Three years of work in bomb-detection technology has paid off for the U.S. Office of Naval Research, which in 2010 funded a five-year, $7 million multi-university pro-gram to detect improvised explosive devices (IED) from safe distances. Researchers developed a system that uses a sonic beam from a phased acoustic array to identify IEDs and differentiate between those with low- and high-yield explosives. A paper delivered last month by Prof.
Amy Svitak (Beijing and Paris), David Hambling (London), David Eshel (Tel Aviv)
A growing number of satellite-based automatic identification systems (AIS) make it easier for maritime surveillance to tie ship-tracking data with high-resolution satellite imagery. Used with AIS, space-based synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and optical remote-sensing platforms determine not only the presence of ships, but their identity, position, speed, heading, load, size and type.
As defense manufacturers become accustomed to the prospect of lower Pentagon budgets, there is growing concern over the health of the supply chain, particularly the lower tiers and specifically small companies that may be the sole source of critical parts or a unique technology.
A technology demonstrator for Piaggio's Hammerhead unmanned aerial vehicle has made its first short hop into the air, in Italy. The flight is the first major step in the development of a wholly European-developed medium-altitude, long-endurance unmanned air vehicle (UAV), which is now on a path to potentially enter service with the Italian air force in 2015.
A focus on realistic requirements has helped Swedish industry and government teams integrate weapons on the Gripen faster and at lower cost than similar efforts elsewhere.
Deliveries of three Pentagon-procured fixed-wing tactical transport aircraft to Yemen's capital of Sanaa in September, coupled with announcements of a newly tendered squadron of light observation planes, marked the culmination of the Obama administration's push to help the Yemeni air force take ownership of an Al Qaeda fight that has become synonymous with American unmanned aerial vehicle technology.
Mounting budget pressure is forcing France to curb defense spending, slowing deliveries of major military programs rather than killing them outright. Under the nation's new military program law—a €190 billion ($256 billion) budget for the period 2014-19—key aerospace platforms that will see reduced or delayed orders include Dassault Aviation's Rafale combat jet, Eurocopter's Tiger and NH90 helicopters and Airbus Military's A400M tactical airlifter.
NUKED: A move by the Democratic leadership of the U.S. Senate to curb the minority Republican party’s ability to filibuster has sidelined passage of the chamber’s version of the fiscal 2014 defense authorization bill. Consideration of the so-called nuclear option, in which Senate rules are changed to lower the vote threshold for taking action, preoccupied the upper chamber’s agenda on Nov. 21. While Senate passage this week of the defense policy bill was always tenuous, the nuclear option debate appears now to have pushed a final vote on the bill into December.
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — Nuclear-powered aircraft carrier deactivations may come as close as it gets to guaranteed future defense contracts. The U.S. Navy cannot simply park a nuclear reactor-equipped carrier somewhere. “You have to do the inactivations,” says Chris Miner, vice president for in-service aircraft carrier programs at Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Newport News Shipbuilding unit.
LONDON — The Netherlands is to become the fourth European country to purchase the General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper. The Hague announced plans on Nov. 21 to introduce four MQ-9 Reapers and an unknown number of ground stations into full operational service by 2017, not only for use on deployed operations but also to support civil authorities in disaster relief and counter-narcotics operations. The ministry estimates the deal will cost €100-250 million.
Additive manufacturing has captured industry’s imagination, but even as the first parts appear inside jet engines, the technology’s possibilities are only just being realized. As researchers experiment with new materials and optimized designs made possible by 3-D printing, the potential scale of the revolution in manufacturing is becoming clearer.
DUBAI — A U.S. Navy notice for the purchase of 36 Super Hornets posted on a federal procurement website in October was nothing more than an error, according to the Navy’s Hornet program manager. Speaking at the Dubai air show on Nov. 19, Capt. Frank Morley, Naval Air Systems Command program manager for the Boeing-built F/A-18 Super Hornet and EA-18 Growler, said that the notice, which went up on the FedBizOps.gov website on Oct. 17, was an “administrative error” and had no effect on the current program of record.
AEGIS AWARD: The U.S. Navy has awarded Raytheon a $406 million multi-year contract to provide AN/SPY-1 radar transmitters and MK99 Fire Control Systems for Lockheed Martin’s Aegis combat system. The components of the weapon system perform the search, track and missile guidance functions for Aegis, which the U.S. Navy is upgrading to provide greater ballistic missile defense as well as enhanced ship-defense.
TEL AVIV — The Israeli Ministry of Defense and the U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) held a successful test of the David’s Sling air defense system on Nov. 20 in which a ballistic missile was intercepted and destroyed. Barring unexpected delays, the system, also known as Magic Wand, is expected to be operational within two years. It has been in development since 2006
The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Project Agency’s (Darpa) goal with its new Experimental Spaceplane (XS-1) program is to demonstrate a reusable capability that can transition to industry for low-cost military and commercial satellite launches and hypersonic technology testing. The agency usually hands off successful programs to one of the U.S. military services, but “Darpa’s XS-1 transition partner is you — industry,” Program Manager Jess Sponable told attendees at a proposers’ day briefing earlier this month. (See charts p. 8.)
PARIS — Mounting budget pressure is forcing France to curb defense spending, slowing deliveries of major military programs rather than killing them outright. Under the nation’s new military program law – a €190 billion ($256 billion) budget for the period 2014-19 – key aerospace platforms that will see reduced or delayed orders include Dassault Aviation’s Rafale combat jet, Eurocopter’s Tiger and NH90 helicopters and Airbus Military’s A400M tactical airlifter.
U.S. Navy officials are examining the results of a third — and previously unplanned — round of sea trials for the stealthy, unmanned X-47B after the team returned to port Nov. 19.
