The days of front-loading equipment programs with costly prototypes and field trials may be over—at least if a simulator developed by Chemring Technology Solutions (CTS) gains wide acceptance for research and development initiatives. The U.K.-based company, whose focus is defense and security technologies, recently developed the Dismounted Close Combat (DCC) simulator, which provides a fully immersive environment for preliminary testing of concepts and prototypes.
Obituary: Albert D. “Bud” Wheelon, who led the development of the first reconnaissance satellite for the CIA and helped lead Hughes Aircraft to dominance as a manufacturer of satellites, died in Montecito, Calif., reportedly of a form of cancer. He was 84. Wheelon also was a member of the presidential commission that investigated the loss of the space shuttle Challenger in 1986.
A Stuttgart, Germany-based research team working on building artificial blood vessels with 3-D printers recently took another step forward by developing gelatin “bio-inks” that can be sprayed through inkjet nozzles without clogging them.
One problem in war is that enemies do not stand still to be dispatched with one shot. Hence, the importance of hitting moving targets. Rifle practice in this area, though, is rare—even the U.S. Marine Corps falls short. This could be changing, however. The Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory (MCWL) tested techniques for accurately engaging moving targets last month in Quantico, Va. Marines fired M-4 carbines and M-27 infantry automatic rifles at life-size plastic mannequins on tracked robots moving at 4-8 mph.
A thermocouple developed at Cambridge University in England to measure jet engine temperatures near their combustion source reduces drift by 80% at 1,200C (2,192F), and 90% at 1,300C. Drift is degradation in a sensor, typically a double-walled nickel-based thermocouple in this application, which monitors engine heat. High temperature affects the integrity of components and thus, engine maintenance and life. Most nickel-based thermocouples drift above 1,000C. This is a problem because many engines reach 1,500C.
The U.S. Navy wants to develop an onboard sensor that provides ships engaged in resupply at sea forecasts of environmental conditions, wave motions and ship movements such as pitch, heave and roll. The objective is to base materiel transfer decisions on the best available data to increase safety and efficiency. A research partnership of industry and academia, led by the Office of Naval Research (ONR) and Naval Surface Warfare Center Carderock Div., tested hardware and software last month for the Environmental and Ship Motion Forecasting (ESMF) system.
The U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory recently announced the success of an initiative with industry to restore adequate amounts of domestically manufactured primary beryllium metal. The primary or high-purity beryllium is produced at a reduction plant in Elmore, Ohio, operated by Brush Wellman. Access to a reliable domestic supply of primary beryllium, which is processed into “pebbles” for use in high-tech applications, is vital to U.S. defense. Beryllium is one of the lightest metals on Earth and six times stiffer than steel.
British Army Maj. Gen. (ret.) Jonathan Shaw, CB, CBE Born: 1957 Education: Sedbergh School; Trinity College, Oxford; Army Staff College 1989-90, Royal College of Defense Studies 2006
With advanced avionics and mission systems, the 1970s-era delta-winged fighter called Kfir could rank in the same class as contemporary “fourth-generation” fighter jets, say officials from manufacturer Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI). The company can deliver up to 50 of the Mach 2+ Kfirs, configured to the newest Block 60 standard, using airframes retired from Israeli air force service in the 1990s, IAI officials report. These aircraft were mothballed in the southern Negev desert and are in good condition for refurbishment.
After the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles turned the tables on Russia's helicopter gunships and helped end the occupation. In the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan, missile jammers have largely neutralized the threat. But still only a fraction of the aircraft that could find themselves in combat zones is protected by directional infrared countermeasures (Dircm) systems.
Despite a series of public setbacks in recent years, AgustaWestland is embarking on a new civil certification program for its AW101, a medium/heavy helicopter that has experienced more than its fair share of strife since its development in the 1980s.
Lockheed Martin is designing a fix to address cracks found in one of four primary wing carry-through bulkheads on an F-35B ground-test article that was undergoing durability tests for a second life of service beyond 8,000 flying hours.
The European Defense Agency (EDA) is preparing for a second series of manned test flights of a sense-and-avoid (S&A) system under development to allow unmanned aircraft to operate in unrestricted airspace. The system is being developed under the four-year Mid-air Collision Avoidance System (MidCAS) program, which ends in 2014, by a consortium of 13 companies from five European nations, including Saab, Alenia Aermacchi, EADS Cassidian, Indra, Selex and Thales.
While the uncertainty of two years of budget cuts and stop-gap spending bills may still not seem tangible to the public, “sequestration” is creating “chaos” for defense contractors.
Hobbled by the government's partial shutdown, the National Transportation Safety Board is standing down, except for the most pressing cases. “The agency can engage in those activities necessary to address imminent threats to safety of human life or for the protection of property,” the board said Oct. 10. Though it is clear investigators would be recalled for a major transportation disaster, how the NTSB is defining other “imminent threats” is murkier.
