IDEX that it is building a blue-water fleet with antisubmarine warfare (ASW) capabilities, as well as antiair and antiship defenses.
The Indian air force decommissioned its last MiG-23BN single-engine fighter-bomber during a ceremony at Halwara air base in Punjab on Mar. 6. With the action, the air force comes closer to reducing the number of models in its fleet, which have created a maintenance nightmare. The MiG-23BN—renamed Vijay, or victory—was flown by the air force for 27 years. The fighters saw action against Pakistan in the Kargil War in 1981 and the Siachen conflict in 1985 and 1986. India had a total of 70 BN and MF versions of the MiG-23. More than half were lost in crashes.
Weighing as much as 35 tons, Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles are proving effective in assuring that troops survive ballistic attacks and improvised explosive devices (IEDs). Despite their survivability, though, serious operational issues are emerging due to the MRAP’s heft, size and maintenance needs, which will affect their tactical utility in operations in Afghanistan. Commanders are taking a hard look at how best to use a vehicle that despite its life-saving qualities, easily becomes stuck offroad or snags low-hanging power lines.
Iran launched a satellite it developed into orbit atop a locally manufactured ballistic missile on Feb. 2, joining a group of nations that have gained entree to space with their own equipment and technology.
Politicians with a say in the acquisition process take themselves seriously. “The commons can still take on the king,” growled House air and land forces subcommittee Chair Neil Abercrombie at Aviation Week’s Defense Technology and Requirements conference last month. “It’s up to you,” he warned the media, “to stop referring to pork and earmarks when you know perfectly well that’s not the way it is.” This editorial will accordingly avoid references to pork and earmarks. How about stupidity and lack of accountability?
The German army aviation school in Buckeburg began official operation of its first NH90 helicopter simulator on Jan. 15. The simulator is the biggest private financing initiative (PFI) undertaken by the German armed forces. It was designed and built by Helicopter Flight Training Services (HFTS), a consortium of private industry which will operate as many as five simulators for the armed forces through 2022, delivering about 217,000 hr. of training. The NH90 tactical transport helicopter is being supplied to Germany by NH Industries, part of Eurocopter.
Since the inconclusive Second Lebanon War of 2006, the Israeli army has been developing tactics and adding equipment and capabilities to fight more effectively in asymmetric conflicts. The recent success of “Operation Cast Lead” in the densely populated Gaza Strip shows that an industrial military that coordinates operations among land, air and sea units, makes effective use of advanced technology, and shares intelligence and leads from the front can decisively defeat an asymmetric enemy.
The Russian military has been sparing in its use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), primarily because the models in service were designed in the Soviet era and are obsolete. Although local manufacturers are years behind the U.S. and Israel in UAV developments, some indigenous systems are being tested.
Robots are a common sight on battlefields and may soon be as ubiquitous in military warehouses and loading docks. Researchers at MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory are working on automating a forklift that can safely load and unload supplies in war zones. Human operators often come under fire in such areas, forcing them to run for cover and delaying work. As conceived, an operator will run the semi-autonomous forklift from a protected area nearby or some distance away in a bunker. Control is maintained with a wireless tablet computer.
Of the 313-ship fleet the U.S. Navy is trying to build, few vessels are more contentious than the DDG-1000 Zumwalt-class destroyer. Procurement was canceled after two ships, but dissenters kicked up enough of a row that Navy Secretary Donald Winter went back to Capitol Hill for funding for a third destroyer last August. Winter’s appeal came less than a month after he spent a day informing congressional members of the Navy’s intentions to cancel further procurement of this class of ships.
Series production of Germany’s 400 Puma infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) begins later this year with a twist—each will carry a Spike LR antitank/anti-helicopter lightweight guided missile system and two missiles. The upgrade will cost $87 million. The Spikes are part of the “multiple-role lightweight guided-missile system” being bolted onto the Puma by PSM, the joint venture between Rheinmetall and Krauss-Maffei Wegmann that is building the IFV. Rafael Advanced Defense Systems developed the Spike.
In this first of three articles, DTI examines China’s progress in implementing strategies that deny increasing areas of the Western Pacific to potential adversaries—a “Great Wall” of deterrence. This article covers China’s efforts to develop a modern C4ISR (command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance) capability. Subsequent articles will report on the elements of this wall, as well as China’s aerospace and naval strike capabilities.
The Joint Strike Fighter’s (JSF) short-takeoff-vertical-landing (Stovl) technology involves some of the most highly automated, integrated control of flight and propulsion ever attempted, using 14 effectors (control surfaces, propulsion systems and nozzles) controlled by stick, throttle and rudder pedals. The goal is simple, intuitive control (stick forward, trees get bigger) and far better safety than the Harrier. The plan is for a series of “build-down” tests reaching successively lower speeds, culminating in a vertical landing at the U.S.
